Review – Bop Ensemble at Times Change(d), Winnipeg, Sept 25 2009

– by Eugene Osudar

Bop Ensemble

bourne
ohlhauser
porteous

that’s the

b
o
p

and yes
bop is the dance
and Bill Bourne
Loves

The Dance.

as he looks my way.
and smiles.

let me explain
just a fraction of an immense
something
to you.

Bill Bourne
on his very own/some
makes Me Dance

makes me

s
o
a
r

he lifts me
off the ground
the sacred bop
floor
earth
wood
cement
wherever
he plays
whenever
he plays
he lifts me!

he’s illimitable.
he’s the Bop!

now, Ben Lee
solo
he makes me dance too.
I’ve only seen Ben once.

i’ve seen Bill Bourne
solo
3 times
and every time

he makes me dance.

so, never mind
that he’s in the hottest
Bop
band
around

the Bop Ensemble.

Jas Ohlauser
plays bass,
barefoot
(hey, Bill always plays and stomps
keeps the dance beat
barefoot)
and she spins the hula
hoop around like a tubular
whirlwind
round her waist
her arms
and hands
her neck
her torso
more,so
her thighs
round and round
hips like tornado
swirling around
oh my, her beautiful eyes
and that exploding
s
m
i
l
e

!

there’s light
in Bill Bourne’s eyes
when he meets
a smile that he likes

a dancer
that he likes

it’s all about the Bop

and i danced
(so did John Hak)
(We Bopped)
Friday night
at the Times Changed
early show
30 people or so
a few more stragglers
as the 90 minute
set progressed

now, Wyckham
Porteous
has anyone
ever
heard
such a glorious
gorgeous
version of Bruce Springsteen’s
Hungry Heart
?

i don’t think so.

Stu Ried,
oh my
what you missed
was your soul
Wyckham Porteous
kissed

Shawn Conner
see the Bop
Ensemble and ask
for Hungry Heart

Reader
do it.

Now.

Wyckham wears shoes.

it’s the voices and the songs
and the harmonies and the joy
and the bop
and the belief
that Yes We Can.

Yes We Can.

just listen to Flash Around the Globe
and get your groove on.
and Bop!

there were about 14 songs
and i really don’t know
the titles

i was Bop
ping! to Bill’s
foot stomping
Jas grooving away
on the bass
under her stylish chapeau
and Wyckham’s voice
is a marvel
is a wonder
of the world

so i’m dancing on the side

and as people passed by
(on the last day of summer
in September)
the open
door
they peered inside
seeing me
bopping
and some stopped
and came in
from the sunshine
the warmth,

to the glory
of the Bop
Ensemble

“there is snow on the hill
it does not snow every day
and I’m just lucky
I guess
that i see it that way.”

the storm down in the valley.
and Wyckham’s voice
his breath
swirling
inside our souls
it’s a whisper
whirling around
they’re bopping
echoing
now

bill sings, “who’s that knocking on my front door…
just a friend of mine.”
and i’m moving
and i’m smiling
deep inside
my enraptured
dancing
soul

wyckham tells the story about how he writes
songs
just by looking out his window
and this one time his 7 year old son
kept pestering him
“go away son, i’m working” kinda response
and finally his son
says, tomorrow is career day and i have to tell
the class what you do for a living.
what do you tell
your 7 year old
when you just look out the window
and
write songs…
“he told them i was a fireman.”

“enjoy yourself,
embrace yourself.”
and there’s the song.
just about loving
the world
and your place in it.
Love It.
Bop
to it.

then we get a Bob Dylan cover
“buckets of rain
buckets of tears…
(exquisite guitar playing
Wyckham and Bill)
i’ve seen pretty people
disappear like snow… [smoke? ed.]
i like the smell of your
fingertips…
life is sad and life is a bust.”
fragments of Dylan.
America’s Shakespeare.

next, Bill’s song
a political bop song,
as he derides and chides
the “leaders”
who meet
and toss their nauseating
sound,
bite/fake smile
bull/hockey
across the media,waves

(Stephen Harper, a leader!)

Change For Children
“how long, how long,
we’re living in a miracle
it’s time to bring about
change for children.”

Yes We Can!

there’s only one man in that bunch
who has the soulful
potential
to be called
a Leader. of people.
and he can’t quite
do it…
yet.

then,
a beautiful spiritual follows
with Jas singing lead
to a song her grandma
taught her
bill and wyckham
harmonizing.
“i’ve got peace like a river
in my soul…”

a hard rocking
dance
song by wyckham
that feels like one of those
nasty
Bob Dylan songs
“you never know for sure in this world.”
i’m bopping
i’m lifting
i’m flying

some comical banterings…
Bill riffs, “i do
everything in my power
Not
to be a machine
because they have machines for that.”
wyckham says, “bill has
opinions
(and) i have opinions
and Jas
falls asleep,” as they’re touring
and then they play
‘hold on,
keep your hand on the plough…”

they play the first song
they wrote together
in Wyckham’s backyard.
“i gave my love a flower
she threw it on the floor
she said,
what do i want with flowers?”
it’s a hard, hard groove,
Wyckham scats to it,
too.

the encore,

“this is the youthful exuberance
(hoop dance)
of the evening.”
and we’re howling and
whooping it up
as Bill and Wyckham
play guitar and Jas
whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrllllllllllz
the hoop around her
youthfully
exuberant
body/soul
song/dance
intensely
beautiful.

and Hungry Heart
destroys
us.

Wyckham’s voice

his/their interpretation,
is
sublime, a
work of brilliance.

and that’s
the

Bop Ensemble
Times Changed
Sept. 25
on a Friday night.