Back in 2007 I was working one week a month in Victoria, missing my family and needing to cleanse myself of some of the really difficult work we were doing while working on big systemic Indigenous child and family services issues on Vancouver Island. My evenings were spent trying to find things to do that would bring me joy and one of those was packing my flute and whistles and trundling along to one of Victorias vibrant Irish music sessions for a night of traditional tunes.
One of those sessions was led by Daniel Lapp at the Irish Times Pub. Daniel is a most generous session host, welcoming, encouraging, curious and full of joy. I remember a few evenings and Sunday afternoons where we shared tunes and variations and talked about the difference in repertoire between the Vancouver sessions and the Victoria sessions. It’s rare to meet a musician that treats everyone, from beginner to experienced hack to absolute monster professionals with kindness, encouragement, and fun.
Although I don’t remember playing with him, one of the kids that hung out there was Lapp’s student 10 year old Quinn Bachand. Quinn started playing with Lapp and had a meteoric rise, quickly becoming known as a prodigal young Celtic guitar player, and he’s only gotten better.
It has been 19 years or so since I saw Lapp, but last night he and Quinn graced the stage at Tir Na nOg on Bowen Island, as part of Shari Ulrich’s “Trust Me” series.
It was possibly the best show I’ve seen in the ten years or so that Shari has been curating that series.
Lapp and Bachand are a magical duo and are celebrating the release of an album of music they have just recorded together of a bunch of Daniel’s original tunes. The first set of the night was tunes from the new album written for friends and family members in styles ranging from traditional jigs and reels to cajun two steps and Normandy waltzes. Both players are virtuosos but it must be said that Lapp’s compositional range is incredible and Quinn brought a dense palette of harmonic exploration. These are tunes that seem straight forward on the surface, but can at times be complex and colourful, dippingg through unexpected key changes with Quinn’s reharmonization flying around beneath. All set on top of impeccable timing and groove.
From the very first set of tunes, the audience was hooked and the energy in the room was locked on intense joy, from which is never wavered. barely minutes into the show I think everyone could tell this would be a special night.
After a break, the second set of the night was looser, more tunes called on the fly, more improvisation. Daniel got to talking more about his life going project to gather and publish his collection of the extensive BC fiddles tunes repertoire, which consists of more than 3000 tunes. He drew on much of this tradition in teh second half, which began with Quinn and him playing tunes on harmonica and which also featured a lovely new song Daniel composed, in which he accompanied himself on trumpet. A firy collection of BC tunes followed before Lapp called for an Irish set that meandered through tunes that he and Quinn played together 20 years ago. They explored these tunes together at pace, barely holding on, drifting into improvised patterns, calling up snippets of memory that put me back on that stage with their session at the Irish Times. It was like watching clouds fly past a mountain top. Hints of melody, a tunes started and then abandoned, the pair carried by spirit and flow.
The verdict at the end of the show was the loudest round of applause I’ve yet heard in that theatre which elicited an encore of gypsy jazz, showing of the Berklee-educated Quinn’s swing chops.
The room was full of Bowen Island musicians last night and we all filed out into the night infected with astonishment and joy. Nights like that make you simultaneously want to give up music altogether while inspiring you to go home, pick up your instruments and play all night long. Nights like last night remind you what music is for.
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