SUMMER O9 EVENTS
Atlantic Jazz Festival Concerts
Anne Davison String Workshop
www.playcello.ca/stringsnthings
The Parrsboro Upstream Jazz Sessions
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Atlantic Jazz Festival Concerts
A Love Upstream
featuring Erin Costelo performing the music of Erin Costelo and more
July 17th, 4 pm
Jazz tent on Spring Garden Road
A Love Upstream is Upstream Music's current houseband. It is: Rick Waychesko – trumpet, Jeff Reilly – bass clarinet/clarinet/conduction, Paul Cram - tenor sax/clarinet/conduction, Dawn Hatfield – baritone and alto saxes/flute, Lee Park – violin, Lukas Pearse – contrabass/electric bass/electronics, Jeff Torbert – guitar/electronics, David Burton/drums. Erin Costelo - piano/conduction
4Xs
PORTER, HALEY, CROFTS, & CRAM
drums/ guitar, electronics/ keys.electronics/sax,clarinet
Thursday July 16th 10 pm
1313
1313 Hollis St., Halifax
Upstream 8.1
featuring
Janice Jackson (voice) and Shauntay Grant (spoken word)
Friday July 17th 10 pm
1313
1313 Hollis St., Halifax
Upstream 8.1 is Lee Park - violin, Ann Davison - cello, Lukas Pearse - bass, Tim Crofts - piano, Jeff Torgert - guitar, Geordie Haley - guitar, Dawn Hatfield - baritone sax/flute, Paul Cram Tenor sax /clarinet, Ryan Veltmeyer - trombone, Doug Cameron - drums Suzanne Choi - dancer.
AUGUST 2009
Parrsboro Citizen’s Band Association, Parrsboro, Nova Scotia
Upstream Music Association, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
present
The Parrsboro Upstream Jazz Sessions
AUGUST 25th to 29th, 2009
Parrsboro, Nova Scotia, Canada
Registration Fee is $150 Cdn
All ages and voice/instruments are welcome.
Good sight reading and some improvisational skill necessary.
Space is limited and applicants will be chosen based on experience, enthusiasm and instrumentation. Please e-mail a letter of interest and experience including instrument played and contact information to: Rob Bentley – Sessions Administrator: 902-254-4669, jrobbentley@gmail.com or mail to:
The Treasurer, Parrsboro Band Assoc. Cultural Campus P.O. Box 712,
Parrsboro, NS B0M 1S0
44 King St Parrsboro, Nova Scotia www.thehall.ca
All Sessions will take place at The Hall: 44 King St, Parrsboro, Nova Scotia, Canada
Syllabus, Schedule and Faculty
Welcome to a new concept of summer music fun. This year’s Parrsboro Upstream Sessions will take participants down roads less traveled by the jazz industry to tap well-springs of creativity. The New Jazz Orchestra, The Funk Ensemble and Silent Film Orchestra represent distinct points of departure where experienced musicians of all ages can discover new directions to take home with them for lifelong study. “Like Columbus discovering America…. well, it was already there” Al Neil – be-bop pianist, artist and author - from Changes © 1989. We invite you to join with this year’s faculty and go where no bands have been before……
Session 1
Upstream Jazz Orchestra (UJO)
10 am to 1 pm Tuesday to Friday.
Under the leadership of Artistic Director Paul Cram, UJO will start with basic listening and playing exercises, where players reveal their originality through rapid responses in the moment. From there strategies will be developed to organize sounds and effectively harness the forces at hand. The sessions will utilize “conduction”, an approach to conducting that channels the energies of the players into improvisations that can have us charging over grooves with shouting vamps to storms, waves, fire and brimstone. In contrast the sessions will delve into more abstract expressionist solo, duo, trio and free improvisations along with serial compositional methods: One page scores with graphic notation will be developed, played through and analyzed to show what works. Students are encouraged to contribute to a collective composition. We will play, organize and rehearse this work along with faculty compositions into a UJO Concert on Saturday night.
Session 2
Parrsboro Upstream Funk Ensemble
2 PM to 5 pm Tuesday to Friday.
This ensemble will be led by Rick Waychesko , who has extensive knowledge of the fusion jazz funk songbook. The Ensemble will learn the music of Mike Stern and other luminaries of the genre. In contrast to the more freewheeling UJO, the emphasis here will be on precision and getting the music tight. Everyone will be encouraged to participate, although the funk ensemble session could inevitably divide into groups according to experience and skills.
Session 3
Parrsboro Upstream Silent Film Orchestra
7 pm to 9 pm Tuesday to Friday.
There is a school of thought that says that jazz came out of silent movies. If you have never experienced the vertigo and panic of playing to a relentlessly changing medium, this is for you. Even if you have experienced the terror it’s a compelling challenge that never goes away. We will be working primarily with Buster Keaton’s classic 1928 film Steamboat Bill Jr. The score is a “short” written for the film by Upstream’s Paul Cram. The score has lots of thematic material to play but leaves room for improvisation and “Micky Mousing*” with the characters.
*Mickey Mousing: where music follows on-screen movement.
Saturday will be a day for dress rehearsals and sound-checks: Schedule TBA
Concert at the Band Hall
Saturday, August 25th, 8 pm
Faculty Ensemble Bios
Paul Cram (bandleader/artistic director) - saxophone/clarinet/composer/conductor
Tenor saxophonist/clarinetist/composer Paul Cram played in R&B bands before earning a Bachelor of Music from the University of British Columbia. Over the years, he has toured Canada extensively and co-founded several cutting-edge orchestras including the New Orchestra Workshop of Vancouver, Hemispheres of Toronto and his own Paul Cram Orchestra. In addition to winning the prestigious FIPA D’OR (France) for his work in film he has been nominated several times for Juno and National Jazz Awards. He now writes for television, film, theatre, dance and concerts and leads the Guerrilla Vacation Octet. He is Artistic Director of the Upstream Music Association, an organization that produces collaborative concerts in Halifax of local, national and international artists who share passion and commitment to exploration. His latest CD “Live in Lisbon” had rave reviews. www.paulcram.com
Rick Waychesko – (Tower of Power alumni) - trumpet/funk specialist
Rick Waychesko has been a professional musician for many years. Initially based in Toronto, He has played for extended periods with the Tommy Dorsey Band, Tower of Power, Lighthouse, the Moscow Circus, and the Philosopher Kings. As a busy session man he has performed on many movie soundtracks and albums. He has also backed shows with artists such as the Rolling Stones, Heart, Boz Scaggs, Herbie Hancock, Eartha Kitt, Junior Walker and many more. Since moving to Nova Scotia Rick has performed with many Maritime artists like Dave James, Barrett’s Big Band, and Paul Cram Quintet/Tentet as well as his own fusion groups. He has also become popular with young musicians as a first rate instructor of jazz-fusion ensembles.
Geordie Haley – (composer/improvisor/educator) - guitar/electronics
Originally from Fredricton, New Brunswick, Geordie studied jazz history, composition and improvisation at St FX and guitar with Oliver Gannon, Bill Frisell and Ted Dunbar. He has won several Awards: The Exclaim Magazine Best Improvised album of the Year, Louis Applebaum. Jazz composition Award Nominee, and numerous grants from Canada Council, Ontario Arts Council and New Brunswick Arts Council. His recorded output is prolific: Geordie Haley: Sculptures (solo prepared guitar studio album with Jean Martin) and Seas of Song Trio, East Delta Trio, Rhys Chatham guitar trio, Geordie Haley Trio, Geordie Haley’s Everytime band: The Green Suite and Other Stories, and many more. www.myspace.com/geordiehaley
Adam Linson (USA/Berlin) – contrabass/electronics
Adam Linson is a double bassist, improviser, composer, and developer of real-time interactive systems for live performance. Born in Los Angeles, he has been active on the double bass and with computer technology since age 11. For the past decade, he has been based in Berlin, Germany, working around Europe with innovators in the fields of improvisation and interactive electronics. He has performed, recorded, and been heard on the radio on both sides of the Atlantic, as a soloist and with groups such as the Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble and the John Butcher Octet. Numerous recent collaborations include a quartet with Evan Parker, trumpeter Peter Evans, and composer-performer Richard Barrett, a duet with Lawrence Casserley, and Systems Quartet with Axel Doerner, Paul Lytton, and Rudi Mahall. Before moving to Berlin, he earned a BA in Philosophy at the University of California, San Diego, where he also studied music with George Lewis and Bertram Turetzky.
Katie Patterson (Leeds University student) – drums
A Graduate of Cobequid Educational Centre in Truro, drummer Katie Patterson is currently studying for her BA Jazz Degree at the prestigious Leeds College of Music in Leeds, England. Katie has had experience teaching privately, as well as being on the faculty of Nova Scotia Honour Jazz and Acadia University Summer Jazz Camp. She has performed across Canada and in the United States and is very excited to be back in Nova Scotia for the summer.
Timi Levy (Calgary Symphony alumni) – violin, electric violin
Timi is a professional violinist originally from Budapest, Hungary. Prior to moving to Parrsboro in 2007, Timi had performed with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, National Ballet, Alberta Ballet, Sarah Brightman and the Tea Party. While in Calgary, Timi also taught private violin to over 40 students at the Mount Royal College and her home. Prior to coming to Canada in 1998 to participate in master classes at the Banff Centre of the Arts, Timi had performed throughout Hungary, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland. Timi’s education includes the Hungarian State Examination – Master’s equivalence, qualified artist, chamber and violin musician/instructor. Timi currently teaches and performs violin and fiddle here in Parrsboro, Amherst and surrounding areas. In addition to this Timi has been conducting the youth orchestra here in Parrsboro through the Band Hall Association.