jazz

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Edmonton International Jazz Festival 2017 – Brett Hansen Trio

Posted by Randy Talbot on 2017/06/27
Posted in: downtown, Events, Music, People, photo, Summer. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Today (Tuesday June 27, 2017) I did something I really enjoy doing during the Edmonton Jazz Fest – going to Churchill Square at noon and taking in the free jazz performance  on The Works stage. These events are especially delightful on warm, sunny early summer days. Alas, today was not one of those days. It was cloudy, cool and a bit of rain came down (at least during the first set).

However, the jazz performance put on by the Brett Hansen trio, made putting up with the elements, worthwhile.

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The Brett Hansen Trio

The trio comprises Brett Hansen on guitar, Murray Wood on bass and Jamie Cooper on drums.

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Brett Hansen

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Murray Wood

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Jamie Cooper

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Jazz Fest 2016 (part 2)

Posted by Randy Talbot on 2016/07/14
Posted in: Events, Music, photo. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 3 Comments

In part 1 I looked at the 2016 Edmonton International Jazz Festival as I experienced it through the first 5 days. In this post, I continue to share what I saw from Wednesday June 29th.

The noon hour performance at the Works with Jazz Stage in Churchill Square featured Blue Moon Marque. Blue Moon Marque is a duo featuring A.W. Cardinal on guitar and vocals, with Jasmine Colette on bass (while adding some drums using her feet). When I first saw and heard a bit of this duo I though it might not be for me but after listening to a couple of tunes I quickly grew to appreciate their unique style – gypsy jazz and blues?

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A.W. Cardinal

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Jasmine Colette

On Thursday at noon I was back in the Churchill Square as the Berner Brothers took to the stage and paid tribute to the other B-Brothers: The Brecker Brothers, most famous for their fusion jazz  sounds in the 70’s.

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The Berner Brothers

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Doug Berner

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Don Berner

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Steve Hoy

On the evening of June 30 I was back at the Yardbird Suite to hear some more innovative trumpet playing – this time from Jacques Kuba Seguin:

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Jacques Kuba Seguin

On Friday (Canada Day 2016) I was again sitting up front at the Yardbird suite for what might have been the high point of the festival – the Edmonton Jazz Orchestra featuring Bob Tildesley (trumpet) and Mike Rud (guitar).

The next morning I hiked across the river valley to attend Jazz in the Park (with a pancake breakfast. During the morning, Joel Gray’s Quintet played fine sets of great dixieland-style jazz.

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Joel Gray Quintet

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Joel Gray

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Don Berner

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The end of the 2016 Jazz Fest for me was back at the Works with Jazz stage on sunday July 3rd for the John Sweenie Quartet. Particularly strong this day were leadman Sweenie and keyboardist Chris Andrew.

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John Sweenie

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Chris Andrew

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It was a great end to a superb jazz festival.

 

Jazz Fest 2016 (part 1)

Posted by Randy Talbot on 2016/07/11
Posted in: Events, Music, photo, Summer. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

The 2016 Edmonton International Jazz Fest was a good one! I made a point to take in as many of the events as I could and between June 24th and July 3rd I attended 12 events and enjoyed 14 bands. As much as I enjoyed the varied jazz music I also enjoyed photographing the performers in action.

Ths first performance I took in was at noon on Friday June 24 on the Works with Jazz stage in Churchill Square. This show featured guitarist Marc Beaudin, with bassist Josh McHan and Sandro Dominelli on drums.

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Marc Beaudin

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Dominelli and McHan

On Saturday afternoon I was at the Community Big Band Bash. Three big bands associated with MacEwan University performed on the OSPAC (Old Strathcona Performing Arts Centre) stage.

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Littlebirds All-Star Big Band

The Littlebirds opened, followed by the MacEwan Outreach Big Band and finally the MacEwan University Big Band. All three groups  were solid and very enjoyable.

On Monday at noon it was Brett Miles with his Magilla Funk Conduit  taking the Churchill Square stage for a couple of sets starting at noon. Their form of jazz was wonderfully funky and energetic.

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Magilla Funk Conduit leader/vocalist/saxophonist Brett Miles

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Magilla Funk Conduit

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Jamie Philp

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Mo Lefever

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Magilla Funk Conduit

Later that afternoon, I was at the Yardbird Suite (somehow, it was my first visit ever to the venue but it would be there three more times that week). The afternoon I observed  a Master Class with Marianne Trudel and Ingrid Jensen. They listened to and gave good feedback on performance and composition to three student combos – quite interesting.

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That evening, Trudel (piano) and Jensen (trumpet), with Remi-Jean LeBlanc (bass) and Rich Irwin (drums) put on an innovative/experimental sometimes atmospheric/moody and always captivating, performance.

On Tuesday at noon, I was back in Churchill Square to enjoy another free performance on the Works stage. This day is was the MacEwan Jazz Combo – a sextet performing a fairly standard jazz combo fare with impressive improvised solos.

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MacEwan Jazz Combo (2016 June 28)

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Eric Doucet

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Ryan Plishka, drums

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Dave Morgan

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Jonny McCormack & Sascha Liebrand

Well that was the first half of the 2016 festival and of course only touching on those performances that I was able to get to – there was something like 27 events over those first 5 days!

See more of the Edmonton International Jazz Festival in Part 2.

 

 

Three of Big Miller

Posted by Randy Talbot on 2016/04/19
Posted in: Music. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

Last Saturday, my wanderings took me into Old Strathcona and by the Yardbird Suite. There in front of the iconic jazz venue is a statue commemorating the legendary blues singer Big Miller. I’ve seen the statue from a distance many times but finally decided to check it out up close:

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The wonderfully emotive statue, created by world class Edmonton sculptor Danek Mozdzenski is BIG – but just a big head and big hand!

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Miller was born in Sioux City, Iowa but settled in Edmonton in the early 70’s and lived here until his death in 1992. The statue was unveiled in September 2009.

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Fun with Jazz

Posted by Randy Talbot on 2015/06/24
Posted in: Events, Music, photo. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 1 Comment
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“Join in, have fun”

This post is a continuation of my 2015 June 23rd post where I shared some images of  The Heavyweights Brass Band.  This post is the same band, same performance but images that are a bit more fun.

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Trumpet vs. Trombone

Blue Plunger

Blue Plunger (used on St James Infirmary Blues)

Jazz Works Hands

Jazz Works Hands

Occasionally the guys put down their horns and add some vocals as in the tune “Float“:

Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Brass Band

“Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Brass Band”

Adding to the fun at the Edmonton performance was one guy from the audience (in a big cowboy hat), dancing away in front of the stage:

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Drummer and Dancer

Jazz Heavyweights

Posted by Randy Talbot on 2015/06/23
Posted in: Events, Music, photo, Summer. Tagged: , , , , , , . 3 Comments
The Heavyweights Brass Band

The Heavyweights Brass Band

Today (2015 June 23) on The Works stage in Churchill Square, Edmonton was a band that blew me away – The Heavyweights Brass Band.They are a Toronto-based, New Orleans influenced group. Being a trumpet player myself I have passion for brass instruments in general and trumpets in particular. This band features TWO excellent trumpets as well as a trombone and sousaphone and sax and drums – what a powerful sound!

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John Pittman and Jonathon Challoner on trumpets

Some may wonder why there would be two trumpets in a sextet but there was more than enough work to keep the two of them busy. Each took a turn with some impressive solo work and when they teamed up it was great.

Also very impressive was saxophonist Paul Metcalfe.

Paul Metcalfe

Paul Metcalfe

Metcalfe was a passionate performer and the composer of a number of the band’s original pieces. The original pieces were good as were their versions of traditional jazz pieces (St. James Imaginary Blues was great) and some unexpected jazzifying of rock/pop tunes including Rush’s YYZ and Michael Jackson’s Beat It.

Christopher Butcher, trombone

Christopher Butcher, trombone

Butcher, who lived in Sherwood Park for a number of years, was the band’s leader on stage.

Rob Teehan, Sousaphone

Rob Teehan, Sousaphone

Lowell Whitty on drums

Lowell Whitty on drums

It was a very enjoyable show and although I had intended to just be there for the first set, I just had to extend my lunch hour and stay around for the second set. I also had to buy one of their CD’s – their latest Brasstronomical.

This performance in Edmonton was just one stop in their cross-country tour this summer. I doubt that I’ll get a chance to see them again soon but I will definitely look for a future opportunity.

Jazz Fest 2015 (Monday in the Sun)

Posted by Randy Talbot on 2015/06/22
Posted in: Events, Music, photo, Summer. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

Today I spent my lunchtime in Edmonton’s Churchill Square taking in three of my favorite things: sunshine, art and jazz. As part of The Works (Art and Design Festival) and tying in with the Edmonton International Jazz Festival there are daily jazz concerts from 12:00 to 2:00. Today on stage was the John Sweenie 4Tet.

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The John Sweenie 4Tet

The quartet’s leader is Edmonton saxophonist John Sweenie:

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John Sweenie

Stefan Kijek on keyboard

Stefan Kijek on keyboard

Murray Smith on drums

Murray Smith on drums

Murray Wood on bass

Murray Wood on bass

With some solid original works and good takes on classics, the John Sweenie 4Tet delivered a very enjoyable performance! I look forward to hearing them again someday and hearing other jazz artists over the rest of this festival.