Celebrating Aldcroft,
Anyone who saw jazz guitarist Ken Aldcroft perform a solo show of Thelonious Monk’s music remembered the experience for a long, long time.
Aldcroft was a technical master and gifted arranger who played Monk’s challenging music with absolutely no help — just his guitar, his amp and a chair to sit on. No music stand. No sheet music.
Aldcroft held the music in his heart and head. It flowed through his fingers, and formed an aural pool around the stage. Even chatting, noisy audiences stopped talking and listened. He recorded his Monk arrangements on two CDs as Hat & Beard, his duo with drummer Dave Clark.
Aldcroft was a leading member of the creative music community. He was a guitar teacher, composer, arranger, and recording artist. He died after a heart attack at his Toronto home in September 2016. He was only 46.
Like too many highly accomplished artists, Aldcroft was not widely known outside the circles for creative music and jazz. So a group of friends and fellow musicians are performing a series of shows in celebration of Aldroft’s music.
Two bands — Two Hours Early, Ten Minutes Late and Mars People will perform at Harmony Lunch in Waterloo on Wednesday, March 7, and at Silence in Guelph on Friday, March 9. The groups will also perform Sunday, March 4, 7:30 p.m., at the Artword Artbar, 15 Colbourne St., in Hamilton.
Among other music, Aldcroft composed duets for guitar and saxophone. That will be performed by Two Hours Early, Ten Minutes Late — Jason Robinson on tenor sax and Eric Hofbauer on guitar. The band is named after one of Aldcroft’s compositions.
“Ken had been looking for a tenor player to do that music with for a long time, and he met Jason a few years ago and they hit it off really fast,” said Joe Sorbara, a drummer who helped organize the shows.
Aldcroft and Robinson played that music together, and had booked time in a studio to record it. Aldcroft died about a month before the session. Robinson was the driving force behind this series of shows to honour his friend.
The fact that two acclaimed American musicians want to be part of a series of tribute shows underscores Aldcroft’s growing reputation in both Canada and the U.S.
The first band to play on the bill will be Mars People — Emily Denison on trumpet, Daniel Kruger on guitar and Joe Sorbara on drums. The trio will play music by Aldcroft, and originals inspired by their friend. The band is also named after one of Aldcroft’s compositions.
“It is an honour to pay tribute and make sure his music is being played,” said Sorbara. “I miss him, so this is a way of keeping my friend close.”
The third set will see the five musicians play together in an Aldcroft-inspired jam.
“And that will be very off-the-cuff and very loose and fun,” said Sorbara.
Since Aldcroft’s passing, Sorbara has played a monthly show at Tranzac Club in Toronto called Music By and For Ken Aldcroft.
“In a lot of ways Ken was my best friend,” said Sorbara. “We played a lot of music together. We taught together at the University of Guelph. We were on three or four cross-Canada tours together.”
Sorbara describes Aldcroft as intense and single-minded.
“A really great friend, very curious, he was focused on his music, his community and his family above all. His partner Maria and son Liam meant the world to him,” said Sorbara.
“He was funny and goofy and playful, and super serious and focused and concentrated on the search he was on for his music,” said Sorbara. “He was a super inspiring guy to be around.”