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Volume 10 Issue 3 - November 2004

  • Text
  • November
  • Toronto
  • Jazz
  • Theatre
  • December
  • Arts
  • Orchestra
  • Musical
  • Ensemble
  • Symphony

JAzz Notes A couple of

JAzz Notes A couple of concerts by two of the most innovative pianists in jazz will take place within a four week period starting on November 3rd. at Massey Hall when Chick Corea will take the stage with his Elektric Band while at Roy Thomson Hall, on December 5th, Keith Jarrett will make a rare appearance with his Standards Trio featuring Gary Peacock on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums. Armando Anthony Corea was born in Massachusetts on June 12, 194 l and grew up in a home which regularly echoed to the sounds of Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, by Jim Galloway player and and early in his career he worked as a drummer, and also sometimes a guitarist. His break came when Art Blakey asked him to join the New Jazz Messengers. He went on to play with the Charles Lloyd Quartet and then did trio work which he enjoyed so much that he turned down an offer from Miles Davis! He did, of course, eventually say yes and was the second keyboard player in the band. And now here's the intriguing part which connects the story. The other keyboard player was Chick Corea. SoUNDIES PART Two Last month I wrote about the ori­ Bud Powell, Lester Young and · gins of music videos and in partic- Horace Silver as well as Beethoven and Mozart. By age four he was studying piano and it was almost a given that music would be his. life. Willie Bobo, Cal Tjader, Herbie Mann and Mongo Santamaria were some of the band leaders he gigged with early in his career and they instilled in him a love of Latin music. He accompanied Sarah Vaughan for a year or so before joining Miles Davis - and that was the breakthrough point for him, playing on two landmark albums, Bitches Brew and In a Silent Way. The mid-eighties saw the formation of the first version of The Elektric Band, featuring Dave Holland and Anthony Braxton. The current line-up features bassist John Paticucci, drummer Dave Weck!, guitarist Frank Gambale, and saxophonist Eric Marienthal and you can be sure that they will feature some of the material from their latest CD, "To The Stars". Keith Jarrett will be appearing with his Standards Trio, a group that came together in a very informal fashion and made their first album in the same way by simply going into the studio and improvising some standards. The result was Standards, Volume I. If any proof were needed to demonstrate that the trio was relaxed and the creative juices were flowing, one only has to consider the fact that the group's first three albums were all from that one session! Jarrett was trained entirely in classical music, and did not become interested in jazz until his early teens, but he certainly caught on quickly - like a duck to water! He also showed an affinity for just about any instrument he laid his hands on -he is a good soprano sax ular the soundies which were so much a part of the music scene in the early forties. The importance of soundies can hardly be overestimated, since they represent the most complete audio-visual record of popular music in the l 940's. They contained an enormous variety of music, but in addition there were vaudeville acts, cartoons, variety artists, comedy routines all performing their routines for three minutes worth of black and white film. Certainly before the Soundie came along, movies quite often had a musical interval, but with the Soundie the music was the star and just about every name jazz performer appeared in Soundies - Fats Waller, The Mills Brothers, Lionel Hampton, Edna Mae Harris and Nat King Cole are only a few. But they were unpopular with cinemas and other exhibitors and in addition ran into trouble with the film projectionists' union; wartime restrictions hammered more nails into the coffin and by the Summer of 1947 the Soundie was history. Notwithstanding, almost 2000 of them were produced within a six year period and they represent wonderful time capsules of an era - and the fortunate thing is that much of the music contained in those soundies is now being released on DVDs. The picture quality varies a lot and is a (ar cry from high definition tv; the sound quality can be a bit rough in comparison with the digital excellence of today, but if like me you can remember 78s this will bring back memories and I will gladly give up some sound and picture quality for the sight of Duke Ellington's smile. In future issues I shall review some of the material coming out onto the market. Watch This Space! AND IN THE While sifting through my email inbox to compile this month's listings, I was blown away by one thing: it seems to be piano month in Toronto. While November is book-ended by the concert-hall performances of ,Chick Corea and Keith Jarrett (see Jim Galloway's column for more info), there are several other notable pianists playing in Toronto this month. To name a few: Ron Davis who appears with his Shimmering Rhythm Ensemble at Top 0' the Senator; Matt Savage has already released six albums -- on Nov 11, he is making his Canadian debut as he performs at the "Evening to Remember" gala, with proceeds going to the Geneva Centre for Autism; German-born boogie-woogie pianist Michael Kaeshammer plays for one night at Bugb's Room, Nov 13. 34 WWW. THEWHOLENOTE.COM Fans of large jazz ensembles also have much to look forward to this month - with several opportunities to hear some topquality music in the clubs instead Jarrett and Corea LISTINGS • • • of the concert halls. Chick N' Deli, a family friendly venue on Mt. Pleasant is featuring Big Band Music every first and third Monday -·beginning with the Advocats Big Band on November l". The Rex Hotel hosts Bruce Cassidy's Hotfoot Orchestra (Nov 13), the Swing Shift Big Band (Nov 20) and John MacLeod 's Rex Hotel Orchestra (Nov 29). And, last month the Old Mill re-introduced a series of Fridaynight big bands to its restaurant. On November 26'h, the dancing continues with the Canadian Tribute to Glenn Miller. Finally, this month, WholeNote is probably setting some kind of a record by introducing seven new venues irtto our jazz listings. In addition to Chick'N Deli, Graffitis, La Brasserie, Now Lounge, Safari Bar and Grill, Spezzo Ristorante, and Zazou all feature live jazz regularly throughout the month. Jazz Listings start on page 70. Sophia Perlman Featuring some of Toronto's best jazz musicians with a brief reflection by Jazz Vespers Clergy Sunday, November 21 - 4:30 DICK SMITH, percussion; GORDON SHEARD, piano; SCOTT ALEXANDER, bass; BRIAN BARLOW, drums Sunday, December 5 - 4:30 MARK EISENMAN, piano; STEVE WALLACE, bass; JOHN SUMNER, drums Christ Church Deer Park. 1570 Yonge Street (north of St. Clair at Heath St.) 416-920-5211 Admission 1s tree. An offering is received to support the work of the church, including Jazz Vespers NOVEMBER 1 - DECEMBER 7 2004

BAND Stand by Merlin Williams The Canadian Band Association seems to have found a suitable home for their annual festival of bands (Crescent School). The competition used to be held at the Canadian National Exhibition's Bandshell. That subjected the participants to whims of weather, and also placed the event during a time of year that many bands use as a holiday break. I was only able to take in part of the day (Oct 17), but I got to hear an excellent performance by the Mississauga Pops Concert Band under the direction of Denny Ringler. I was hoping to be able to print the results, but they were not available at press time. One of the most frequent inquiries I get from the publicity people in community bands (at least from those bands that have one) is: when is your deadline? This is a quetion I often get about 3 days after the deadline has passed. It's an excellent idea to get info to me no later than the first two weeks of the month preceding the issue you'd like it to appear in. If you've got good pies of your conductor or soloist, send them too. It's also a good idea to send it a month before that if your event is in the first week of a month. If you're sending details to be included in the general listings, make sure you cc your e-mail to listings@thewholenote.com as well as sending it to me at merlinwilliams@sympatico.ca. One of the adjudicators at the CBA event was Dr. Henry Meredith from London, ON. Dr. Meredith sent me information on his band to add to The WholeNote's annual band list: The Plumbing Factory Brass Band Conductor: Dr. Henry Meredith Contact: Henry Meredith 519-659- 3600 drhank@uwo.ca Rehearsals: Wednesdays, 7-9 p.m. at Mocha Shrine Centre, 468 Colborne St., London, ON Instruments needed: cornets, all brass band instruments The Oakville Wind Orchestra also sent updated information for the band directory: Oakville Wind Orchestra Conductor: Chris Arthurs Contact: Joanne Phillips 905-466-9306 owo@cogeco.ca Rehearsals: Tuesdays 8-10 p.m. at St. Thomas Aquinas S.S., Dorval Dr. & Rebecca St., Oakville Instruments needed: bassoon, tenor sax, percussion - new applicants please contact first Now to upcoming concerts "Think You Know Sousa ... Think Again!" is the catchy title of The Hart House Symphonic Band's first concert of the season. The program will of course include several of the composer's celebrated marches, as well as some lesser known Sousa compositions and a Symphony on Themes by Sousa composed by Hearshen. The concert takes place in the Great Hall at Hart House, U of T on November 27. Admission is free! The Hannaford Street Silver Band is presenting Welsh Rare Bits with guest trombonist Chri,stopher Thomas and conductor Robert Childs on November 7th. The program will include Gareth Wood's Trombone Concerto and the Arthur Pryor classic, The Blue Bells of Scotland. The concert is at the Jane Mallett Theatre at 3:00 p.m.: there· a pre-concert chat at 2: 15 with the conductor and soloist. Other notable band concerts thi month include: The Festival Wind Orchestra's "Holiday Magic Co11 cert" on Nov 16, The U ofTBras Ensemble's "Glorious Brass" on Nov 18, The Toronto Wind Orchestra in a program of Canadian works on Nov 20, Horn-o-rama works for large horn ensemble with French horn students from U of1, Western, Wilfrid Laurier and thr' RCM on Nov 26 and The Pickering Community Concert Band· "Holiday Magic" on Nov 28. Please remember to check the complete listings in this month's WholeNote for more details on these and other concerts worthy of your attention. Woodwind doubler Merlin Williams is an Artist/Clinician for Jupiter Music Canada. If you would like an upcoming band event to be featured in the Bandstand column, fe1•{ free to contact Merlin by e-mail. merlinwilliams@sympatico. ea or phone 416-803-0275. You can aln find him on the web at http:// www.merlinwilliams.com. iazJc!1;!!. u •' v"" 1 v Host of Some Experiences II••" '., in jazz CHRY I 05. FM Media Sponsor Tues. Nov. 23 ... I 2:30 & 7:30 pm - JAZZ VOCALISTS from the studios of Rita di Ghent, Lynn McDonald and Sasha Williamson Directed and accompanied by Richard Whiteman and Bob Fenton ;: \ ..... · )s-:ca1 [Btl: 1f·yu·11s - - -----· - Wtti HLL-STll blG bHND I Wed.Nov.24 12:30 & 7:30 pm - JAZZ ENSEMBLES directed by Mike Cado, Mark Eisenman, Barry Elmes, Frank Falco, .Al Henderson, Lorne Lofsky, Mike Malone, Anthony Michelli, Roy Patterson and Sundar Viswanathan Thurs. Nov. 25 I 2:30 & 7:30 pm - JAZZ ORCHESTRA · directed by Al Henderson JAZZ ENSEMBLES directors as Nov. 24 above Fri.Nov. 26 I 2:30 & 7:30 pm - JAZZ CHOIRS directed by Bob Hamper and Mim Adams JAZZ VOCALISTS directors as Nov. 23 above Saturday, Dec 11, 2004 • 2 pm Brass - Woodwind - String Instruments - Guitar Buy direct from the Distributor AUTHORIZED DEALER FOR: Armstrong, Anley, Besson, Benge Boosey & Hawkes, Buffet, Conn Getzen, Jupiter, Keilworth, King Ibanez Guitars, Scher] & Ruth String Inst. www.harknettmusic.com Lawrence Centre for the Arts For tickets, call (416) 366-7723 w":'w. torontoallstarbigband .com _ J r....JHARKNETT Musical Services Ltd.---1 MUSIC BOOKS BEST SELECTION OF POPULAR & EDUCATIONAL MUSIC Piano - Guitar - Instrumental Mid-Town Store 416-423-9494 943 Eglinton Ave. E. (W. of Leslie) (Next door to Robert Lowrey's Piano Experts) Main Siore 905-4 77-1141 2650 John Street Oust North of Steeles) WWW. THEWHOLENOTE.COM 35

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