Volume 8 Issue 4 - December 2002/January 2003

And here is the dilemma:

And here is the dilemma: how on comes in, and Toronto is fortunate in earth can you teach these qualities? having a large number of venues, of- In another life I taught art. How? fering jazz two or three nights a week, All you can do is plant seeds and if it where lesser-known young musicians • is a fertile mind that receives them then have a chance to get some 'on the job' something will grow. Yes, there are experience, to 'get known'. But it is a ground rules to be obeyed - or broken tough game. You had better have that - perspective, anatomy, principles of 'fire in the belly', plus a sense of hudesign, harmony, but ultimately there mour if you want to survive. has to be a spark that can be kindled in Blowing my own horn order for an artist to emerge. Lucky me! This month's column ' is It is no different in music. · being written on my annual pilgrimage Back to Pee Wee Russell for a · onboardHollandAmerica'sM.S. Rotminute. He once put it this way in a terdmn - IO days in the Caribbean conversation with that wonderful writer sun, organized through Brotherton's on jazz, Whitney Balliett - "You take Travel here in Toronto. An enthusiaseach solo like it was the last one you tic group of pleasure seekers and a sixwere going to play in your life. What piece jazz group head out every year notes to hit, and when to hit ·them - about this time, leaving all thoughts of that's the secret. You can make a par- Winter and shoveling snow far behind! ticular phrase with just one There are a couple of places I'll be note ....... When I play the blues, mood, playing over the festive season. Deframe of mind enters into it. One day cember 22 at Deer Park Church, Ian your choice ofnotes would be melan- Bargh, Rosemary Gitllo~ay and Don choly, Cl blue trend, adriftofbluenotes. Vickery will be with me, while the The next day your choice of notes week of New Year's Eve will find me would be more cheerful. Standard tunes doing my annual Montreal Bistro enare different. Some of them require a gagement with Ian and Rosemary, legato treatment, and others have sparks where we play out the old year and of rhythm you have to bring swing into the new one. out... .... All of this goes through your Season's Greetings to you all and mind in a split second. You start and happy live listening! ' if it sounds good to you you keep it up and write a little tune of your owri." Jim Galwway can be reached at It reminds me of standing alongside galloway@thewholenote.com the great tenor player Buddy Tate and • as I played he would say to me - "tell your story, tell your story. " There will be large nwnbers of jazz educators in Toronto early this January, all involved in exposing young people to jazz. They have a huge responsibility as well as a wonderful opportunity to open minds and ears. College and University courses create an infrastructure where ·students hone their skills. Unfortunately, what is missing in this picture is the playing experience, yvhich_ can only be found in the 'university oflife'. Nothing takes the pla~ of playing for real - relating to listeners as you interact with fellow musicians. That's where the club scene Established 1981 OUR PRICE= MUSIC TO OUR . CUSTOMERS' EARS YAMAHA DIGITAL PIANOS ELECTRONIC KEYBOARD I GUITARS ALSO USED PIANOS (uPRIGHTS & GRA~DS) ..-~ LESSONS• SERVICE• TUNING ACCESSORIES• BOOKS VISIT OUR SHOWROOM www.academy of music.416 416-924;.7499 Toronto Jazz: the other side by Phil Ehrensaft Toronto's quiet emergenct; as jazz metropolis will be on display during January's International Association for Jazz Education meetings. Mainstream jazz will prevail at the IAJE, parallelling predominant trends in Toronto. But that's not the whole picture here. Jazz of the avant-garde or experimental or "out" variety, call it what you may, is expanding here, which makes sense. Toronto's an important centre for composed new music. There. is no inherent reason that experimental ja?.z won't have equivalent.successes. Experimental jazz is already part of Toronto's cultural landscape. The Guelph Jazz Festival ranks among the few avant-garde festivals in North America. A variety of venues present weekly avant-garde jaZz nights. The Music Gallery, Toronto's senior new music venue, allocates a quarter of its concerts to jazz and improv. Coda, an internationally respected magazine founded in 1958, and edited by pianist Stuart Broomer, covers both more prebop and out jazz than most publications. Jazz · programming on Toronto's two university radio stations is largely experimental. Avant-gardists even show up at Toronto's oldest jazz club, The Top o' The Senator. 9 Christ Church Deer Park presents JV~ ' Featuring'some of Toronto's best jazz musicians with a brief reflection by Jazz Vespers Clergy. Sunday, Dec. 22- 4:30 pm A Christmas Jazz Vespers Sunday, Jan. 19 - 4:30 pm The Andrew Downing Quartet Jim Galloway.saxophone David Occhipint, guitar Rosemary Galloway, bass William Carn, trombone Don Vickery, drums Kevin Turcotte, trumpet Ian Barge, piano Andrew Downing, bass Sunday, Jan. 5 - 4:30 pm Jazz and Dance: A Tribute to Alvin Ailey Alex Dean and Kelly Jefferson, saxophon~s;Scott Alexander, bass; and Brian Barlow, drums plus a dance duo! - Glenn Hall Now we hear that the "CIA" (Creative Improvisers Assembly) will present an avant-garde buffet of jazz and improv concerts to run parallel to' the WE, at the Oasis, 294 College St., January 9-11 th. Multi-reedist Glen Hall, lead conspirator behind experimental perfonnances running parallel to Toronto's major jazz festivals in June, also takes the baton here. Watch our web site, www.thewholenote.com. in late December for details. Hall's in the core of forty- and fiftysomething mentors to a network of young improvisers discussed in WholeNote's June 2001 issue. He originally leaned towards New York's mainstream. A well-received debut album in 1979 included top artists Billy Hart and Cecil McBee. Collaboration with Gil Evans produced another fine album in 1985, and also an offer to join Evans' ensemble in New York. Family commitments led Hall to stay here. Teaching psychology and communications let Hall follow his musical muses with fewer constraints. Teaching communications encouraged an experimental style emphasizing the jazz tradition of telling a story. (Sonny Rollins is the master model for the process of telling it.) Up there with Hall, David Mott is a force of nature. He pursues three careers: professor of composition at York University, monster jazz baritone sax player, and director of a martial arts school. The third career is no doubt related to his formidably big sound and ·connection to Asian art music. As a Yale Ph.D. and working jazz musician, Mott's musical reach is broad indeed. His impressive recordings range from classical solos with I Musici de Montreal to a jazz release with two New York shining lights, Gary Hemingway and Mark Dresser. Marilyn Lerner is a more recent arrival. Originally trained as a classical pianist, Lerner plays avant-garde jazz, improv growing out of European art music, Latin jazz, the "downtown" Klezmer style that merges traditional music wtth experimental jazz, and Yid­ Christ Church Deer Park, 1570 Yonge Street dish art songs. The Penguin Guide (north of St. Clair at Heath St.) 416-920-5211 to Jazz awarded a coveted 4-star rating Admission is free. An offering is received to support the work of the

BANDSTAND by Merlin Williams I know· .from personal experience A CD of meditation exercises is inhqw hard it is to buy good presents eluded. This book is a great help for the mµsician in your life. In my for musicians who have trouble with case, it's not knowing what to buy, performance anxiety, or who feel but managing to pay. My wife is a their playing is stagnating. "Effortpercussionist, and there is an arm's- Jess Mastery" is published by Jamey length list detailing all of the instru- Aebersold Jazz. I've seen it at Long ments and accessories she'd like. & McQuade, as well as Dave Snider The problem is they all cost the.earth! Music. For those of you shopping for a musician, 1 have some gift sugges- There are a number of excellent tions to make your life easier. Christmas concerts this month. The . Last year, I recommended metro- admissions are a deal, ranging from n9mes, tuners and music stands as free to per 'ticket: some of the possible gift ideas for · The Northdale Concert Band is the band musician in your life. The· presenting a benefit concert' of sea- · suggestion still stands. I'm not see- sonal music on Sunday, December ing enough of these hanpy devices 1 at 2:30 p.m. at the Church of St. being used. I'm tired of out of tune Jude (Wexford). A,dmission is only wind players with bad time and poor , and children under '12 accompaposture ... so please, this year take my nied by an adult are free. Got a advice. young band student in middle school? There are some excellent books Take them to see a really good band available for wind players. There's for free! The band is also presenta series' of books entitled "The Art ing their concert Celebration - Muof ...". There are volumes published sic for the Season at Church of the / for flute, oboe, bassoon, clarinet, Redeemer on December 14, 8:00 saxophone, french horn and brass. p.m. Tickets are , & . These books are packed with useful Also on the first day of the month, information for players who want to but further east, the Pickering Conrefine their performance skills. I have cert Band is presenting its Annual all of the woodwind volumes, and Christmas Concert at Fairport I'm constantly going back to them Dunbarton United Church in to research techniques and concepts. Pickering. The concert starts at 3:00 The series is published by Warner p.m. and tickets are and . Bros. and is available at most major Th~ Weston Silver Band present music stores that specialize in band Christmas, Crackers - a. program of instruments. favourites and a carol sing along at As for the percussionist in your Central United Church on Weston life, buy theill a GOOD set of Rd. Musical director Robin sleighbells and a whipcrack . . If McCubbin will give the downbeat you've got deep pockets, get them a at 7:30 p.m on Saturday, Dec 7. set of temple blocks as well. That The big event of the month is the way audience members who have Hannaford Street Silver Band with to listen to Leroy Anderson's · the Amadeus Chamber Choir and "Sleighride" year after year will get the· Hannaford Street Youth to hear it done with the right percus- B.a.nd. The concert will feature trasion sounds for a change. d1t10nal and new music at Metropoli- An excellent book for any musi- tan United .Church on December i 7. cian, regardless of instrument is "Ef- The top ticket price of is a barfortless Mastery" by Kenny Werner. ?ain, given the world renowned play­ The idea behind the book is to "lib- mg of the HSSB. erate the master musician within". Other concerts this month include: Brass - Woodwind - String Instruments - Guitar Buy dire.ct from the Distributor AUTHORIZED DEALER FOR: Armstrong, Artley. Besson. Benge Boosey & Hawkes, Buffet, Conn Get zen. Jupiter, Keilworth, King Ibanez Guitars, Scher! & Ruth String Inst. .. www.harknettmusic.com December 1 2002 - February 7 2003 ~J"'!""!'!"'!~HARKNETT Musical Services Ltd. 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 Store 905-477-1141 2650 john Street Uust North of Steeles) www.thewholenote.com Metropolitan Silver Band - Dec 8, Scarborough Community Concert Band - Dec 9 & 22, Etobicoke Community Concert Band - Dec 13, and the· Festival Wind Orches- _ tra with guests Tracey Wilkins and Mark Ruhnke - Dec 17. These and many more con~erts are detailed in the main listings section. Have a safe and joyous hoiiday season, and please resolve to see at least one live musical perfoqnance every month in 2003. Merlin Williams has too many instruments and not enough time to play them all. If you have iriformation about an . .·upcoming band event, you can contact him by e-mail, merlinw@attcanada.ca, ' or phone him at 416-489-0275. Saturday, Jan 25, 8pm Living Arts Centre Viva Carnival Vadim Brodski plays The Beatles Celebrity Orchestra Andrew Rozbicki www.rozbicki.com Really good food that .~ just happens' to Fn~ ~ be vegetarian! W Live jazz piano playing on every Thursday night 65 5 Bay St. (enter off Elm) ·(416) 596-9364 toronto .com/ lccommensal We arc a 10·-minute walk from many theatres. Inquire a b o ut .00 parking for d inne r & show. Hear the colour of •