DOWNTOWN BLOC PARTY
Shoppers at a downtown clothing store were treated to some old-school dance tunes on March 12 courtesy of two members of Bloc Party. Vocalist Kele Okereke and drummer Matt Tong dropped by Aritzia's Robson Street location to spin some tunes just prior to the U.K. band's sold-out Orpheum show that night.

According to Jessica Johnston, communications coordinator for the chain, the visit was the result of ties between Aritzia and Vice Records, the group's North American label. The store has been playing the rock band's latest album, A Weekend in the City , since before its official release. As well, Bloc Party collaborated with Aritzia to come up with an exclusive T-shirt design.

"It was fantastic to have them there; they played some brilliant party tunes," said Johnston, who was present to hear the guest DJs play Madonna's "Into the Groove" and Salt-N-Pepa's "Push It". Because the store received short notice of the event, organizers only had time to post the info on the Aritzia Web site and a few event blogs. Johnston estimates about 100 people were on hand for the set. "We think music is one of the most important ways to connect our clientele to the energy of culture, basically," she said. "So we're always reaching out to excellent acts."

> Shawn Conner

MASABO MEETS MEXICO
Cross-cultural threads will twine in interesting ways when Masabo, a New Westminster–based African music and dance troupe, performs at the Festival Internacional Cedros in Mexico City next week. For Fana Soro, Masabo's leader, it marks a return visit to the biennial event, which runs Tuesday to next Saturday (March 20 to 25). "Cedros is held in the city's largest private school for boys, and is mainly concerned with classical music," Soro told the Straight . "But the director came to B.C. a couple of years ago, saw me perform, and decided he wanted me. The audience's response at the festival was so strong that this year he's bringing me back with Masabo. We'll be doing some workshops and performing with the Miyanda dancers." Miyanda is a septet of African-Canadian schoolgirls—three are Soro's daughters—who dance and play djembe drums. It will be their first tour. "It will be strange and a big thrill for them to be among all these world-class classically trained musicians and in a Catholic school that's for boys," Soro said.

> Tony Montague

SOUND AND VISION
Free jazz works in obscurity. Although this uncompromising art form has won an international following, that's not often recognized by mainstream media outlets. You won't find it on commercial radio, daytime TV, or featured in many mass-market publications. Which is why it's significant that Canadian director Ron Mann's 1981 documentary,Imagine the Sound , has been buffed up for rerelease. This may be the only chance you'll get to encounter radical jazz pioneers Cecil Taylor, Archie Shepp, Bill Dixon, and Paul Bley.

Coproduced by saxophonist, drummer, and journalist Bill Smith, a Hornby Island resident, Imagine the Sound is an attempt to make film footage as raw and immediate as the music it depicts. Some of Mann's techniques—visible interviewers and camera crew; long, unedited takes—have become documentary staples. Their impact shouldn't suffer in the restored and digitally remixed version that will be screened at the Vancouver International Film Centre's Vancity Theatre starting Tuesday (March 20), with additional screenings on March 23 and 30. Since going on to make Comic Book Confidential , Grass , and Tales of the Rat Fink , Mann may have learned a thing of two about technology, but Imagine the Sound is proof that his vision was clear right from the start.

> Alexander Varty