tag:keithorourke.ca,2005:/blogs/latest-news?p=9Latest News2022-08-26T22:15:22-06:00Keith O'Rourkefalsetag:keithorourke.ca,2005:Post/70471652022-08-26T22:15:22-06:002023-10-16T08:47:48-06:00New Album to be released on September 30!<p>I'm extremely excited to announce that I'll be releasing my latest album this September 30, 2022! The Calgary release concert is soon to be announced officially, but I can give you a bit of a heads up in advance. The release will be on October 1 as part of the Chronograph Records Showcase. Further details will be shared soon.</p>
<p>I can't wait to share the album with everyone that helped to fund it as part of my "Bread For Jazz" fundraiser. I hope you enjoy the final product as much as I have. Michael Dangelmaier outdid himself with the graphic design and Trudie Lee managed to coax some fun pictures out of me, even though I'm camera shy.</p>
<p>My calendar is nearly updated, so you can also hear me play with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra in September and October. Prime Time Big Band is also back for another season and I hope to premier a couple new works with the band early in the season. </p>
<p>Baritone Madness will be travelling to Lethbridge to play a matinee show on Saturday October 22. I've also been writing new arrangements and I'm in talks to present another Baritone Madness show in Calgary in the near future. </p>
<p>As always, I hope to see you all at one of these shows! </p>Keith O'Rourketag:keithorourke.ca,2005:Post/64504882020-10-07T00:50:37-06:002022-08-26T22:15:54-06:00Life on pause<p>It's no overstatement to say that 2020 has been a year unlike any other. For most musicians, myself included, this has meant a lifetime of building a career has temporarily ground to a halt with no fault of our own. Some of us were already online and embraced the wave of social media concerts with little financial payoff but loads of exposure, while others of us have been less active either due to difficult instrumentation (no one wants to hear solo sax for 1-2 hours without bass, drums or piano) or a lack of technical prowess with computers. I haven't done much in the way of public offerings, but what I have done is to really sit down and work on my craft in a way that I haven't had time for since I left university.</p>
<p>Of course, I have been practicing and writing music diligently for years, in fact I often get light-hearted jabs that I practice too much. For me the one silver lining to this dark Covid cloud that has put the music industry and my career in jeopardy has been the time to work with only my playing goals in mind for the first time. For the only time in my career, I don't have appointments, projects and deadlines to meet, so I can study in depth all the great musicians that have inspired me over the years. The decision to look back and further my understanding of all the legends that came before me was inspired by a friend and teacher in Calgary and I am very glad that he pointed out a few things that are (hopefully were) missing in my playing, that I hear in those that I admire. I can't say enough how much I am glad that he pointed it out, because by looking back I feel I have taken steps forward too. </p>
<p>The study of all these great musicians has kept me whole over these past difficult months and I have found my writing to be influenced once more by the legends whose shoulders I stand on. In fact, if a few things go well, I hope to record an album that is inspired by this time spent revisiting the masters that inspired me to make a career as a jazz musician. I have already raised some funds towards the album expenses and applied for grant support as well. If any of you reading this are interested in being a financial sponsor and a patron of the arts in this strange time of need, please drop me a line. I've been brainstorming a way to let many people into the process of recording, including maybe streaming one day or afternoon of the session so sponsors can be a witness to the recording, while still being in the comfort and safety of their home. I am always open to other suggestions, if you have any email me at <a contents="keith@keithorourke.ca" data-link-label="" data-link-type="email" href="mailto:keith@keithorourke.ca" target="_blank"><strong>keith@keithorourke.ca</strong></a></p>
<p>One final thought for today. I will be starting a weekly session teaching standards to anyone who would like to take part <strong>Saturdays at 10am (Calgary time)</strong>. This will be a drop in style class, so there is no need to commit to every Saturday class. The price is $15/person for each session. I will be covering many topics for each standard including, chord and scale studies to help familiarize yourself with the essential elements of the song, learning vocabulary taken from transcriptions of legends and implementing them, voice leading, "virtual trading trading 4's", rhythmic and thematic development and more. For students that aren't very confident this is an ideal place to take a chance, because Zoom classes mean your microphone will be muted, so no one will witness your genius or your shortcomings, as you explore some new concepts. I'll also spend a bit of time after each class doing a question and answers to clear up any additional questions you may have. If enough students are interested, I am also willing to put together a "jam video" so those that volunteer to submit a recording can hear the others in the class as well as trade solos with me. It's recommended that participants know most of your major scales. Other than that, I will provide more information on modes and chords as we encounter them. I will be sending out PDFs of the materials on Friday evening, so enrolment needs to be by Friday at 5pm. I would do a later cut off time, but I will be providing all the information in all the transpositions needed by anyone that signs up. If you play a Bb or Eb instrument, it's safe to enroll as late as 10pm the Friday before, otherwise the 5pm time will stand. Please let me know what instrument you play so that I can send the correct materials on Friday evening or Saturday morning before the session. I will also be sending out a few practice tracks that will go with each class, to help you practice. To sign up email me at<strong> <a contents="keith@keithorourke.ca" data-link-label="" data-link-type="email" href="mailto:keith@keithorourke.ca" target="_blank">keith@keithorourke.ca</a></strong>. I will be posting a payment link soon as well, so check back soon for an update to this post. Quick note, the class on Saturday October 17 will be at 1pm due to a scheduling conflict.</p>
<p>If you are interested but unable to attend, I am working out the logistics to offering a 2-3 week access to each standard. I will not be filming the class, but I will be recording the content separately on the Sunday following the class with the video being available as fast as I can get it edited.</p>Keith O'Rourketag:keithorourke.ca,2005:Post/63467552020-06-08T17:08:24-06:002020-07-07T21:30:57-06:00New Projects<p>Woah, 2020 has been a wild ride and not in a good way. I hope everybody reading this has been healthy and safe all along. </p>
<p>Obviously the Baritone Madness tour dates were cancelled along with everyone else's shows. We remain hopeful that a vaccine can be found quickly and that we will be playing for you in person again soon. In the meantime, I have been working on arrangements and I'll see if we can put out a video for you to enjoy.</p>
<p>In more exciting news, I have been brainstorming of a way to bring music to more people now that we're all social distancing. I came up with one idea that I'll be launching today. Please allow me to introduce, Bow River Music Lessons! This is an online business specializing in group music lessons and I've lined up some of Calgary's finest musicians to be a part of this new project. I'll be teaching saxophone and some jazz improvisation courses, on clarinet will be Cedric Blary who is possibly the most in demand clarinet clinician in the city. On flute is the ever positive Rachael Flatt, who brings decades of teaching experience. The same thing can be said for Paul Toutant on trombone, he is a wonderful teacher with tonnes of experience! Finally we have Andre Wickenheiser offering trumpet masterclasses and jazz improvisation classes. Andre is one of the most creative improvisers in the city and any student would be lucky to have him as a teacher. </p>
<p>For these classes, they will be operating as webinars on Zoom. The students will be able to play along with the teacher as they present new skills and review old ones. All classes will help address fundamental instrument skills while working towards a final video project that students can share privately with friends and family. We currently have just over a dozen courses offered, but we will be adding more soon. If you have a request for a project, please send me an email at <a contents="grouplessons@keithorourke.ca " data-link-label="" data-link-type="email" href="mailto:grouplessons@keithorourke.ca" target="_blank">grouplessons@keithorourke.ca </a></p>
<p>Group classes will start the first week of July. All summer classes will be for 8 weeks with two sessions per week for one hour. Classes are $12.50 each, due to the nature of group classes, there won't be make up lessons and you'll need to pay for the entire course before the first class to reserve your spot. The total cost would be $200 for the 16 classes. There is a digital PDF Brochure on the Bow River Music page of my website that you can <a contents="click to download here" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/content.sitezoogle.com/u/160451/dacb466508107119f7385e2f0dce142f3503ae40/original/bow-river-music-brochure-reduced-file-size.pdf?response-content-type=application%2Fpdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAJUKM2ICUMTYS6ISA%2F20200612%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20200612T041550Z&X-Amz-Expires=604800&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=110519282f1c786d05046962503d50e7b9cbb26358fd633c5a7b5fe3a414a665" target="_blank">click to download here</a>.</p>
<p>Another project that I've got on the go right now is my fundraiser for my next album. I have created a GoFundMe page called "<a contents="Bread For Jazz" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://gf.me/u/x6f7jy" target="_blank">Bread For Jazz</a>" to accept donations in exchange. This is essentially a bake sale, where you donate and I'll make you a delicious loaf of Sourdough bread. Since the Covid lockdown, I have had the time to learn this new skill and I have had rave reviews from everyone that has tried it. I can only practice so many hours a day, so this new hobby is now being put to use to raise funds to cover all the expenses that grants do not cover. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>One final thought today, in these difficult times for musicians sales of albums mean more than ever to us. For your convenience here are a few links to buy my albums and albums I'm on through Chronograph Records. Buying direct from Chronograph puts the most money in the artists pocket.</p>
<p><a contents="Sketches From The Road" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://chronographrecords.com/releases/sketches-from-the-road/" target="_blank">Sketches From The Road</a></p>
<p><a contents="Baritone Madness" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://chronographrecords.com/releases/baritone-madness/" target="_blank">Baritone Madness</a></p>
<p><a contents="Prime Time Big Band" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://chronographrecords.com/releases/live-at-the-ironwood/" target="_blank">Prime Time Big Band</a></p>
<p> </p>Keith O'Rourketag:keithorourke.ca,2005:Post/60649992020-01-06T17:16:44-07:002020-01-06T17:16:44-07:00Happy New Year 2020!!<p>It's a New Year and a New Decade and I'm excited for the future. 2019 was an incredible year for me and I managed to have a couple of career highlights that I have been working towards for ages. It's great when all the hard work starts to pay off, but I still have ambitious goals that I'm working towards. This year isn't a big resolution year, it's more of a keep working hard plan.</p>
<p>The biggest achievement for the year has to be how well Baritone Madness has been received by Radio Hosts in Canada and around the world. I'm overjoyed that the album debuted at #1 on the Canadian Earshot jazz charts, but more importantly is how it has stayed at the top of the charts. As of this morning, I found out that Baritone Madness has been the #1 album on the Earshot Charts for three consecutive months!! You read that correct, this wonderful project grown here in Calgary has been #1 for October, November and December of 2019! I have to say, it was very cool to be on the same charts as some Canadian Legends of jazz as well as some All Time Legends of jazz. On the Earshot charts we were on the same list as a couple of amazing saxophonists that I have taken lessons from, Kirk MacDonald and Pat LaBarbera. On the US NACC charts we peaked at #11 and were on the same list as John Coltrane and Stan Getz! The two deceased legends both had unreleased material discovered and both put out albums posthumously around the same time as we did. </p>
<p>The second big career goal was bringing a band on tour for the first time. With the release of the CD delayed to September, our summer tour became a "Pre-release tour" and we played three amazing festivals in 2019, with appearances at the Montreal, Ottawa and Edmonton International Festivals. For the first time it was amazing to see the response from music lovers from outside of our Calgary home. It was heartwarming to get standing ovations in all three festivals. Another highlight was meeting people at the festivals and hearing them gush about the music we played. We all poured our heart and soul into this project, so it's wonderful to hear that people love the music. I'm talking with a few festivals about bringing Baritone Madness to their cities for the summer of 2020, so stay tuned for more news. </p>
<p><strong>Now for what's new....</strong> </p>
<p>In all things I feel I need to move forward and in keeping with that, I'm working on new music for Baritone Madness for our upcoming date at Lolita's Lounge on February 7th. I've been inspired by all my listening over the last few months to arrange yet another Mingus song, as well as taking some inspiration from the Canadian Jazz Legend Oscar Peterson in an arrangement of his 'Blues of the Prairies'. In talks with Pat Belliveau, we decided his song 'La Zona Blanca' from his 1997 CD could be a great song for the band and I'm working on it now. Of course, no concert would be complete without some brand new compositions from me. As per usual, writing the song is easier than coming up with a title, so I'll have to share that info later. </p>
<p>At the end of the month I get the privilege of playing with the great Polish bassist Piotr Lemanczyk! I had the pleasure of playing with him not so long ago and he's an exceptional musician and I'm very much looking forward to the gigs we'll be playing together at the end of January. I know that musicians from out of the country are always a harder sell for tickets, so please consider coming to one of these shows. Piotr is easily one of the best bassists that I have ever played with and these shows will be spectacular. We have two shows in Calgary and one in Edmonton and it's listed as the Tyler Hornby/Piotr Lemanczyk trio. I have two of the nights already on my website calendar and the third should be up as soon as I get the specific details. </p>
<p>If you like wine, make a reservation at the Vin Room West. I'll be joining Sheldon Zandboer for a couple duo performances and it should be a fun night. Sheldon has promised to challenge me, which is one of my favourite things to hear from another musician! I love when great players take you on a musical journey and this will be one of those nights. Sheldon is so versatile, so I'm looking forward to the interaction on the bandstand playing both familiar and unfamiliar repertoire. Besides the amazing music you'll hear, it is also great that the Vin Room West doesn't have a cover charge. So book your reservation for dinner/drinks asap, as it should be a busy place. </p>
<p>Last but not least, I'm working on my own trio project. At the moment, it is in its infancy, but we've had a couple amazing rehearsals. I don't want to say too much yet, but with this trio I hope to revisit some hardly played standards, arrange some non-jazz songs for the band as well as develop some new repertoire just for this group. I'm hoping to do a demo in the spring with the intent of having a second group to tour with as well. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>That's all for now, so it's now back to the practice room for me. All great things come from hard work, so that is what I will continue to do.</p>
<p>All the best to you all this New Year/Decade!</p>
<p>Keith</p>Keith O'Rourketag:keithorourke.ca,2005:Post/59665172019-11-20T01:00:00-07:002019-11-20T01:04:30-07:00Latest update<p>Once again, I've let it get too long in between my posts online. So much to share! </p>
<p><br>As most of you the Baritone Madness album was launched officially this September 13, 2019. It's been an exciting time for me and the band as reviews and radio play have occurred. Most notable have been our #1 in Canada debut on the radio charts, as well as #1 for the month of October in Canada. We've also been overjoyed to get as high as #11 on the US NACC charts, sharing the top 20 with legends of jazz like John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Chick Corea and Stan Getz. If you haven't already done so, it is available on all of the major streaming sites. Of course we would appreciate a download purchase of any type over streaming, but we would like to have our music played far and wide. FYI, if you purchase one track it is the equivalent of around 180-200 streams. </p>
<p><br>Also exciting is Baritone Madness will be presenting a Christmas show on December 14, 2019 at the Ironwood Stage and Grill starting at 9:00pm. Cover is $20 and the Ironwood is an all ages venue. It will be all new material as we didn't have a Christmas playlist. Pat, Gareth and I are feverishly writing some fun new X-Mas arrangements to share. I personally can't wait to see the reaction to my fun take on Jingle Bells and The Little Drummer Boy. </p>
<p>One final thing to share, I will be hosting the Kawa Jazz Jam on Saturday November 30th from 3-6pm. It's a free event so come and say hello and maybe sit in for a song. </p>
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<p>I'll be starting a regular post every Wednesday from now through the New Year. There won't always be much to say, but I'll be keeping my website a bit more updated. Feel free to reach out and ask questions either by commenting or reach out via the Contact link.</p>Keith O'Rourketag:keithorourke.ca,2005:Post/56784902019-03-13T00:00:53-06:002019-03-13T00:00:53-06:00Upcoming gigs<p>Hi everybody, it's been a while since my latest update. It has been a busy start to 2019 with a lot of great things in the works. </p>
<p><strong>NAMM 2019</strong></p>
<p>For me the year started off with a trip to the NAMM conference in Anaheim. As always, it's an amazing place to go and see the latest and greatest music gear. I want to thank Theo Wanne for the pass and the opportunity to be among the first to get to play the new Gaia 3 tenor saxophone mouthpiece. I didn't think it was possible to improve on the Gaia 2, but Theo has done exactly that. The Gaia 3 is another masterpiece and I'm having a blast playing it!! I'm also hoping to announce another endorsement soon, I'll update this as soon as it happens. </p>
<p><strong>Nvrlnd - March 26</strong></p>
<p>On March 26 I'm going to have my first show with a new project I'm working on. I have mostly been playing with quintets and quartets over the past few years, but I have been very inspired by some classic recordings to work on my saxophone trio playing. For this first gig, I'll be playing some classic standards alongside of a few brand new compositions. On this gig I'll be joined by Jason Valleau (bass) and Jon May (drums) and I'm very excited to see where this new project goes. Both musicians joining me are extremely creative and talented, so I'm sure it'll be a fun show. Please see my calendar for details. </p>
<p><strong>Baritone Madness CD Release</strong></p>
<p>Please mark Saturday May 4 into your calendars! The long awaited Baritone Madness CD is nearly ready. This labour of love features original compositions from myself, Pat Belliveau and Gareth Bane and a few select standards. It has been a lot of work getting the album done, at this point I think I have lost track of how many times I have listened to the whole disc to make sure everything is just right. This past Saturday we had our pictures taken and I'm eager to see the design the Michael Dangelmaier comes up with for our cover. He has a great concept and even managed to convince me to have my picture on the front with Pat and Gareth. I'm not a big fan of putting my picture anywhere, so this is a BIG deal. I liked his initial concept that much. Please click on the calendar for additional details for the CD release concert. </p>
<p><strong>Baritone Madness Plays the TD Ottawa Jazz festival</strong></p>
<p>I could add a lot more to this, but I'm going to wrap up with the announcement that Baritone Madness will be touring a bit this summer to support the release of the album. The first festival to announce our show is the 2019 TD Ottawa Jazz Festival. We are eager to play on the opening night of this years festival. I can't wait to see Ottawa for the first time and to share this music with the rest of Canada, starting in Ottawa. For information on our performance in Ottawa please go to their festival website. </p>
<p>We will be announcing a few more festival shows as soon as we are able.</p>Keith O'Rourketag:keithorourke.ca,2005:Post/54749242018-10-18T02:19:36-06:002018-10-18T02:19:36-06:00Baritone Madness recording<p>Hi everybody, </p>
<p>It's been a busy summer and fall season. I have been very fortunate to have been hired to play back-to-back productions at Stage West which has kept me busy playing nightly since the end of June. More importantly, the summer was spent preparing for the Baritone Madness Recording!! So aside from the theatre gig, it has been a summer and fall of shedding and writing in preparation for the recording session. With all that practice I feel great about my playing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>On September 28-30, Pat, Gareth and I (with our rhythm section) set up at OCL to record our first album as a group. I am extremely happy with the result!! I think we have a great selection of pieces with compositions from Gareth, Pat and myself along with a few standards that I arranged for the session. I have uploaded a few short clips of rough tracks (not the final mixed and mastered version) as a teaser. There is much more to be done, we have only started the mixing process and all the physical production "stuff" will be starting soon, but we're well ahead of schedule to release the album for Spring 2019. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>For anyone looking to check out my next jazz show, I'll be teaming up with Andre Wickenheiser once again on November 23 to present the music of our influences. This time we'll be presenting the music of Horace Silver. Horace was a prolific writer, so we have a lot of great music to choose from. You'll have to stop by Lolita's Lounge to see exactly which tunes we'll select, but I'm sure that everyone will leave the club humming one of Horace's memorable pieces. Joining Andre and I on stage will be Jon Day (Piano), Jason Valleau (Bass) and Tyler Hornby (Drums). </p>
<p> </p>
<p>As always, I'll be playing with the Prime Time Big Band for nearly all of the fall concerts at the Ironwood. Dave is working hard to program some great music and I've had fun with a few really nice solo selections with another one coming up this Saturday. Also, now that the Baritone Madness album is recorded, I will be finishing up two half completed big band works. If I'm quick, they might even be ready for one of the fall concerts.</p>
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<p>For those that are interested, my summer and fall of music at Stage West started with "Red Rock Diner" and I'm currently playing "The World Goes Round". I'll also be in the pit for "Beautiful: The Carol King Musical" as it comes through town in a couple weeks as part of a Broadway Across Canada tour.</p>
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<p>I hope to see you all at a gig soon. Please sign up for my mailing list to receive up to date information on upcoming gigs and teasers from the recording in advance of the CD release next spring. </p>
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<p>All the best,</p>
<p>Keith </p>Keith O'Rourketag:keithorourke.ca,2005:Post/50198512018-01-11T23:03:59-07:002021-06-05T23:21:22-06:00Happy New Year<p>Happy 2018!! It's looking like it's going to be another exciting year already. </p>
<p>First up is my long awaited Edmonton CD Release date at the Yardbird Suite. I can't put into words exactly how excited I am to finally be presenting my music on one of Canada's finest stages for live jazz! There is no end to how many of the worlds best have graced the same stage in the past and I'm elated to join such a community. If you're in Edmonton on January 20th, please come and take a musical trip with my quintet. We're playing all original music that we recorded on the CD and there is something for all types of jazz lovers. </p>
<p>I won't be home in Calgary for long, as I have been invited by the good people at Theo Wanne Mouthpieces to attend the annual NAMM conference in Anaheim, which starts on January 25. While there aren't any performances scheduled, I'm excited to rub shoulders with all the other fine Theo Wanne artists. </p>
<p>Of course, I'll be back in action with the Prime Time Big Band for our usual performances every other Saturday and there's more to be announced soon! I'll share that news shortly, stay tuned....</p>
<p> </p>Keith O'Rourketag:keithorourke.ca,2005:Post/48480842017-09-13T00:41:18-06:002018-01-11T22:51:47-07:00Fall 2017<p>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. </p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>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!</p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>I hope to see some of you at gigs! Please come and say hello.</p>
<p>Keith</p>
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<p> </p>Keith O'Rourketag:keithorourke.ca,2005:Post/47078242017-05-13T15:08:37-06:002017-05-13T15:11:17-06:00CD Release May 28I'm very excited to announce that I will be releasing my new CD soon!! It's titled Sketches from the Road and features all original music inspired by my travels over the past twenty years. There's a little bit for everyone in this album, some straight ahead swing, some ECM inspired jazz, some odd meter and a ballad or two. Joining me will be Andre Wickenheiser (trumpet), Jon Day (piano), Kodi Hutchinson (bass) and Tyler Hornby (drums).<br><br>Please bookmark the evening of Sunday May 28 at the Ironwood Stage at 8pm.<br>Hopefully you can make it out to listen to some all original songs with my band. <p>Reservations can be made by calling the Ironwood at 403-269-5581</p><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/160451/42ee261399dd6a3097696b6b91c8084031337f78/original/sketches-cover-final.jpg?1494709667" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br><br> Keith O'Rourketag:keithorourke.ca,2005:Post/44612782016-11-10T16:50:08-07:002016-11-10T16:50:08-07:00Exciting times!Wow! It's been a while since I updated this, but that's understandable with the amazing month I have had.<br><br>The biggest news is that in the past month I have recorded my first album!! I was joined by Kodi Hutchinson, Andre Wickenheiser, Jon Day and Tyler Hornby at OCL studios on October 20 &21. The band sounded great and I can't wait to share the results with everybody. Stay tuned for the release dates.<br><br>If that wasn't enough, two weeks after wrapping up my album recording at the studio, I had the pleasure of being part of the Prime Time Big Bands Live recording session at the Ironwood Stage and Grill. The big band sessions also went well and I have heard some of the raw, unedited tracks and there is a lot to be excited about. I'm overjoyed that my big band composition made the list of songs that we recorded, alongside of the works of renowned composers Fred Stride and Allan Gilliland. <br><br>Finally, tonight (November 10) my Baritone Madness quintet with Pat Belliveau, Gareth Bane, Tyler Hornby and Jeremy Coates will be performing as part of JazzYYC's Canadian Jazz festival. This band is a wild ride and should be a fun night for all. <br><br>If you can't make it out tonight, stop by Kawa this Saturday November 12 from 3-6 for the Jazz jam. All ages and skill levels are welcome and encouraged to play.<br><br>After all of these performances wrap up, it will be time to fully update this website. On the list of things to come are, a Scale Workout of the Day that I have been promising a few of my students. It's a part of my daily routine and can be adapted for all levels of music students. Also urgent will be updating my calendar. That has sadly been neglected as I prepared for the recording sessions. <br><br>As always, if you stop in at my gigs, please say hello.<br><br> Keith O'Rourketag:keithorourke.ca,2005:Post/36835792016-04-13T23:50:33-06:002016-04-13T23:50:33-06:00HelloHi there, <br><br>I'd like to say a quick thank you for visiting my new webpage. At the moment there is still a fair bit still in the works, but I hope you enjoy what I currently have here. Most important is that I have uploaded four original songs recorded last year with the hope of getting funding to record and distribute what will be my debut CD. Please take the time to listen to them and let me know what you think. There is an email link and I would love to hear from you. If you would like to contribute to a debut recording, please get in touch. <br><br>Over the next couple months, I'll be very busy performing at Stage West and their production of the Young Frankenstein Musical, but I will still be playing a few jazz gigs while the show is running. On June 1, 2016, my quintet will be playing the final concert of the Cliff Bungalow jazz series. I'll be joined by Andre Wickenheiser, Jon Day, Kodi Hutchinson and Tyler Hornby. For this concert we will be playing a few brand new compositions of mine, as well as a few arrangements that I'm very proud of and will certainly be on my debut CD when it happens. Other repertoire for the concert will be pieces written by a couple of my biggest writing influences, Tom Harrell and Kenny Wheeler and one or two select standards. Another exciting show is on May 7, I'll be playing with the Prime Time Big Band when we welcome Al Kay back as a special guest. He is a remarkable trombone player and one of the best in the country, so it's sure to be a great show. <br><br>As I mentioned before, there are still features I want to add. Primarily, I want to add a page to download exercises. I have been teaching saxophone and jazz improvisation for many years and I have written many exercises for students, some are long some are quite short. The ones that I will be adding to this website are sample solos for many standard jazz songs. While the goal of improvising is to be creating a new path, I have found it to be beneficial to many students to hear many concepts in written solos before they can incorporate them into their own vocabulary. The idea behind each one of these written solos, is to aid a student in hearing how a concept sounds by playing them with a playalong or other accompanying device (such as the iReal app or Band In A Box). Most solos will include examples of chord resolutions and some will add specific concepts such as adding the flat nine sound. At the moment I have quite a few exercises handwritten, as I add them to music notating software I will add them here. If you would like to be contacted when each new exercise is posted, use the contact page. Please mention the jazz exercise downloads and I'll let you know when new exercises are posted. <br><br>That's all for now. I hope to see you at a gig. <br>Please come and say hello,<br>Keith Keith O'Rourke