Bria Skonberg Jazz Fest Concert on Hot Air
Posted on | July 3, 2010 | No Comments
by Margaret Gallagher
Today on Hot Air, catch a fresh recording of the multi-talented Bria Skonberg. Bria and her excellent quartet played a sold-out show in CBC Studio One last Sunday as part of the TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival. It was a fabulous show and we’ll broadcast the whole concert this afternoon at 5:05 pm. With Solomon Douglas on piano, Sean Cronin on bass, Jesse Cahill on drums and Bria Skonberg on trumpet and vocals.
Hot Air on CBC Radio One
Saturdays, 5:05 pm, 6:05 mountain
www.cbc.ca/hotair
Jazz Journalists Association honours Bill Smith at jazz fest opening gala
Posted on | June 25, 2010 | 1 Comment
by Brian Nation
On behalf of the Jazz Journalists Association, the Vancouver Jazz Festival’s artistic director, Ken Pickering, presented Bill Smith with the JJA’s “A Team” Award for lifetime achievement at the jazz fest’s opening gala at the Vancouver Art Gallery last night.
Almost from the day he arrived in Toronto in 1963 from his birthplace in Bristol, England at age 26, Bill Smith has been one of Canada’s most powerful and intelligent forces for the advancement of jazz and improvised music here and around the world — as a musician, journalist, photographer, record producer, film producer, record store owner, and more. Teamed up with John Norris, who had founded CODA Magazine just a few years earlier, and in whose honour he shares the award, Smith was art director and, later, an editor of CODA. He co-founded the Jazz & Blues Record Centre in Toronto, wrote perceptive and illuminating essays about, and conducted interviews with, many of the luminaries of jazz and improvised music of the second half of the twentieth century. Steve Lacy remarked that Smith’s interview with Cecil Taylor, published in CODA, was the best interview with a jazz musician he’d ever read. Smith also produced a book of his photos of musicians, “Imagine the Sound” and a film documentary by the same name. As a soprano saxophonist and drummer, Smith has performed and recorded with Michael Snow, Leo Smith, Evan Parker, Vinny Golia, and many others.
Bill’s been contributing timeless reviews, interviews, and articles from his archive to this site.
See: http://vancouverjazz.com/billsmith and http://vancouverjazz.com/bsmith
Smith moved to British Columbia about twenty years ago and is a resident of the Gulf Islands.
I “interviewed” Bill before the ceremony last night:
Icons Among Us – A Meditation
Posted on | June 22, 2010 | 1 Comment
by Nou Dadoun
In 1955 Nat Shapiro and Nat Hentoff produced a remarkable book which documented the “Golden Age” of the early days in Jazz up to the heyday of 52nd Street. Hear Me Talkin’ to Ya! The Story of Jazz As Told By The Men Who Made It was (as the subtitle implies) completely constructed from the artists’ own words edited and sequenced to construct a fascinating narrative.
Back in 1955 Jazz was about to enter another “Golden Age” – one which Nat Hentoff was well-positioned to document in other ways as one of the proponents of Candid Records. But things were not all rosy, there were disagreements between the traditionalists, the swingers and the beboppers about what jazz actually was (and who got to define it), economics and the advent of TV were wiping out the big bands like dinosaurs, Charlie Parker would be dead within the year and Rock n’ Roll was just around the corner.
Fast forward to 2010 and quietly over the last couple of decades, a new golden age has emerged. The technology has changed but the approach is the same – let the musicians express themselves through interviews, take that raw material and use it to build a coherent narrative. The resulting film Icons Among Us: Jazz in the Present Tense does not try to tell a historical story as Hear Me... did. Rather it uses interviews with contemporary artists with some select mentors and commentators to provide a snapshot of the state of Jazz along with the dilemmas and challenges facing its practitioners and its supporting community. And perhaps not surprisingly, the contemporary issues have many similarities to the ones that the music has faced and dealt with in the past. (And as an improvement over the book, you get to hear the music too!) Read more
Hot Picks on Hot Air: John Orysik Previews the Jazz Fest
Posted on | June 19, 2010 | No Comments
by Margaret Gallagher
The TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival opens in just a few days. With hundreds of shows to choose from, where do you start? How about with Hot Air this weekend? John Orysik from Coastal Jazz and Blues is our special guest. He’s bringing in some of his picks for the festival, from the brightest stars to hidden gems. Tune in Saturday June 19, right after the 5 pm news, for an hour of great jazz from John.
Hot Air, Saturdays at 5:05 pm (6:05 mountain)
CBC Radio One, 88.1 FM/690 AM in Vancouver
www.cbc.ca/hotair
“Icons Among Us: Jazz in the Present Tense” screening at VanCity Theatre June 19
Posted on | June 15, 2010 | No Comments
by admin
There will be a special screening this Saturday of the theatrical feature version of the acclaimed, four-part TV documentary series. Looking at jazz as a modern art form that continues to evolve and expand, the film highlights what Terence Blanchard calls “the quiet revolution” going on today, including big names like Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Bill Frisell and Wynton Marsalis and numerous emerging artists like Aaron Parks, Tineke Postma and Robert Glasper. Not just a who’s who of modern jazz, the film insists that music is a living, breathing thing, a way of life constantly seeking reinvention.
ICONS AMONG US: JAZZ IN THE PRESENT TENSE
(U.S.A., 2009, 93 mins)
Directed By: Lars Larson, Peter J Vogt, Michael Rivoira
Filmmakers in attendance.
VanCity Theatre
Sat June 19, 7:30pm
Presented in association with TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival
McGill Alumni jazz night
Posted on | June 14, 2010 | No Comments
by admin
Thursday, May 27th marked the McGill Alumni Association of Vancouver’s 9th annual Jazz Night at Hycroft Mansion. Performances featured bassist Jodi Proznick, pianist Tilden Webb, and vocalist Melody Diachun.
More at: McGill Alumni Portal
Feast of Fests on Hot Air
Posted on | June 11, 2010 | 1 Comment
by Margaret Gallagher
Festival season is almost here! Hot Air is warming up for all that great live jazz by playing highlights from some of the many concerts CBC recorded over the past year. Tune in Saturday to hear live recordings from the 2009 Vancouver International Jazz Festival, Jazz in the Garden at Qualicum Beach and MusicFest Vancouver. On the menu are Seamus Blake, Al Di Meola, Melody Diachun, Campbell Ryga, Joyce and more. Hope you can join us!
Plus, would love to hear any of your favourite memories of concerts from the past year. Comments?
Hot Air on CBC Radio One
Saturdays at 5:05 pm, 6:05 mountain
www.cbc.ca/hotair
one more blog
Posted on | June 9, 2010 | 1 Comment
by Brian Nation
Forgot to mention Coat Cooke’s blog (probably because there’s been nothing new since September 2009). Let’s hope this mention will spur him on to posting more often. Composer, reeds and flute player, Coat is artistic director of the New Orchestra Workshop Society and conductor of the society’s Orkestra Futura (formerly the NOW Orchestra).
Again, if you know of any Vancouver jazz musician blogs not listed here please add them in the comments.
more from the blog o’sphere
Posted on | June 3, 2010 | 3 Comments
by Brian Nation
It’s great to see the number of Vancouver jazz musicians who are blogging going up, albeit very slowly. Our previous post pointed readers to James Danderfer’s blog where they could listen to his Jelly Roll Suite and then go on (or back, I guess) to read what I think is a really interesting series of articles about his oddysey as a young musician, student, etc., making his way through modern jazz in Canada as his career develops. Cory Weeds has been blogging on and off for years and seems to be going at it with more regularity of late. One of the interesting and fun things he’s done lately is to invite guests to talk about their favourite Blue Note albums. That kind of thing is always fun and informative. In case you missed the latest addition to the blog links in the sidebar, you should check out drummer Jesse Cahill’s blog. It’s like hangin’ out with Jesse as he talks about some of his gigs and plays some albums from his extensive collection.
For years I’ve been encouraging friends, musicians and otherwise, to start blogging. Often they’ll say, “I don’t think I’m that interesting” or “Who cares what I have to say” but they’d be surprised how many people are interested and, especially for musicians or performers of any kind, it’s a great way to involve people in what you’re doing and build a fan base.
If you’ve got a blog or know of any not listed that might be of interest to readers of this site please add them in the comments.
Listen to James Danderfer’s “Jelly Roll Suite”
Posted on | May 30, 2010 | No Comments
by Brian Nation
As he explains in his blog, Vancouver clarinetist James Danderfer was “commissioned earlier this year by CBC Radio to compose a suite of music in tribute to the late great Jelly Roll Morton . . . . to celebrate his time spent living and working in Vancouver back in 1919.” In his latest post, James provides mp3′s of the Suite. Again Danderfer manages to pay homage to classic jazz while sounding totally modern. To read more and listen to this wonderful music visit jamesdanderfer.com 
