JAZZFEST KICKOFF
Eclectic show launches fun schedule
The sum promises to be greater than its parts when two Junowinning jazz musicians take the spotlight at Conexus Arts Centre on June 14 at 7 p.m. — and count in the 2017 JazzFest Regina.
Fresh off her 2017 Juno Award for best jazz album, Renee Rosnes on piano will pair with veteran upright bassist Neil Swainson in a performance ranging from the outright eclecticism of a Rosnes composition, to the jazz classics, to the outright standards of the American popular songbook.
“I suppose you could say it’s an eclectic repertoire, but certainly one with a lot of variety and hopefully something for everybody, that everyone can enjoy,” Rosnes said from her home in New Jersey.
Rosnes has played intermittently over the last three decades with Swainson, whom she described as not only a Canadian talent but “one of the greatest bassists in the world.” And she expects a jazz rapport that’s both fluent and fluid.
“I just love his playing. I love the way he converses musically, he’s very open, he has a beautiful tone, he’s got great technique, and he listens. So he’s a perfect duet partner. We just really enjoy playing together,” Rosnes said.
Born in Regina, Rosnes relocated to Vancouver when she was merely months old and grew up there.
After those formative years came an intensive jazz education with some of the genre’s greats.
“In the past I’ve certainly played with a lot of people and I’ve been lucky enough to play with some of the masters of this music. So I would never turn that down,” Rosnes said.
“I feel like I was probably in the last generation of musicians that was able to get that kind of experience because so many of these fantastic players are passing away — have gone now. So I was really really lucky to play with people like Joe Mooney and J.J. Johnson and Joe Henderson and Bobby Hutcherson.
“Those type of experiences really helped me to develop who I am as a musician and who I am as a band leader as well.”
Indeed, her credits as a sideman read like who’s who of jazz greats — and as a band leader she’s been recognized and prolific both onstage and in the studio.
Her discography lists 22 albums, the most recent being a compilation of her vividly imagined compositions under the title Written in the Rocks.
Hosting the duo of Rosnes and Swainson gives an auspicious start to this year’s edition of the Regina Jazz Festival.
It’s the ninth consecutive one — a comprehensive effort comprised of everyone from local and relatively obscure acts to the currently red-hot Canadian pop veteran Serena Ryder.
“It doesn’t get any bigger than Serena Ryder,” said Peter Champagne, spokesman for to the organizing group rooted in the Regina Jazz Society.
Champagne and other organizers have learned the ropes and this “really is an outgrowth of what the Regina Jazz Society has been doing for a number of years,” he said.
Despite the absence of a fulltime jazz club in Regina, the city has proven to have a strong enough jazz culture for such an event.
Among the local jazz community are groups of high-school students. They’re included in the extensive list of performers setting the tone throughout the city June 14 to 18, with the Ryder concert at Conexus as a bonus feature on June 25.