Friday, July 30, 1999

By GENE STOUT
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
POP MUSIC CRITIC

Though he's a member of one of the biggest rock bands in the world, Jeff Ament is thrilled at the chance to play on a small stage tonight at the WOMAD USA festival.

Ament, bassist for Seattle's Pearl Jam, will join his fellow members in Three Fish -- Robbi Robb (of Tribe After Tribe) and Seattle musician Richard Stuverud -- in a performance at 8:30 p.m. on the Village Stage at Marymoor Park in Redmond.

Joining the world-music trio, a side band that Ament, Robb and Stuverud formed in the mid-'90s, is keyboardist and percussionist Scott Seiver.

It has been Ament's dream to play at WOMAD since attending his first concert put on by the organization a few years ago in Los Angeles. Ament began lobbying local WOMAD organizers last year for a chance to play this weekend's festival.

WOMAD USA features more than 40 performers from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and North and South America. They'll perform and take part in workshops, master classes and discussions on eight stages and spaces at Marymoor Park in Redmond today (3-11 p.m.), tomorrow (11 a.m.-11 p.m.) and Sunday (11 a.m.-10 p.m.). Tickets: single day $35, three-day pass $75, children 11 and younger free; available at the gate, from Ticketmaster (206-628-0888) and at Starbucks stores.

"We started pestering them about six or seven months ago," he said. "We sent them our music and emphasized that two of us were from Seattle."

Ament attended last year's Marymoor Park WOMAD festival, the first ever held in North America.

"I went every day," he said. "And I've been to two other WOMADs in the last eight or nine years. They've been the most amazing musical events I've ever seen."

Ament was especially impressed with the Drummers of Burundi, which he saw at a WOMAD concert in Los Angeles. (The group performs tomorrow at 1:45 p.m. on the WOMAD USA Main Stage.)

"It was one of the purest expressions of music I've ever seen," he said. "It was a very, very happy experience. You just couldn't help laughing, almost to the point of crying. It was a beautiful event."

Three Fish, which recently completed a summer tour that began in late May in Ament's hometown of Missoula, Mont., will play music from its second album, "The Quiet Table."

The album is a fusion of musical styles from Africa, the Mediterra-nean region and the United States. The music was played on conventional instruments guitar, bass and drums as well as paint brushes, various primitive drums, oud and saz, a long-necked, stringed instrument with a full, rich sound.

Songs include "Shiva and the Astronaut," "Myth of Abdou," "Transporting," "Resonate" and "Chantreuse." "Myth of Abdou" and "Chantreuse" were created in drum circles.

"We'd each pick up a drum and play for half an hour and then mix it all together," Ament said.

Robb, who grew up in a Tibetan monastery in South Africa (where his mother taught), and Ament have long shared a fascination for ancient religions and exotic music styles.

The band's name came from a 13th-century Sufi poem written in Arabic and later translated into English. The poem was in one of the many religious books lying around the studio when the group recorded its first album.

Many of the sounds and songs on the new album came together after a trip to Egypt and Turkey.

"We went to places where people don't really speak English, so we were relying on each other a lot," Ament said.

"It solidified a certain kind of brotherhood among us. I think when you spend that much time with a couple of other people, you're going to get to some pretty amazing places in terms of interpersonal communication and the stories you tell each other."

The new album's title song, "The Quiet Table," has special meaning for Ament.

"That song means a lot to me because it's all about sustaining friendship through rough times," he said.

"I think of 'the quiet table' as a place to go with your friends or business partners or whatever when you needed to talk about something intense or something that you're angry about. I think there's a way to express this in a quiet, calm fashion.

"In some ways, I think it reflects the way this record was made. I think we've developed a kind of safe place to express ourselves."

After WOMAD, Ament will take a month off before rejoining Pearl Jam in the studio in September. The group will spend the fall working on a new album due next spring.

Pearl Jam is still enjoying its first No. 1 single, a remake of "Last Kiss," a rock 'n' roll tear-jerker originally recorded in 1964 by J. Frank Wilson & the Cavaliers.

"It was the most minimalist recording we've ever done," Ament said of "Last Kiss."

"Ed (singer Eddie Vedder) played us the song and we played along with it a couple of times backstage during the last tour. And then one night we went out and played it in front of a crowd for the first time.

"The third time we played it live at a sound check in Washington, D.C., and that's what you hear on the record."

The single was sent to members of Pearl Jam's fan club and later ended up on the radio. The song is currently at No. 6 on The Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

Ament said the songs on Pearl Jam's next album may reflect the raw, unrefined sound of "Last Kiss."

"I think everyone will be bringing in their own songs and just playing them for what they are," he said.

Ament said Pearl Jam doesn't plan on touring until the next album is finished. Former Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron, who played on Pearl Jam's last tour, likely will replace drummer Jack Irons.

"(Irons) wasn't ready to commit to touring on any level, and we're kind of at a point where we all feel like touring," Ament said.

Cameron will work with Pearl Jam on its next record.

"After we finish the album, I think we'll all reassess the situation," Ament said. "We love playing with Matt. I think we played some of our best shows ever with him last summer."