Jasper Sloan Yip @ Performance Works -- 02/26/12

The seventh annual Winterruption Festival wrapped up yesterday on Granville Island, and the festivities included a pair of free afternoon shows from Vancouver's Jasper Sloan Yip; an early electric and an acoustic one almost right after.

I caught the earlier electric set, where the crowd was a bit subdued, being an early afternoon show. But the barefoot Jasper kept a good energy and stage presence, telling stories and bantering with his violin player and partner Stephanie Chatman, joking after one song's false start that "in music, as in life, she is right".
And Jasper's energy definitely came through in his music, with his upbeat and dynamic folk rock sound. Highlights of the set included the infectious "Kiddo" and a great cover of  Wilco's "Jesus, Etc". And the Wilco influence shone through later on for my favourite of the set, "Horseshoe"; particularly on the guitar, with Yip channelling a little bit of Nels Cline. They ended with "Foxtrot", preceeded by Jasper reading a bit of the wikipedia definition of the term, stating that is how he wanted his music to one day be. Which he is well on his way to.

It was a nice way to wrap up a great weekend of music, and I have no doubt that next year, Coastal Jazz will be able to top it.