River City Big Band marks its 20 years of playing great jazz
The golden era of jazz big bands ended a lifetime ago, but the music rolls on.
There are now only a handful of regular working big bands, mostly “ghost-bands,” so-called for the legacy of leader-composers who laid the foundations back in the mid-20th century.
Here in Edmonton, we’re lucky enough to claim the River City Big Band — 18 professionals and semi-pros — volunteers who have been blowing their horns for 20 years now. Yes, it’s good fun, but it also takes a certain devotion to attend rehearsals every Wednesday night (in season) for so long. Along the way they have put out two albums of music, originally under the direction of Neil Corlett and since for 17 years with conductor Larry Schrum.
This weekend, the RCBB marks that milestone with the first of several special shows dubbed Jazz at the Oasis, and they’re importing Wycliffe Gordon, a larger-thanlife talent, to help them celebrate.
You may have seen Gordon in an early incarnation of the Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra or know the vibrant trombonist and master of the plunger mute as a perennial jazz poll winner. That’s just part of a busy career playing, arranging and composing for small groups, big bands, even funk bands, and putting in workshops that keep him on the road for over 200 dates a year.
“The job part is getting gigs and doing all that travelling,” Gordon noted recently, “but once the music starts, that’s like being on the playground for me.”
As an adolescent, he had trouble choosing between music and football until the day an older brother brought home a trombone. Today Gordon plays over 20 instruments and all the brass from tuba to trumpet (he’s playing trombone and trumpet and singing a bit with the RCBB).
Growing up in Georgia, Gordon soaked up gospel and blues but the influences of early jazz and New Orleans were also impor- tant. Tributes to both Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington figure in his recent recordings, now totalling around 20 albums, mostly on his own Blues Back label. His latest disc Something New includes originals with a big band. The RCBB has been rehearsing a mix of Gordon tunes and classics (Mood Indigo, Swing That Music) as they prepare to meet the horn man. He’s looking forward to it.
“The great thing about having a big band is that you have so many options. They’re known for swing rhythms, but big band music has been written for bebop, Latin, any style, and for small ensembles within the band. It’s the ultimate jazz tool.”
Craig Brenan serves as conductor when the RCBB hosts Gordon, 8 p.m. Saturday, at The Oasis Conference Centre (10930 177th St.). Tickets: $32.50, Tix On The Square (780-420-1757) or at the door.
The RCBB will return for three Christmas shows in the metro-Edmonton area, and two more nights at the Oasis in 2016, with Carol Welsman Feb. 13 and with Two Blue April. 30.
MEMPHIS BOUND FINALS
The initial contests are over and Sunday, Oct. 18 brings the final deciding round of the Edmonton Blues Society’s Memphis Bound Competition for 2015.
So who is performing, hoping to win an EBS grant to attend the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tenn. in January?
Sets will alternate between finalists in the best band and solo/duo categories, including Ben Todd & Rob Taylor, Strathcona County Conspiracy, Charlie Jacobson, Rooster Davis Group, Graham Guest and Boogaloo.
The winner of the best self-produced CD will also be announced.
It all happens at the Old Timer’s Cabin (9430 Scona Rd.). Doors at noon, music at 1 p.m. Tickets: $15 at the door, food truck on-site.
JAZZ-ROOTS VIOLIN
Toronto violinist Anne Lindsay has a fascinating talent for bowing between jazz and roots genres and even moving beyond category, hinting at a Celtic jig one minute, evoking Gypsy jazz the next.
She’s a moving singer too, who doubles on piano and nyckelharpa (a traditional Swedish key harp).
She has won both National Jazz Awards and Canadian Folk Music Awards and appeared on recordings for the likes of Blue Rodeo, Oliver Schroer, The Chieftains and Roger Daltrey, to name a few.
Lindsay’s current tour for her new CD, Soloworks, brings her to McDougall United Church Oct. 21 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $20, $15 for students/seniors, in advance from or at the door.