WESTERN FRONT – Shahzad Ismaily with Julia Úlehla

Description:

As part of the Vancouver International Jazz Festival, Brooklyn-based multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily was joined in conversation with vocalist, composer, and ethnomusicologist Julia Úlehla. Their discussion was guided by themes that emerged from a live tarot reading, and punctuated by short interludes by Ismaily on guitar and banjo.

Presented in partnership with Coastal Jazz and the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation at the University of British Columbia with support from the Government of Canada and SOCAN Foundation.

Video documentation is available upon request.

Julia Úlehla and Shahzad Ismaily are seated across from each other on a stage. She speaks into a microphone addressing Shahzad and wears an orange top, large hoop earrings and black glasses. Between them is a bouquet of yellow flowers and several knick knacks on a table covered in ornate blue cloth.

Shahzad Ismaily gestures with his hand as he speaks into a microphone, addressing a person off-screen. He wears a dark tracksuit. The fretboards of two stringed instruments can be seen in the background.

Shahzad Ismaily stands while speaking into a microphone, addressing the audience. Julia Úlehla sits to his left next to a small blue-clothed table. To his right is a ukulele and a banjo are propped up on black stands.

Shahzad Ismaily plays banjo while seated. Julia Úlehla sits cross-legged on the ground, facing him. An empty chair, a guitar, and a blue-clothed table can be seen in the background.

Wearing a dark tracksuit, Shahzad Ismaily kneels down on the floor, using one hand for balance and the other to arrange small square cards in an arching row. Julia Úlehla wears an orange top and sits facing them, cross-legged. Chairs, microphones, a small table, a guitar, and a banjo are arranged behind them.

Wearing a dark tracksuit, Shahzad Ismaily sits on a chair with a microphone and a ukulele in his lap. A banjo is propped up on a stand to his left and a bouquet of yellow flowers on a small table covered in blue ornate cloth is to his right. The artist’s right index finger is pointed at his chin as he gazes to the left mid-thought.

Shahzad Ismaily sits cross-legged, looking down while playing ukulele. A banjo on a stand and a wooden flute are arranged on the floor nearby. To his right, a red tambourine rests on the edge of a table covered in an ornate blue cloth.

Captions:

Julia Úlehla and Shahzad Ismaily at Western Front, Jun 24, 2024. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Shahzad Ismaily at Western Front, Jun 24, 2024. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Julia Úlehla and Shahzad Ismaily at Western Front, Jun 24, 2024. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Julia Úlehla and Shahzad Ismaily at Western Front, Jun 24, 2024. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Julia Úlehla and Shahzad Ismaily at Western Front, Jun 24, 2024. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Shahzad Ismaily at Western Front, Jun 24, 2024. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Shahzad Ismaily at Western Front, Jun 24, 2024. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.

Western Front is a non-profit
artist-run centre in Vancouver.

We acknowledge the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations as traditional owners of the land upon which Western Front stands.