Reviews

Our Second Set

Thu, 6 Oct 2016 12:44:09 -0400

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/our-second-set-john-macleods-rex-hotel-orchestra-presents-the-toronto-sound-self-produced-review-by-jack-bowers.php

Jazz at the Corktown

Sat, 17 May 2008 10:22:23 -0400

Jazz at the Corktown (totally NOT toronto)
It seems every other American town of 25,000+ population has a club or bar that supports a big band night. Often it’s a gaggle of old timers reliving their salad days for an audience of old timers reliving their salad days. Even then, you’ll often hear a head-turning solo or outside chord voicings, and you can’t help but smile. More often it’s a mix of younger and older players chugging through a variety of younger and older charts. But it’s with a single, age-neutral purpose- to make that big sound you rarely hear outside of educational institutions- Big Band. Ocassionally the music strays toward good old fashioned swing just to placate the few dancers, but you can see the musicians du jour, or I guess du nuit, impatiently eyeing the next chart coming up that’s a little more challenging, like a Thad Jones/Mel Lewis number.
The other night I ventured out with my friend Jim McKeracher to check out Jazz at the Corktown with Darcy Hepner and his big band. Let me cut to the chase. Here in Hamilton we have a big band du nuit that is stacked with great players and remarkable soloists. I’ll name just a few, with apologies to the rest.
Trumpeter Jason Logue, who’s every swing through the chord changes somehow tops his last for solid intuitive ideas. Pianist Adrian Farrugia, a commanding and exciting soloist who can also comp with great ears and sensitivity. Mike Stuart, a big classic tenor sax sound, brilliant phrasing, and a truckload of joy in his playing.
I had to give my head a shake. A classic bar in an historic part of a real city with a real soul (uh, CBC? Totally not Toronto), listening to outstanding musicians play through Thad Jones/Mel Lewis charts. Mike Stuart said on the break “I’ve listened to and read about this band my whole life. But to sit and read through these actual charts, it’s tough, but what a gas!”
Some rough edges? You bet. You can’t expect to get all these great players together for a full rehearsal. All the same, it was inspiring to watch this band charge through some tough material and experience some exciting moments along the way. I’ve heard some big bands that were so perfect and antiseptic you wouldn’t hesitate to brush your teeth with them. No thanks. I’ll take the real thing, please. And the real thing is right here in good old Hamilton.
Darcy Hepner is a deceptively calm, serene guy. Don’t be fooled. He’s full of energy and ideas. In his playing and equally as important, in the projects he keeps coming up with that we all end up benefiting from. So, needless to say, get to the Corktown next Wednesday night and every Wednesday night you can.

Darcy James Argue's Kind Words

Sat, 17 May 2008 10:09:05 -0400

12 January 2008
Tourblogging 4.1
Godfuckingdammit.
I had a long post about my Ray-Liotta-at-the-end-of-Goodfellas-like day yesterday, running around Toronto trying to make everything happen for our Tranzac gig last night, but just before I hit "Publish Now," my usually trusty laptop decided to shut down without warning. (I still had plenty of battery power left, so I don't know what's up.) I will try to recreate it for you later, but meanwhile, I just wanted to give a big shout-out to trumpet player Jason Logue for stepping in for a food-poisioning-stricken Lina Allemano at the very last minute. I had actually contacted Jason earlier about doing this tour with us, but... he was unable to make the rehearsals. Huh.
Anyway, he jumped right in and did an amazing job of reading the book down cold. You Torontonians are lucky to have him.
Thanks so much to all who came out to hear us during our first-ever tour. It's been a kick. I am off to try to actually take in some of this conference. Meanwhile, kindly check out this interview I did with Josh Jackson of WBGO. He's also got some audio of our IAJE performance of "Ferromagnetic."

LINK TO ORGINAL

A Tribute To The Kings Of Swing

Sat, 17 May 2008 09:47:23 -0400

Big band fans world-wide will be interested in acquiring this tasty collection of all-time hits that fill out 16 tracks on Volume I of The Galaxy All-Star Orchestra’s Tribute to the Kings of Swing. Having heard some of these charts in person last winter at Brock University (cross-reference below), I was curious to compare a controlled studio date to the sometime perilous adventures of a live gig.....

Jason Logue’s rough and ready trumpet solo in “I’ve Heard That Song Before” was the perfect foil to Robin Lea’s stylish, savvy voice that convincingly brought this fine arrangement home.

LINK TO ORIGINAL

Darcy James Argue At the TRANZAC

Sat, 17 May 2008 09:37:26 -0400

As it turned out, the concert that night at the Tranzac by Darcy's Secret Society North band (the core of his 17? 18?-piece New York ensemble along with a pack of great Canadian players stepping in as, er, pitch hitters) was one of the most galvanizing illustrations of that development I've witnessed in a long time. While I've read and traded links with Darcy for a long while, I hadn't taken the time to listen to his music. So what I (and a substantial crowd of IAJE attendees and local musicians) got at the Tranzac came as a wonderful surprise. Fluidly and expressively conducting this "steam punk" big band (horns, reeds, drums, electric guitar and bass, Rhodes piano), Darcy rolled out one after another his incredibly smart, complicated, beautiful, firey and funky compositions. (In the lineage of, but distinct from, the writing and arranging of his teacher Bob Brookmeyer - see Ben Ratliff's profile in The New York Times.)
I told people afterwards that it was like hearing Duke Ellington and minimalism and Tortoise and Funkadelic and Elliott Carter and much else besides melding into one floating, shifting, dodging music, often with political themes (one piece was dedicated to Maher Arar), sometimes with Escher-like overlaps and spirals. I didn't take notes so I can't be more specific (though there were standout moments from saxophonists Christine Jensen and Chet Doxas [whose trio opened], trumpeter Jason Logue [who was subbing in for Lina Allemano, who unfortunately fell ill], trombonist Barb Hamilton, guitarist Sebastian Noelle, pianist Gordon Webster and drummer Jon Wikan, among others). But in short, this is music for people who fuckin' love music. This skinny, scruffy young Brooklyn dude's got it and he knows just what to do with it.

LINK TO ORIGINAL