IN CONCERT
What: The Olivier Clements Group
When: Aug. 21, doors at 7: 30 p.m.
Where: Hermann's Jazz Club
Tickets: $12 in advance at Olivierclements.com, $13 at the door.
Sometimes you can't resist what's in your blood. Olivier Clements certainly tried - at least by refusing to play the same instruments as his father Gordon, a prolific player in the local music community as former head of jazz at the Victoria Conservatory of Music, Palm Court Orchestra player and leader of the Gord Clements Collective, among many other things.
The 24-year-old hated the violin his father rented for him at age seven and never practised. Even getting his first trumpet in Grade 3 was an act of rebellion - anything but the saxophone or clarinet that he heard so often around the house. And as his love of music grew, and he even played in a few of the bands his father led, he still resisted direct mentorship as a teen.
"What 14-year-old wants to be told what to do by their dad?" he said. "It was only after I left for university that I was like, 'Oh, I really screwed up.' - I had to leave before really realizing what a wealth of resources he was and is."
A decade later and with a contemporary jazz degree from Toronto's Humber College under his belt, Clements has embraced the path that was laid for him, colouring it with his own passions. When he isn't playing indie pop on trumpet and flugelhorn as part of Aidan Knight and the Friendly Friends, or backing up others like Ciseaux (Katie Schaan) and Dan Mangan, he's playing modern jazz infused with hiphop beats at the head of the Olivier Clements Group with Sean Fyfe (piano), Colin Nealis (bass) and Kelby MacNayr (drums), which he formed last year.
Though early in his career, he has crossed the country several times on tour with Knight and also performed in the TD Victoria International Jazz Festival with his own group for the first time this summer.
The turning point came at the end of Grade 10, he said, when he decided music was something he'd like to pursue as a career.
"I realized that I would never be happy playing less than excellent," he said. "I thought about 'normal' jobs like engineering, but soon came to the realization that there's no such thing - so you might as well do what you love to do."
Clements says the worlds of alt-pop and jazz are equally important to him.
"I need both. I need the balance," he said. "With jazz, I can be the leader and it's an intellectual exercise as much as a physical one. But when I'm playing with Aidan or Katie, you're standing in front of 500 or 600 people and you play one note and are like, 'Oh this is so awesome.' It's more about teamwork - making something bigger than the sum of all the parts. With jazz, it's more about interaction."
As for the unusual infusion of hip hop in his jazz trumpeting, the mix likely comes from an unlikely idol. Among his musical influences jazz greats like Miles Davis and on-thejob mentors like Knight Clements is quick to name late hip-hop producer J Dilla.
"It may seem like an out-of-the-blue influence, but for me, just listening to his stuff and the way he created his beats learning about the guy and his work ethic and just how prolific and dedicated he was to the craft has really driven me," he said.
"All my music lately has been more or less directly influenced by his stuff."
Though the Olivier Clements Group remains a quartet, Clements has occasionally expanded it to a seven-or eight-piece group, welcoming his father among others.
"I'm writing parts really specifically for him, so now it's really fun it's like the table have turned," he said. "We're always bickering at each other and arguing over how to play stuff, but it's really cool to come full circle."
