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2010 Ottawa jazzfest jam report VII
Some of the highlights from Friday night’s jam: Again, the post-secondary players in the Galaxie youth summit acquitted themselves well, with Ottawa high school student/alto player Daniel Ko fitting in...
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Five questions for Frank Lozano
The Ottawa-raised, Montreal-based saxophonist Frank Lozano returns to his hometown on Friday for a duo concert with bassist John Geggie. Both are long-time faculty members at the JazzWorks jazz camp,...
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Jazz composers' roundtable
If you need your creative impulses jogged, read on. I’m feeling inspired myself, having gathered the responses below to several questions having to do with jazz composing. The respondents are pianist...
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Other voices in Canadian jazz (CD reviews)
Here are reviews of three CDs that are somewhat to the left of mainstream Canadian jazz by the likes of, say, Mike Murley, David Braid or Christine Jensen. Most of the “others” are gigging and even...
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Five questions for Frank Lozano about Bill Evans
A Montreal all-star band although it’s not billed as such, BDLT (pianist Francois Bourassa, bassist Michel Donato, saxophonist Frank Lozano and drummer Pierre Tanguay) begins a tour across much of...
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Bill Evans remembered (CD reviews)
With all the love and admiration that flows so freely these days to Brad Mehldau and such 30-something pianists as Jason Moran and Robert Glasper, I wonder sometimes if the influence of Bill Evans has...
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Rob Frayne Dream Band at the NAC Fourth Stage (concert review)
The most harrowing sound during last Thursday’s concert by the Rob Frayne Dream Band came midway during the first set. That’s when the Ottawa musician’s 15-piece ensemble put everything it had into...
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Frank Lozano Trio at Resonance Café (gig review)
I was in Montreal on the weekend, more for the eating than for the listening (check my other blog later today for the rundown), but I still managed to catch tenor saxophonist Frank Lozano with bassist...
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Five questions for Paul Rushka
In 2011, the B.C.-raised, Montreal-based bassist and bandleader Paul Rushka put out a lovely quintet disc called As It Happens. Here’s a clip of his group performing one of the disc’s selections,...
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Ottawa-area jazz camps are fast approaching
First, my favourite jazz “camp” song. Try not to have your mind blown by the trippy imagery: Now that the Ottawa and Montreal jazz festivals are over with, you might think that it’s time for a...
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Take Five: Frank Lozano
Every now and then, Thriving on the Riff will be featuring quick-hit interviews with jazz musicians who are a) coming to Ottawa, and b) willing to indulge me by answering the same tidy set of five...
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Three tenors (Frank, Ted and Donny)
Last night I caught and very much enjoyed the NAC Fourth Stage show of the Frank Lozano Group. The Montreal-based, Ottawa-raised tenor saxophonist (centre) and the boys put on an imaginative,...
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John Geggie sets the stage for his sax-heavy show this Saturday
There must some Ottawa jazz fans still jonesing for bassist John Geggie’s special one-time-only concerts at the NAC Fourth Stage. For more than a dozen years, Geggie teamed regularly with a slew of...
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Claire Devlin, on seeking an open musical mind
I’m always keen to keep an ear out for the young Ottawa musicians who leave town to study jazz elsewhere — the ones that got away, so to speak. Among the latest batch of leavers is tenor saxophonist...
View ArticleCarn Davidson 9, Joshua Rager Nonet, Gaia Wilmer Octet CDs reviewed
Murphy (self-released) Carn Davidson 9 Jondo (Bent River Records) Joshua Rager Nonet Migrations (Red P:iano Records) Gaia Wilmer Octet Here’s an omnibus review of three discs that feature different and...
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