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Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra Releases Tidal Currents: East Meets West

A unique collaboration between the WJO and two of Canada’s leading jazz composers, Christine Jensen and Jill Townsend, this commissioned suite captures the spirit and essence of the bodies of water that shaped both composers since childhood. They are also featured on the album as guest artists, with Jill as conductor and Christine as saxophone soloist.

Line Up
Saxophones: Christine Jensen (alto, soprano), Neil Watson (alto), Niall Cade (tenor), Monica Jones (tenor), Kyle Wedlake (baritone)
Trumpets: Shane Hicks, Jenny Taylor, Richard Gillis, Matthew Walden
Trombones: Joel Green, Jeremy Duggleby, Francois Godere, Isabelle Lavoie
Piano: Will Bonness
Guitar: Larry Roy
Bass: Karl Kohut
Drums: Fabio Ragnelli
Conductor: Jill Townsend

Track Listing
(Focus tracks in bold)
1. Inside The Wave (Townsend)
Soloists: Matthew Walden, Fabio Ragnelli
2. Crossing Lachine (Jensen)
Soloists: Fabio Ragnelli, Niall Cade
3. Tidal Currents (Townsend)
Soloists: Karl Kohut, Christine Jensen
4. Rock Skipping Under The Half Moon (Jensen)
Soloist: Christine Jensen

What Folks Are Saying
“…a radiant and grand ensemble…We must express our pleasure in listening to this album, with its beautiful compositions, splendidly performed and with sumptuous arrangements. It is an album that can be played on repeat, and truth be told, we would have liked to have two more tracks. This is perhaps the only criticism we can offer regarding this album that evokes the vast open spaces, prairies, lakes, and rivers—a return to nature that is good for the heart and soul—so why deny yourself the pleasure?”
– Thierry De Clemensat, Paris Move

“This is a stellar release by a superb ensemble, with thought-provoking compositions from the featured guests. Multiple listening sessions will reveal new layers each time.”
– David Reed, The Belleville Intelligencer

“…a terrific ensemble whose seventh release maintains the high standard set by its predecessors…The four pieces form a half-hour suite whose rewards are plentiful, thanks to the playing of the ensemble as well as the quality of the material the composers provided to them…a splendid addition to the group’s discography.”
– Ron Schepper, Textura

“…venerable and always excellent…Impeccable recorded sound does the whole project justice.”
– Robert Rowat, CBC

About the WJO
The Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra (WJO) is Canada’s first community-based, non-profit professional jazz orchestra. Founded in 1997 (registered charity in 2000), the WJO has matured to become an important part of Winnipeg’s cultural landscape, reflected in the ongoing support the organization receives from the Manitoba Arts Council, the Winnipeg Arts Council, the Winnipeg Foundation, and other sponsors. The mandate of the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra is to be an instrumental force in the promotion and development of big band jazz in Manitoba and beyond, through performance, composition, recording and education.

The WJO has sought to fulfill this mandate in several ways. They present a regular concert series that reflects the diversity of approaches to big band performance and repertoire. They hire Manitoba’s best professional jazz musicians to make up the ensemble, and allow for a rotation of personnel to bring in up and coming musicians. The WJO seeks to present the best big band jazz compositions and arrangements available, and they encourage new work through the commission of new compositions and arrangements for big band by Canadian and Manitoban composers (over 100 have been written for the WJO to date).

The orchestra collaborates with national and international guest performers and conductors that have informed and developed the ensemble, musicians and audience. The organization gives back to the community through educational outreach programs and projects including school ensemble performances at WJO concerts, their High School Honour Jazz Band project (a collaboration with Jazz Winnipeg Festival), and big band workshops held in several Winnipeg schools. Finally, they fulfill their mandate through recording the ensemble and its original music. The WJO has released seven albums to date, with many more on the way.

For more info: winnipegjazzorchestra.com


Audrey Ochoa Releases The Head of a Mouse

Audrey Ochoa’s best album yet features inspired and personal compositions performed by an all-star lineup with seamless live-off-the-floor execution.

“My father used to tell me ‘…it’s better to be the head of a mouse than the tail of a lion.’

I didn’t write [these tunes] with any specific musicians in mind – unlike previous albums – so when it came time to start planning the recording, I realized I was going to need different rhythm sections, strings, additional horns and a bass trombone – 12 musicians spread across 13 tracks. I tried to highlight everyone – they’re all musicians I admire so much, it wasn’t hard to find places for them to shine.

All the songs are personal – they’re about family, grief, relationships – I wrote them in late 2020/2021, when live performance was restricted, so composition was all I had as an outlet. I guess I was writing my own comfort music, borrowing from artists like Donny Hathaway and Daniel Caesar – and trying to include styles that I grew up playing, like Ska and Salsa. I even threw in a trombone chorale, a shout-out to my years playing in trombone quartets and choirs – I even sing on one of the tracks.

This is without a doubt my favourite album. We recorded all the tracks in four days, and had it mixed the following week. It was recorded live off the floor – did two to three takes of each tune. I had the artwork finished before we even started recording. Everything about this album came together very easily – it wasn’t a stressful endeavour.” – Audrey Ochoa


Hutchinson Andrew Trio Releases The Senator: A Tribute To Tommy Banks

The multiple-award-winning Hutchinson Andrew Trio (HAT) is a vital and distinctively western force on the Canadian and international jazz scene. Winners of the prestigious TD Grand Jazz Award at the 34th Annual Montreal International Jazz Festival and a four-time Western Canadian Music Awards nominee, HAT brings a unique perspective to their music inspired by the vast prairie landscapes and majestic Rocky Mountains that surround them. Downbeat Magazine made the group an Editor’s Pick and called them “a terrific listen, with great musicianship throughout.”

The Senator pays tribute to the the Honourable Tommy Banks (1936-2018), a jazz legend who was both a world- class musician and a champion of the performing arts in his community. Banks – a pianist, conductor, arranger, composer, TV personality, actor, producer and politician – had an unparalleled, multi-faceted career spanning more than 60 years in virtually every aspect of the entertainment industry in Canada. A professional jazz pianist at age 14, he went on to lead his own bands, conduct symphony orchestras around the world, direct musical ceremonies at international events, host his own long-running television show, and act in film and television. He also served nearly 12 years in the Canadian Senate.

Supported by the CKUA radio foundation, this album is a tribute to Banks’s legacy as an artist, but also to the important marks The Senator left on Alberta and Canada as a community leader, politician, and champion of the performing arts.


Chris Andrew’s “Home” reaches 1 Million streams on Spotify!

Listen now on Spotify

Home is the latest release for Edmonton based pianist, Chris Andrew. The title of the album speaks clearly to the inspiration for the compositions Chris crafted for this thoughtful exploration into his world. Spending time back and forth between his home base in Edmonton, Alberta and the University of Auckland in New Zealand where he was finishing his master’s degree in early 2020, Chris began to discover was most important to him in both his life and his art; family and community. As Chris comments, “Having a safe place surrounded by my family and my community has brought me a much-needed sense of security and stable foundation which allows me to do what I am doing as an artist. This has never become more clear than over the past few years with the challenges all of us have been facing in the world.”

Bringing together influences ranging traditional to contemporary and inspired by some of his heroes including pianists Joey Calderazzo to Aaron Parks, Chris has created what he hopes is a clear statement to the people in his life that have given him the security and support that they are part of this musical journey.

Recorded in Auckland, New Zealand in February of 2020 as the world was beginning to change more than anyone knew at the time, Chris employed some of the great talents of the University of Auckland’s jazz faculty. The record features 7 original contemporary jazz compositions in a trio and quartet setting with Chris Andrew (piano), Ron Samsom (drums), Olivier Holland (bass) and Roger Manins (saxophones).

 

 


Redline Trio releases sophomore album “Underdog” on Chronograph Records

Redline Trio’s cohesiveness and musicianship is immediately evident on your first listening. Their musical concept is unabashedly straight ahead with repertoire that favours the traditional head-solos-head format. Each musician has contributed their own compositions to this recording, and the album is filled with fresh new sounds. Redline Trio is composed of Calgarians Jeff Sulima on drums, Steve Shepard on bass, and Mark DeJong on tenor saxophone. On this date, they’re joined by Vancouver’s titanic talent Brad Turner on trumpet and New York’s Steve Hudson on piano.

They have also burnished their group’s sound in a way that’s not very common anymore: for the past six years, they’ve been playing together every week at a Calgary venue called Betty Lou’s Library. With several Western Canadian tours with Turner and with Hudson under their belts they headed into the award-winning OCL Studios in Chestermere, Alberta.

A note on the recording itself: The session was tracked by Josh Rob Gwilliam at OCL and then mixed and mastered by the group’s trumpeter Brad Turner, who is himself a highly gifted recording engineer and record producer. The sound quality of this final product is beautiful: each instrument’s tone is clear and warm, the balance between the instruments is perfect, and the musicians all sound as though they’re playing in the same room together. If, like me, you treat yourself to listening to this album with headphones on, you will appreciate the recording quality even more.


Keith O’Rourke’s “Imperfect Perfectionist” Now Available

As with many artists, the pandemic shutdowns of 2020 became a time of soul searching for saxophonist and composer Keith O’Rourke. His sophomore album the ‘Imperfect Perfectionist’ is a direct result of this unexpected and prolonged period of self-reflection, practice and composition.

Keith began shaping the concept of a smaller ensemble as he realized that featuring a larger group with reopening of the arts industry might not be the most responsible way to re-enter live performance. Keith started writing for a chordless trio, putting aside some of the other projects he had on the go with this in mind. Keith immediately understood that this trio project was at once both exhilarating and a daunting challenge. On one hand, there was the freedom offered by the space that is left behind with less musicians interacting. On the other, every musician in this reduced setting needs to be active and interactive to effectively fill the space.

Keith approached the creation of this ensemble with an acute need to create a full sound with minimal instrumentation. Sanah Kadoura was his first choice for the drum chair as she is known for her fearless playing and endless creativity and chops. Double-bassist Kodi Hutchinson was a natural choice with his wealth of trio experience and his ability to take calculated risks to augment the sound of the band making three sound like more.

For the music itself, Keith has penned several fresh compositions and arranged a variety of standards that shine with this new trio.

Always the perfectionist, Keith strives in his own imperfect way to take us a journey through his life through music.


Newly Formed BPM Trio to Release Debut Live Album, AUDI ALTERAM PARTEM

Saxophonist PHIL DWYER joins forces with his son BEN DWYER and East Coast Drummer MARK ADAM to form their new group the BPM TRIO to release their debut live album, AUDI ALTERAM PARTEM on Chronograph Records

Album available March 19th, 2021 

Press/media: Physical & digital copies available, please write to [email protected] to request your copy


“Audi Alteram Partem” is the legal principle whereby all sides be heard and accorded a fair right to reply. It is most certainly an apt principal central to great jazz, but here also references where Canadian music icon Phil Dwyer was in the fall of 2016.

Dwyer, the perennial award-winner and member of the Order of Canada, was embarking on a distinct career shift. He was in the midst of his law studies in Fredericton, NB and was somehow fitting in concerts here and there on Canada’s East Coast. He brought together this trio of himself on saxophone and piano, his son Ben Dwyer on bass and Mark Adam on drums, for a series of four concerts in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Mark had an inkling that it might be good to bring a small recording rig along so each night, after he got his drums set up, he managed to put up some mics. You know, just in case!

And so here we are, with the evidence of these wonderful concerts – one in Moncton, NB and one in Sackville, NB. Hosted by legendary Canadian trumpeter Roland Bourgeois, the trio played a blend of intimate, fearless, tender, on the edge music. The audience was perfect, encouraging the artists to keep saying what they needed to say. It was a great chance for old friends and new to share some road time and music together. This is the story of three Western Canadian musicians and an amazing home away from home.

Audi Alteram Partem will be released on Friday, March 19th 2021 on Chronograph Records.

 

About the Album:

BPM Trio – Audi Alteram Partem

Full length CD – Cat# CR090

  1. Summer Night (9:21) –   Harry Warren, Al Dubin
  2. Bright Mississippi (6:42) – Thelonious Monk
  3. Just Open Your Heart (7:12) – Barry Harris
  4. Airegin (7:00) – Sonny Rollins, arranged by Phil Dwyer
  5. Misty (10:41) – Erroll Garner, arranged by Phil Dwyer
  6. My Melancholy Baby (6:35) – Ernie Burnett, George Norton
  7. Narcolypso (7:43) – Phil Dwyer

 

Some more info about the BPM Trio

Phil Dwyer (saxophone/piano) Appointed as a Member of the Order Of Canada and  a Royal Conservatory of Music Honorary Fellow, Phil Dwyer has appeared on ten JUNO Award-winning recordings, and over thirty nominated recordings. A practicing lawyer, with his own law firm in Nanaimo, B.C. Phil remains active as a performer, teacher, recording artist, curates “Phil Dwyer’s Jazz Canada” for CBC Radio Music, and is a partner in SeaWind Musical Instruments.

Ben Dwyer (bass) is a young bass and saxophone phenom who grew up in a musical household on Vancouver Island. The son of Phil Dwyer, Ben has recently moved to Toronto from Montreal. Though very much rooted in jazz, Ben is a versatile bassist with a strong sense of feel, melody, and sound production. This has led him to perform around the world with some great artists of different genres.

Mark Adam (drums) is a drummer and percussionist who performs, produces/records, composes and teaches from his home base in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. He is an Associate Professor of Improvisation, Percussion and Contemporary Music at Acadia University who has worked with Canadian jazz icons such as Mike Murley, David Restivo, David Braid and Laila Biali.

 

For more information on AUDI ALTERAM PARTEM and the BPM Trio please contact:

Kodi Hutchinson

President – Chronograph Records

[email protected]



Baritone Madness hits #1, again!

Baritone Madness is #1 in Canada on the jazz radio charts for the second time since it’s debut in the top spot! The album also has charted #1 for the entire month of October. It keeps climbing the US charts, and currently sites at #11 on the national college jazz charts! Pretty great for an album that Le Devoir, Montreal, calls one of the top 10 of the year!


Poor Nameless Boy Begins 3-week UK Tour

Poor Nameless Boy is taking his 4-piece band on the road all across the UK!  From London to Glasgow to Bath and Birmingham, they will perform for brand new folk audiences on his “Tour Like a Tourist” trip – just in time for the video release for his third single from Wake Up Call, “The Tourist.”

October 25 – North Yorkshire
October 27 – Saltaire
October 31 – Bath
November 1 – London
November 2 – Brigg
November 3 – Glasgow
November 8 – Bromsgrove
November 9 – Norfolk
November 10 – Birmingham