It's been an interesting summer! I took a bit of time to travel and now I'm refreshed and excited for some new projects.
First of all, I want to send a quick "thanks" to everyone that came to hear the Past Present Quintet last Friday September 8th as Andre and I presented the music of our favourite trumpet players. We will be putting up some of the video Andre recorded in the near future once we have a chance to review it.
I'm also looking forward to a few other big projects. On September 29, I'll be joining Kodi Hutchinson for his Quartet Northwest project. This will be a follow up concert to Kodi's last tribute to the late great bassist Charlie Haden. The last show a couple years ago was memorable for me, Charlie Haden was an impressive musician who played with so many of the players I admire. On top of the great music, you'll get to listen to Kodi's knowledgeable and humourous perspective of the music he loves most. If I were you, I would make a reservation at Lolita's Lounge today.
Next up after the Quartet Northwest gig, will be the Prime Time Big Band CD release. It's happening at the Ironwood on Saturday October 7th. This CD has been in the works for nearly a year now. I've only heard a couple tracks so far, but what I have heard sounds fantastic! I can't wait to hear the rest of it, but sadly I have to. In a few weeks, we'll all be able to give it a good listen. Live big band recordings don't happen very often because they are a lot of work and there is so much that can go wrong. Thankfully the Prime Time Big Band is full of many of Calgary's finest professional jazz musicians. I think we've recorded a disc that we can be proud of. Most of our regular shows are nearly sold out, so if you want to celebrate with us as we release the new CD, call the Ironwood ASAP for reservations.
For those of you that have enjoyed my Baritone Madness quintet with Pat Belliveau and Gareth Bane, you will be happy to hear that I am writing new music for this band with the intent of recording a CD in January 2018! We will certainly want to play the music in public before recording it, so I have arranged a night at Lolita's Lounge. On October 27th, we will be playing a few brand new originals as well as a few new arrangements of my favourite standards. With the three baritone saxes and the comradery Pat, Gareth and I have, it is sure to be another fun night full of great music and a few good laughs.
If that isn't enough, there is a very special project I'll be co-leading with my former professor and mentor, Dr. Jeremy Brown. I'm extremely honoured to be co-leading this project with the man that helped form the foundation of my playing over twenty years ago. The details for this are still being ironed out, but it should be one of my favourite projects. I'll keep everyone posted as soon as we book a concert and start rehearsing.
A couple final notes, I'll be updating my calendar soon to reflect all of these shows. It's one of my personal goals to improve my website, so keep an eye out for an updated calendar early next week. I'm also working on other ideas for regular content, such as practice studies/solos for students. If anyone has suggestions, feel free to contact me through the link at the top of the page. I'm always happy to hear from people!
As always, I'm taking new private students for everything from beginner sax lessons to advanced jazz improvisation. Once again, click on the link above to get in touch with me.
I hope to see some of you at gigs! Please come and say hello.
Keith