September 3rd ~ Montreal, QC ~ Casa Del Popolo
September 4th ~ Toronto, ON ~ Tranzac
September 5th ~ Guelph, ON ~ Guelph Jazz Festival (afternoon and night shows)
September 6th ~ London, ON ~ London Music Hall with guests the Riderless
September 7th ~ ON ~ TBA
September 9th ~ ON ~TBA
September 12th ~ Victoria, BC ~ Lucky Bar, with Colourbook + guests
September 13th ~ BC ~ TBA
September 19th ~ Vancouver, BC ~ New Forms Festival ~ Open Studios, with the Secret Mommy Quintet

Friday, June 27th at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver, as part of the Vancouver International Jazz Festival, we’ll be opening for the Grande Mothers of Invention. Should be a very interesting time….  

Here’s a round-up of articles and reviews about the new Fond of Tigers album, Release the Saviours Read the rest of this entry »

Although the first sentence sits a little uncomfortably with me, here’s another great article from Vish Khanna in Exclaim! Magazine

Marketing Magazine has named us one of 10 Canadian Artists to Watch. Funny enough, Marketers made our top ten list of who we fear being watched by…

*Well, #1 on the !earshot jazz charts for the month of December. (!earshot charts reflect actual airplay on campus/community stations). Also #1 on Ottawa’s CHUO and #2 on Vancouver’s CITR this week (ending Jan 29th).

Sometimes, there really is nothing in a name. Take acclaimed Vancouver instrumental septet Fond of Tigers, for example. Far from making a statement of solidarity with endangered species, guitarist/founder/leader Stephen Lyons is somewhat ambivalent about cats.

Read the rest of this entry »

This is a really well done review by CokeMachineGlow’s Mark Abraham
“seeing this band live proved a couple of things: first , the nauseating time signature play that undulates through their music like an urban landscape in real time is really that impressive, and, second, “Pemberdunn Maple Wolves” is some next-level shit.”    Read more…. 

Fond Of Tigers‘ second album, Release the Saviours, is a mutant potpourri conjured from equal parts schizoid jazz, prog, math-rock, and whatever else the septet feels like throwing into its visceral mix. Bolstered by its double-drummer attack, Fond Of Tigers has evolved from its 2003 beginnings into a thunderous outfit that seems most in its element when indulging its bombastic side. Be sure to stand clear, for example, when epic incinerators like “Pemberdunn Maple Wolfs” and “A Long Way to Temporary” steamroll forth for a high-octane twelve and fifteen minutes respectively. A penchant for odd-metered time signatures isn’t a new thing, of course, but to its credit Fond Of Tigers never makes the proposition seem like a purely academic exercise. Translation: the group rocks, whether or not the tune’s in 4/4 or 5/4… Read more… 

“Another thrilling kaleidoscopic set which defies classification— just the way we like it.

It’s been a very difficult task trying describe in words, the music of a band like Vancouver’s Fond of Tigers…”

Read more of this review from this great Montreal-based online music magazine 

Jesse Zubot’s Drip Audio label has fearlessly connected the dots between rock, improv, electronics and more since its inception a mere three years ago. Now it gets more interesting as artists drop their second albums and the label gains more recognition. Fond Of Tigers’ new disc Release The Saviours ups the ante on the aggressive two drum kit-powered prog of their first album by boasting stronger songs. This band never fails to impress an audience.-David Dacks Exclaim! Magazine

Very quietly in Vancouver, British Columbia, Jesse Zubot is building his empire with Drip Audio, a label that releases an odd contingent of jazz, ambient, and experimental bands, many of which feature the master violinist himself. In Fond of Tigers, Zubot is one part of a seven-strong post-rock, experimental jazz juggernaut. I enjoyed the debut Fond of Tigers release A Thing To Live With, but its follow-up has moments that break my mind. “Hebvark” is a short blast but sums up what is so great about Fond of Tigers: the eager embracing of both the unhinged and the entirely conventional. From this opener, we go to who the hell knows where. The sound on Release the Saviours is often larger than life, with long periods of delicious, pulsating noise broken by ultra-violent displays of disorder. With a rock core of bass, guitar, and two drummers, as well as piano, Zubot’s violin, and JP Carter’s stunning trumpet work, the band invites comparison to Tortoise, especially on offbeat monsters like “Pemberdunn Maple Wolfs,” “A Long Way to Temporary,” and “Dreaming of Betrayal, Awakening Refreshed.” Ridiculously gifted and impossible to shove into any classifiable corner, Fond of Tigers was a beacon of hope in a year plagued by an excess of dull music.by David Nadelle

Prog-improv Vancouverites Fond of Tigers’ double drumkit power is pushed into more expressive territory on this second album. Surely one of Canada’s loudest bands in any genre, their predilection for gigantic dynamic shifts has only increased, with their sustained bombast giving way to more restrained grooves, then sliding into barely audible ambience. This time out, the quiet passages have the same degree of intricacy and gusto as when they rock out, and with mad scientists Jesse Zubot on violin and J.P. Carter on trumpet, Fond of Tigers have two incredible soloists who can create a massive soundscape at a moment’s notice. The mix, as with all of this season’s Drip Audio releases, has greatly improved in terms of clarity, allowing the listener to follow the action up front as well as in the corners.

I’m not quite sure what this means, or if it comes with unlimited pop refills. Chart Magazine rounds up the comings and goings of this week’s campus and community charts across Canada, which finds RELEASE THE SAVIOURS at #5 on the national jazz charts and #20 on the overall charts.