I remember starting off fourth year with a sense of “well this is the last time I’m going to be doing this” and giving it my all. Cheesy, I know, but it’s the truth. I was so determined to finish being at this school because I was just so damn sick of it. Now that it’s all over and now that I can officially say “I’m going to graduate” I can’t help but feel a bit nostalgic. Has four years really come and gone this quickly? Have I really survived the soul sucking powers of U of T?

We all know that in hindsight everything looks so much better, but damn this is really over. It’s a bittersweet feeling to know that I’m finally ending this love/hate relationship with U of T.

Okay, okay, enough with the sentimental banter. I just wanted to write one last blog post to say a final “smell ya later” to U of T and blogUT and its wonderful readers and bloggers. I have grown in so many ways being here and am now (perhaps prematurely) being thrust into “the real world”. It’s time for me to shed this U of T skin and come into my own.

But I wouldn’t leave blogUT without a few good laughs. I stumbled upon this blog called College Problems and was DYING of laughter at how relatable and comical it was. So here are a few entries that have stuck out for me; and yes you can totally thank me when you have exams and you’re browsing through this website during study break #48754.

(all images courtesy of collegeproblems.org)

Image via blogs.umdbk.com

As school dwindles to a close, all students have one major thing in common: the crunchtime breakdown. Don’t act like you don’t know what that is. The crunchtime breakdown (according to my own personal dictionary) is known as your reaction to having all the essays, labs, tests, what have you all in the span of two weeks or so. This reaction happens in a few ways: anger, frustrated tears, accompanied by an overall sense of “How the #@*%-ing hell am I supposed to do this all in ___days?!!”

Although I am definitely not an expert on how to relieve yourself of this inevitable stress, I can offer some tips and tricks I’ve learned over the years here at our ever so loving school:

1. Go ahead, have your breakdown. Once you’re done freaking out about the never ending list of things to do, you can take three big deep breaths and just get through it. (This may occur more than once depending on how overwhelmed you feel.)

2. BREATHE. Make a list of things to do and tackle each item one at a time. Remember it’s better to do things one at a time so you can put all your focus and attention on that one task instead of attempting to multitask a million things at once.

3. Pace yourself. You know that at the end of the day it’s just going to work out, so relax and work at your own pace.

4. If you can squeeze in some time at the gym, DO IT. Even working out for an hour, can help you release your stress at the gym and feel relaxed.

5. Go to the library with your coffee or poison of choice, donned in comfortable clothes and just do what you have to do. We’re THIS close to having summer, so finish it on a high note.

My tips and tricks might not be your cup of tea, so I ask you this: how do you deal with the inevitable crunchtime breakdown?

We all know the saying, “U of T is a soul sucker” or something along that line. But what is it that makes this institution so… soul-sucking (for lack of a better term)? Is it the fact that we do nothing but study 99.9% of the time? Is it the fact that once we catch up in one class, we’re completely, and I mean COMPLETELY behind in the others? We go to the top school in Canada (since the last time I checked), so we should be proud of this accomplishment right, RIGHT?!

Although we do take some pride in being U of T students, we’re all in the same boat of losing our soul to this ever so awesome institution. How did our once brightly shining naïve selves become so jaded and lackluster?

In my personal experience, U of T has done the following to take over my soul:

- Although I try my best to catch up on my readings, it just never seems to be enough. The times I think I’m ahead, I’m actually just catching up with (everyone else in) the class. So I’m pretty much forever reading.

- Apparently my profs have schemed against me and planned my inevitable crunch time breakdown when all the essays and assignments are due in the same week.

- When I decided to take on 6 courses last semester I actually suffered almost a MONTH of hell. Okay well, it was three weeks but safe to say, it was the WORST three weeks of my entire university career, EVER.

- I now have my usual spots in two libraries: Robarts and Gerstein. If I catch you sitting there, you will feel my wrath.

- Is it just me or does sitting in Robarts for hours upon hours make you feel like your entire lifetime has passed by?

- As a caf-fiend, I am now a walking zombie every time I come to school. Coffee + sleepy eyes + studying for a midterm (or writing a paper) = U of T zombie (complete with sunglasses and coffee cup in hand)

- …did I already mention that we were the ONLY U of T campus to stay open during the ‘snow day’?!

The funny thing is you don’t even realize that your soul has been taken away until one day it hits you, most likely while spending hour five on the 11th floor of Robarts: U of T has taken my soul. (Insert scream of anguish here.)

With that being said, let’s all finish up the last semester on a high note: happy studying to all!

What:

On Wednesday, I caught up with the great jazz pianist, Hiromi, for a telephone interview, before her performance in Toronto at the Jazz Festival with Stanley Clarke on June 28th at Nathan Phillips Square. Hiromi recently recorded the wonderful jazz trio album “Jazz in the Garden” with Stanley Clarke, one of the best albums of 2009, and now they are touring together over the summer.

When you hear Hiromi playing impressive stride piano, you would never guess that her small hands can only stretch an octave: it certainly doesn’t sound like it! How does she do it? “It requires a lot of practicing to be able to play the right notes but I want to hear the sound and so I work hard to hear the sound.”

Hiromi has studied under Ahmad Jamal and Richard Evans, and had performed with both the Czech Philharmonic and Chick Corea at age 17. She has distinguished herself on the jazz scene with her impressively high energy, fast-paced, and always musical piano playing. When talking about her performing, she says “Whenever I have a great performance, my brain is so tired and that’s a good sign.”

Alex (BlogUT): When did you start playing the piano and what got you interested in the piano, in particular?
Hiromi: I was six years old and my mother took me to a piano lesson. None of my family are musical; they’re just regular people. My mom just thought music brings joy to life so she wanted me to play something but she never thought I would do it professionally! She just wanted me to have fun and I just fell in love with it.

Alex (BlogUT): Are you classically trained? How did you make the transition from classical to jazz?
Hiromi: I went to classical piano lessons but my very first piano teacher that I studied with happened to be a big jazz fan. She always had jazz LPs playing and so I was always listening to it. She had me listening to Errol Garner and Oscar Peterson, and I thought what is this? She explained how they improvise. I couldn’t really understand the music at the time but it just made me so happy. It was my first experience of dancing to music. I felt a swing somehow and was just jumping around – I was 8 – and it brought a lot of joy. So I started to imitate what they were doing and started to improvise on classical music.

Alex: Who are your influences?
Hiromi: It’s not only pianists that have influenced me. I’ve been influenced by so many different type of musicians. One of my favourites is Frank Zappa. I love King Crimson, Bach, Rachmaninoff, Ahmad Jamal, and Jeff Beck. I like everything that Bach wrote. I just think it’s so beautiful. When I play his pieces, I feel that all my ten fingers have to wake up, and I really have to understand that I have ten fingers to play the piano.

Alex: A lot of professional pianists have experienced repetitive strain injury from their playing. What, if anything, do you do to avoid injury when playing?
Hiromi: I do a lot of stretches and I do yoga. Whenever I have a show I always take a long bath after the show so that the muscles that I used get healed from the day and from the performance. I do a lot of things to maintain my body.

Alex: How do you play stride piano with such small hands?
Hiromi: People are always surprised by how small my hands are. I can’t reach a tenth. I can play an octave but that’s the widest I can play. It is hard. It requires a lot of practicing to be able to play the right notes, but I want to hear the sound and so I work hard to hear the sound.

Alex: What is it like playing with a bassist like Stanley Clarke, who is often more of a melodic or harmonic force than just at the bottom of the piece playing the bass line?
Hiromi: He is so unique and original. It’s amazing to play with somebody who has had such a huge personality in his playing for many many decades. It’s like the best school I can be at. I’m learning many things just playing with him. I have a lot of respect for him and it’s amazing. I don’t know how he found me. He just called me up and said he was making a trio record and wanted me to be part of it. I was so honoured and thrilled and I said I would love to; I had no reason to say no and it happened. I thought “wow, experience!”. So we did the trio record a year ago with Lenny White on drums. He wanted me to be part of another album again so I felt honoured again and we did it again with the Stanley Clarke Band.

Alex: What are your top five desert island albums?
Hiromi: That’s impossible to answer! Music is such an interesting thing. It depends on your mood every day every week or every month. I don’t know. I think I’d just be cheeky and bring my iPod.

Alex: How do you make jazz accessible for young people?
Hiromi: I’m still young (born in 1979)! When you see somebody playing that’s your age, I think it’s easier to get interested. But Stanley still attracts young people because he’s still young inside; he stays young. The important thing is always trying to explore something new and just be adventurous with your music because that’s what you’re all about when you’re young. And Ahmad Jamal, he’s, I think, 80 years old now, and he never stopped pushing the edge and that’s amazing. He’s still like a really young boy in his playing: always adventurous, looking for things, and that’s the attitude I want to have. When I’m 70 or 80, I want to be as young at heart as he is, always trying to be edgy and trying to find something risky and adventurous, at least in my music.

Alex: How do you go about arranging pieces? I really liked your arrangement of “I’ve Got Rhythm”.
Hiromi: When I arrange, I just keep playing the pieces over and over just trying to find a home for myself in it, and find that this is how I want to play this piece. I just try to find it and so I play it over and over again for years.

Alex: Can you talk a bit about improvising?
Hiromi: When i improvise, it requires the maximum focus of the day, trying to think about what it is that I really want to say. It’s just like having a conversation. In a conversation, you have to choose the right words; in music, you have to choose the right notes, the right phrase. It’s about looking for a perfect way of saying, telling and expressing what you’re feeling. It’s so easy to say something meaningless and so important to tell something that you really mean. So it requires so much focus to try to express yourself and what you have in your mind.

It is a lot of work and it really tires my brain! Whenever I have a great performance, my brain is so tired and that’s a good sign. It’s just like having a great conversation with people: you get into it and are so focussed. You feel like “wow, that was a good chat” and you feel so exhausted when you get off the phone or when you leave the person. That’s how I want to feel when i finish playing: exhausted.

What:

On Monday, BlogUT caught up with Canadian jazz singer and composer, Alex Pangman, for a telephone interview, before her performance kicks off the Toronto Jazz Festival at Nathan Phillips Square on June 25th at 5PM with a free concert. Sometimes referred to as “Canada’s Sweetheart of Swing”, Ms Pangman specializes in standards from the 1920s up until about the mid 1940s, and refers to herself as an “anachronism in her time”. As the Toronto Star once wrote, “It’s time-travel magic whenever Alex Pangman breathes into a microphone and evokes the great jazz femmes of the 1920s, 30s and 40s.” I first saw Ms Pangman at the Old Mill in November 2009, picked up her Live in Montreal album, listened to it on loop for weeks, and went back for more at her Reservoir Lounge gig last week. Ms Pangman also plays some country music but, she says, “Jazz is where my heart lies”. In addition to catching her show at the Jazz Festival, you can catch Ms Pangman at the Reservoir Lounge on the first Tuesday of every month.

BlogUT: When is your next album coming out and what can we expect from it?
Alex Pangman: I have a new album coming out in the fall, which I just finished recording, with my band, the Alleycats. It’s in the can, as they say. It’s called “33” and we’ll be releasing it to iTunes. The “in hand version” will be as a 33rpm, and it’s all songs from 1933. It will be my first record since the double lung transplant.

BlogUT: How has having a double lung transplant affected your career and life?
Alex Pangman: Being so sick for so long, it sort of took me out of usefulness for quite a few years. Things being rocky enough that I had to have a transplant, it’s as if the hours on the table gave me back not only my life, as in the ability to breathe, but also gave me back my art. As a singer with lung disease, I could see my health stolen from me in little increments. It’s pretty awesome now to be able to stand in front of a microphone and belt it out without having to cough or wheeze. I would encourage everyone to sign a consent form to become an organ donor as you can really help change people’s lives for the better.

BlogUT: What songs will be on your new album?
Alex Pangman: We play “100 Years from Today” and “I Found a New Baby”. We also have some guest vocalists: Denzal Sinclaire sings a duet with me on “You’ve Brought a New Kind of Love to Me”.

BlogUT: How did you get interested in jazz and in music from the 1920s-40s?
Alex Pangman: I was disenchanted with the music of my generation and looking for some sort of inspiration. I found some old records in my mid-teens with music from that time which was such a pleasant discovery. I was drawn to an era of music where melody and substance were very important; those were really lacking in my generation.

BlogUT: Who are your biggest influences?
Alex Pangman: I don’t have one single influence but I have certainly been influenced by a number of singers such as Mildred Bailey, Jack Teagarden, and Maxine Sullivan.

BlogUT: Do you listen to any modern music or have any modern influences?
Alex Pangman: I don’t really listen to modern music much; I’m a bit of an anachronism. I do own the Amy Winehouse CD… that’s modern right?! As far as jazz contemporaries are concerned I am a big fan of US trombonist Dan Barrett and his arranging. I’m also a huge fan of Canadian cowboy singer/songwriter Corb Lund.

BlogUT: What are your top 5 desert island albums?
Alex Pangman: Any of Connee Boswell’s albums. Something by Ruth Etting, Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong, and Kay Starr.

BlogUT: How do you think these old standards fit into the modern scene?
Alex Pangman: It’s definitely a niche market, the music that I’m drawn to. But I don’t think that this music needs to be thought of as history. It’s music of the past and present with timeless themes. People can still appreciate it as present and modern in that it’s being done now and in a trio.

BlogUT: When selecting your repertoire, do you have any difficulty with finding pieces that mesh with your modern sensibilities?
Alex Pangman: A lot of songs from back then are way too over the edge and not at all politically correct. Times have changed a lot since the 1930s: music and words have a very different meaning now. “Am I Blue” has beautiful verse and I must say the melody is remarkably memorable and yet the words are so antiquated that they are almost offensive. “The Right Kind of Man” is the same thing, though a beautiful song from the 1920s. I don’t want to be revisionist about history though so I hope I choose carefully.

BlogUT: Can you talk a bit about arranging for your group?
Alex Pangman: Writing the arrangements usually gets split between me and what the guys come up with: it’s somewhat of a joint thing. We’ve played together so long that arrangements will often come out of practicing together: we have a “schtick that we work on”.

BlogUT: How do you go about composing your original compositions?
Alex Pangman: I just need to find a quiet moment to put aside the craziness of life to sit down with an instrument. I find that I tend to speak in a very modern way, use modern slang, so it can be challenging to make my modern way of speaking mesh with an older way of song-writing. I sit down at the piano or with a guitar and I write as I play.

BlogUT: Aside from singing, do you play any instruments?
Alex Pangman: I play a bunch of instruments. I play the mandolin in my country music band, Lickin’ Good Fried. But my instrumental skills are a bit lacking. I think Duke Ellington said that he hired great musicians because they made him look good, and that’s what I do. You don’t really need to hear me play the piano.

BlogUT: What do you do when you’re not performing?
Alex Pangman: I spend a lot of time arranging, being a band leader, keeping the website up to date, making the records, doing all that stuff that comes with performing.

Both the Dave Holland Quintet and the Branford Marsalis Quartet could have easily sold out the MainStage space at the Toronto Jazz Festival had they each been the headliner act of their own show, so it’s a little strange that they should be shoved together in a double bill on Friday, July 3rd. Nevertheless, it’s hard to complain when you get to see that much talent and good music on display for the affordable price of $40 at the Toronto Jazz Festival, all in one night, even if the acoustics leave something to be desired.

The Dave Holland Quintet – Robin Eubanks on trombone, Steve Nelson on vibraphone, Chris Potter on alto/soprano sax, Nate Smith on drums, and Dave Holland on bass – opened the evening with a wonderful, energetic 75-minute set of original compositions from Holland’s albums. The set list included: “Step to It”, “Last Minute Man”, “Full Circle”, and “Lucky Seven”. The Dave Holland Quintet has a very eclectic sound, and at times, dissonant. Generally, this means there’s a lot going on at once, with Potter and Eubanks each carrying a bit of the melody – at the same time – and Nelson, Smith, and Holland sharing the rhythm sections. This tends to lead to a lot of complexity, and because of all the different instruments, each with what could be a standalone part, all together, gives you a rich variety of things to listen to. You can tune in and tune out of various different instruments, take your pick, and never be bored. Sometimes all this action leads to really rewarding and interesting dissonance and other times it ends up as just too busy. Sometimes I had trouble differentiating between the parts that Potter and Eubanks were playing, sometimes they blended together, and it felt like a bit too much mushiness. But the band really shone when its three stars took the stage with their solos: drummer Nate Smith, saxophonist Chris Potter, and bassist Dave Holland.

Drummer Nate Smith also played with Chris Potter in his “Underground” group at the Pilot on Monday, but it was in this concert with Holland where he really impressed me. Generally, when drummers take solos, they are so excited to finally be allowed to stray from just beat-keeping that they try to hit and bang as many drums and cymbals as possible in the smallest amount of time: this is their chance to make a lot of noise. But this approach lacks musicality; it’s just an unpleasant racket, the kind I usually can’t wait to stop. But Nate Smith, much like drumming greats Jack DeJohnette and Tony Williams, understands that less is more with drum solos. He hits a beat, he finds a rhythm to play with, and he lets the audience in on what he is doing. We can keep up, we can enjoy, and while it’s not “simple” it’s not overdone either: there’s music and clarity here. He also finds different pitches and tones to play with so that when his drum solo comes to an end, we can’t help but want more, or look forward to his next one. Smith is a great drummer and these are very, very few and far between.

When Chris Potter was introduced at the beginning of the concert, the volume of the audience applause just about doubled: this saxophonist has much talent. His solos are inspired, whether playing with his own group like he did on Monday at the Pilot or as part of the Dave Holland Quintet. But when playing with the Dave Holland Quintet there is extra structure and rules imposed on him, which, to some degree, constrain his solos, and leave them just a notch below the level they were at when he was performing with his own group. Don’t get me wrong though, a notch below the Underground Chris Potter solos is still absolutely fabulous, but his solos with the Quintet, in the style of the Quintet, tended to be more dissonant, and maybe a little less accessible, though still good.

The third star of the group I’ve saved for last, as he is, after all, the headliner. Dave Holland plays a mean bass with bass lines that don’t just follow the basic beat but challenge it, play with rhythm, play with harmony, not just forming the backbone of the music, but challenging the ears of the audience and group, at the same time. His bass lines make you want to tap your feet. Even when there are other melodic lines going on at the same time, you can’t help but tune your ears to Holland’s bass, because it’s always doing interesting things with a lot of energy: the mark of a master. Holland’s solos made up some of the best highlights of the concerts. Jack DeJohnette once said of Dave Holland, “Dave is one of a few bassists who can get an audience on their feet during a solo. He learned from Miles to have a point of view in his playing,” and this was certainly true of Holland’s performance on Friday. He was at his best opening a new composition “Veil of Tears” with a solo on his bass, which had me tapping my feet and nodding my head with appreciation.

Though the Dave Holland Quintet as a whole was very good, sometimes I found the dissonance of the sound turned me off: it’s not as easily accessible as the follow-up act, the Branford Marsalis Quartet. Nevertheless, there were some undeniably great moments for everyone to enjoy when Holland, Potter, or Smith took the spotlight and nailed their respective parts.

After a brief intermission, the music got going in full swing once more, this time with the Branford Marsalis Quartet. Their music is much more straightforward and accessible, which is not to say that it is either better or worse, but it will appeal to a greater audience, and the focus is much more clear. Marsalis carries the melody on soprano, alto, or tenor sax, with equal comfort on each, seamlessly changing between the three and still achieving a beautiful sound on each. Joey Calderazzo on piano occasionally helps with the melody or harmony and leads the rhythm section with Eric Revis on bass and Jeff Watts on drums. When the melody is done, Marsalis takes an awe-inspiring solo, and then backs off, upstage, so that the three other band-members can play off one another. They play a sort of combined solo, led by Calderazzo, which seems to have required much more preparation than Marsalis’s solo – Calderazzo was reading his music and notes throughout his solos, while Marsalis played by heart – with less success than Marsalis’s joyous solos. The group was strong together but the individual parts were much less strong on their own, with the exception, of course, of Branford Marsalis. Nevertheless, bassist Eric Revis held his own pretty well in a long and good solo, especially considering he had to follow the great bassist Dave Holland, which almost seems cruel.

The last time Branford Marsalis played Toronto it was to a small, intimate audience at the Top of the Senator on closing night in 2004. I remember that one of the highlights of that show was when Marsalis did a tribute to the great saxophonists: from Sonny Rollins’s signature squeak, to the trademark sounds of Bird and John Coltrane. But this setting, the MainStage at Nathan Phillips Square suits the group, too: the tightly packed audience members there to see some great jazz at a great price bring up the energy and Marsalis makes you want to get up and dance when he plays. He’s self-confident and for good reason: he can play. He may be the lead talent in his group, but his group still works well, and they were a joy from start to finish.

There was an unexpected guest though in both the Marsalis and the Holland set: the bell from the clock tower striking the hour. It was interesting to see how each of the bandleaders handled the interruption. While Dave Holland worked the predictable ringing into his routine, Branford Marsalis set up a call and response solo with the bell: both were great fun to watch. This was real-time, unplanned improvisation with skill, taking a nuisance and turning it into a gift.

Both groups received a well-deserved standing ovation for each of their respective sets. And in the end, the audience was treated to a fabulous encore, perhaps the true highlight of the concert, which certainly pleased, as Chris Potter on sax and Robin Eubanks on trombone returned to the stage to join the Branford Marsalis Quartet. The highlight of this encore piece was watching Potter and Marsalis play together on sax. They traded off the melody and when the time for solos came, they took turns each playing a solo for a few bars and then handing it off to the other. They each built on one another’s solo, each with his own flare, and each then took an extended solo on his own and then together. The spontaneity and sheer energy at work was what made it such a joy to watch a couple of youngish master musicians at work together, just jamming, having a good time, and making some wonderful music, too.

BlogUT: How did you decide to play the bass?
Brandi Disterheft: I grew up playing the piano and was playing the flute at one point. But then I wanted to play an instrument that was more versatile, an instrument I could play classical, jazz, and funky lines on. It was actually my dad’s idea to pick up the bass. But I have always been around music and instruments because my mom was a jazz player in Vancouver (where she grew up).

BlogUT: Did you start out playing classical music or jazz? How does that affect your playing?
Brandi: I did a combination of the two, actually. I started playing classical piano and then I got into jazz. I went to Humber College for the jazz program and took some private classical studies after. I’ve been studying under a classical teacher in New York City. Playing classical music is really important because it develops your technique and develops your sound. You get to really know your instrument and play with a bow. I don’t consider myself a classical musician, but I’m studying classical music mainly so that I can grow on the instrument.

BlogUT: What bass players have influenced you?
Brandi: Charlie Mingus is one of my favourites just because he’s such a great band leader and writer: the music was so joyous. Also, John Coltrane’s bassist, Jimmy Garrison, because his playing is so raw and he kind of revolutionized solos in a different way with all the double stops. And there’s a bass player in New York, Essiet Essiet, and he’s just a monster; it’s really inspiring to see him play. I’m also studying with Ron Carter in New York. We’re just working on sound and that is a real honour to be working with him.

BlogUT: What music are you listening to lately?
Brandi: I’m really interested in Brazilian music right now and you can see that influence in the new album. Because I’ve been writing lyrics lately and now I’m starting to sing at my shows, I’ve been checking out the usual great singers: Nancy Wilson, Etta James, and Joni Mitchell. But I always go back to the Brazilian because it’s so beautiful. Years ago, I was into 50s and 60s Bluenote Jackie McLean and Stan Getz. But lately I’ve been really focusing on lyrics, like American songbook lyrics. On the new album, which comes out in September, we play “This Time the Dream is on Me”, which I first heard Charlie Parker do and then I recently found lyrics for it.

BlogUT: What do you like about living in New York City?
Brandi: New York is very inspiring. It’s great to be around new people and the level of jazz is very, very high there. There are a couple of jam sessions that go from 1AM-5AM every night so you can always play and meet people. It’s nice to start over again, almost at the bottom of the barrel, where nobody knows you.

BlogUT: Your sophomore album, “Second Side”, is coming out in September. Can you tell us about that?
Brandi: It’s called “Second Side”, because it’s the second album, but it’s also a new side to the music. Some of the songs definitely have more of a pop influence, Brazilian pop, that is, so it sounds quite a bit different from the first album. I’m singing two songs on the album and we have Holly Cole and Rene Lee from Montreal as guests on the album. I had a great producer, Reese Olbert, who was a great help. I arranged for up to 5 horns on a couple of tracks, which was fun. And all the songs, except for one, are my originals again, just like the first album. I particularly like the album because it starts off with a really beautiful mood, a somber piece, “Sketches of Belief”, but it’s almost like a rejoiceful somber, so it puts me at such ease. It’s about the ups and downs of life, and how ultimately everything is going to be fine in the end. And then the second song on the album, “Combien de Chances”, goes into this kind of raging surf beat with guitars and I sing in French.

BlogUT: What is your process for composing?
Brandi: It depends on whether I’m setting deadlines for myself, like if I want to have x amount of new tunes by a certain day. But I could be in the middle of class or it could be in the middle of the night, and I just have an urge or a feeling or a mood that I want to convey on paper and it just has to come out of me and it just does. It’s amazing how sometimes you can just work at something and work at it and nothing comes out. And other times, the whole song comes out of you in two minutes, and then you can fine tune it afterwards. I usually compose on the piano, especially if I want to start off with a melody for two horns, then definitely on the piano. Lately though, I’ve been trying to do some composing on the bass.

BlogUT: You’ve also been doing all the arranging for your group. Can you talk about that?
Brandi: I went to school at Humber College and took an arranging class there. But at that point, I wasn’t really focused on doing arranging; I just wanted to focus on playing the bass, just practicing. Once I got out of school, I would sometimes just sit down at the piano and transcribe things from certain records that I really like. Then I’d get together with the band and see what sounds good. I really enjoy doing it. You know, you write something and as soon as you bring it to the band to play, they bring life to it, and it’s one of the most enjoyable things seeing your music really come alive. Sometimes it sounds even better than I could imagine because there’s real people playing. They make the music so amazing so it’s a real thrill.

BlogUT: There seem to be many great composers and arrangers that are bassists, like Mingus and Charlie Haden. Do you think there’s a reason why many bass players seem to excel at this?
Brandi: Well, I don’t think it’s just bass players. I think it’s just the need to write and to explore different sounds and to play music. But I guess, as a bass player, we always hear everything from the bottom up. So maybe that lends itself to having a more unique sound or a different sound, perhaps maybe even a more rhythmic sound, because we’re timekeepers just like drums.

BlogUT: What’s next for you?
Brandi: We’re just wrapping up our national tour now. In the middle of July, we’ll be heading out to the East Coast to finish up there. And we’re excited about the new record, “Second Side”, which is coming out in September, and being released on Just In Time records. We also just launched our new website and we’ve got lots of music samples up there.

Sonny Rollins, the epitome of cool, who made his name as a “saxophone colossus” on the album of the same name, opened the TO Jazz festival on Friday, June 26th, with his very tight band. He walked onto the stage with his ultra cool white jacket and sunglasses, ready to give the audience a run for its money. He opened his show with a whirlwind solo in “Sonny, Please” with so much energy, a little game of “name that tune” in his solo, and a whole lot of bop, that the concert probably could have ended after just the one song, and the audience still could have gone home happy.

But Sonny and his group entertained for seventy minutes, a short concert, but every minute was fine, finer than his last Toronto performance in 2007, which was longer and still great, but not quite this good. He may have run out of breath now and then, but that’s a minor qualm for a 78-year-old that can keep you smiling throughout the whole concert. And Sonny knows how to put on a show. As he takes his solo, ready to heat up the piece and the room, he comes downstage, centre stage, and starts playing away, dancing as close as he possibly can to the audience. Sure, he’s a showoff, but the totally loveable kind. At his last concert, I remember being annoyed that he let his band play too much – we were there for Sonny not for his band – but not so this time. He played his heart out with various hits like “In a Sentimental Mood”, “They Say It’s Wonderful”, “Nice Lady”, and “Strode Rode”.

Rollins’s solos aren’t as technical as say, the young star, Chris Potter. But his solos are completely melodic, good from start to finish, from the heart, and never fail to please. He’s one of the last old jazz greats and seeing him in concert is always a pleasure. This year his group was very good, especially percussionist Victor Y. See Yuen, whose bongo drumming was incredibly melodic and a pleasure to listen to. I especially enjoyed the solo call and response between Rollins and Yuen: sure Yuen is percussion, but he plays like he’s playing the melody, and that’s a rare find in a percussionist.

On Canada Day, the current Dave Brubeck Quartet – Bobby Millitello on saxophone, Michael Moore on bass, and Randy Jones on drums – lit up the stage at the Nathan Phillips Square Mainstage, a cheap venue with a lot of energy, but rather crummy sound. It was no venue to hear Brubeck play some of his trademark solo piano, but the quartet worked well. Last year’s performance at the Four Seasons Centre Opera House had better acoustics, but made the mistake of taking pieces written for a quartet and playing them with a big band. Not so this year, as the quartet played as a quartet in good form, starting out with a wide selection of Duke Ellington’s compositions from “C Jam Blues” to “Take the A Train” and beyond. Dave Brubeck played a Yamaha piano with wonderful skill, an old master at work. Bobby Millitello’s saxophone sounded a little too much like the bad 1980s crooning movie soundtrack saxophone and occasionally his sound became rather a misplaced nuisance. But Michael Moore, on bass, gave some stunning solos and occasionally, as Brubeck got tired, helped him out with his part, playing the piano’s pick-ups in the encore of “Take Five”.

The highlights of the concert were the starting medleys of Duke Ellington pieces – when Brubeck’s energy was high – and the addition of Brubeck’s son, Matthew Brubeck, on cello, to the group, for the last few numbers. The 6’8’’ Matthew Brubeck makes his cello look tiny, but he sure can play. He lives in Toronto and teaches jazz improvisation for strings at York University, and occasionally joins his dad on stage – last year and this year at the TO Jazz festival – and what a lovely addition. They started out with a composition by Brubeck based on the rhythm of “Sermon on the mount”, a beautiful piece which they also performed together at last year’s festival. When Brubeck announced the piece, he told the audience “Matthew will play the melody first [eyeing Matthew to make sure he does play the melody], and then he’s going to improvise and that will set him free.” It’s interesting that Brubeck Sr. should say that as so many of the acts at the festival started off looking almost a little bored (still great, but not like they were fully enjoying themselves) as they played the necessary melody, anxious to get to their solos when they really shone. Matthew Brubeck’s jazz cello is extremely melodic and his solos rather complex and gorgeous: a joy to listen to.

Brubeck’s concert was the most expensive one at the mainstage this year, costing audience members $55 per ticket for the pleasure. I suppose Brubeck is old enough that we might not get another opportunity to see him, and everyone wants to be able to say they saw “Take Five” live in concert, but Brubeck is past his prime. He was innovative and inventive in the 1950s when he took the jazz world by storm with all kinds of peculiar time signatures. But his music is now music of the past; the real stars of this year’s festival were the younger folks.

That being said, Charlie Haden gave a fabulous duet performance with pianist Ethan Iverson at the Glenn Gould studio on Sunday, July 5th, in the style of old, relaxed, mellow Bill Evans-esque tunes from the 1950s. Haden’s career has spanned over 50 years and he has played with everyone, from Ornette Coleman to Keith Jarrett, in every genre from cool jazz to free jazz to country, and his rich background made for a rich performance. He also regaled the audience with a variety of stories about the pieces he played or the musicians that wrote them, an educated musician with a lot to offer, aside from playing a darn good bass, and he’s quite the character, to boot.

The acoustics in the Glenn Gould studio are in every way excellent to the point that it was actually possible to hear every note that double bassist Charlie Haden played. He and Iverson played a variety of old favourites, from Haden’s own compositions to covers of tunes like “Blue in Green” from Miles Davis’s groundbreaking album “Kind of Blue”. Haden played a bass line that might as well have been a melody: it could have stood on its own and it was certainly intricate and melodic. And his solos were a joy to listen to at all times. His instrument is huge and low, but Haden knows how to get a beautiful sound out of it, which makes you listen carefully to catch all the nuances.

Ethan Iverson played the piano with a beautiful, laid back touch, melodic, but not overdone, playing with clarity. But make no mistake: this was not an “easy” style, but well chosen. And Iverson proved his prowess indisputably in the encore. An audience member called out a request for Haden’s song for his wife, “Song for Ruth”, which Iverson had never played before. Haden headed over to his briefcase to search for the music and handed Iverson a half-page part that looked like it was handwritten: all melody and no chords. Iverson took the mike to explain to the audience that not only would he have to sight read the piece, but also Haden had given him a part for a B flat instrument and so he would have to sight transpose, as well. If we hadn’t been told, we never would have been able to guess that Iverson had never played the piece, let alone that he was going through a technical feat to sight-transpose it. Iverson also noted that this sort of thing happens all the time with Haden, who took the opportunity to tell the audience that he is famous for getting the best musicians to play with him. And it’s no surprise why: Haden is a bassist, a rhythm section, and a melodic force.

Brubeck, Haden and Rollins can all play the heck out of their instruments. Seeing any of them is a joy, and what a joy to get to see them all in one fabulous week: a whole range of different styles and a whole range of different kinds of mastery.

What: Chris Potter’s Underground
When: Tuesday, June 30th at 9PM (Today!) (Monday’s show reviewed below)
Where: The Pilot at 22 Cumberland between Bay and Yonge (Map)
Tickets: $28 at the door – arrive early as seating is limited and first come first serve. Doors open at 8PM. Dinner is available at the Pilot.

(See end of Review for more Chris Potter listings for this week on Tuesday and Friday)

Starting at 9PM and finishing up at around midnight, Chris Potter’s Underground wowed the audience from start to finish at the intimate Pilot setting this evening, with two great sets of serious head-bopping, jiving music, that held your attention throughout, accessible to the jazz neophyte and a real delight for the jazz fan. The band played both original music off Potter’s albums and interpretations of other musicians’ work.

Chris Potter is a musician’s musician – about half the audience was music students from York, Humber, and UofT – he takes any piece and turns it on its head in so many different ways that make you listen and watch in anticipation, constantly engaged. His albums are good, but his performance here was stellar. I spent the whole concert bopping my head, swinging my shoulders, tapping my foot, tapping my hands, and at the apex moments, finding myself doing all of the above at once without thinking about it. It was a heck of a lot of fun and a heck of a good show.

Chris Potter’s Underground – with Adam Rogers on guitar, Craig Taborn on Fender Rhodes, Nate Smith on drums, and Potter on alto sax, soprano sax, and bass clarinet -played original tunes like the title song from “Underground” and Potter’s new album “Ultrahang”, new never-before played compositions like “Flight to Oslo”, old standards like Duke Ellington’s “Single Petal of a Rose”, and unexpected oldies with seriously imaginative turns like their melodic, swingy ballad of Bob Dylan’s “It Ain’t Me, Babe”.

What made the show great was not just the quality of the playing or the selection of the music, but the tightness of the band, the seamless transitions, and the incredible variations on the melody. While most jazz concerts follow the same old pattern of melody, sax solo, guitar solo, drum solo, keyboard solo, back to melody, and then new song and repeat, Underground has a new and exciting way of approaching performance, which is strong and engaging. However, it does get a little repetitive in nature by the nth song.

It’s kind of like a game, a really clever game for the listener that wants to be challenged. We start with the melody, which is just there to teach the audience the rules. Then the band, who together have obviously spent hours and hours of intense time practicing to get so comfortable and seamless with one another, do some minor deviations from the melody, playing with it but not straying too far. They’re still making sure the audience is on the same page.. Next Potter does the melody with some riffs and Adam Rogers on guitar follows along and plays the melody – with occasional variation, too. This is all good, but get ready for greatness. Adam Rogers gives us a very clear guitar solo where we can see him playing with the melody, turning it on its head, revisiting it, and going off on a tangent that’s clearly related, and returning again. Potter follows with the same only the energy is now up to eleven, and there’s impressive, melodic riffs, bits, but he still keeps us grounded in the melody.

Part of what makes these solos great is how grounded they are in the piece. They aren’t just out of left field like so many musicians’ solos often are. They are clear progressions from the melody and the bass line. They relate to each other and as they go the musicians play off one another. Maybe the Fender Rhodes player Craig Taborn is playing with a particular little variation or sequence, and as he moves on, Adam Rogers takes it over, while Taborn continues to solo.

We come back to the melody here and there, it’s revisited in all the solos, different things happen, and there’s never just pure solo  – 1 to solo 2 to solo 3 to solo 4 and back to the start again. Even in individual solos there’s all kinds of tight, well-rehearsed, and spot-on transitions. The phrase gets sped up and slowed down, the rhythm changes, the mood changes, the soloists play off one another in seamless transitions which are in no way choppy. They never just “hand off the piece” to one another, but are constantly engaged and are working together in each of the solos. They put us through intense dissonance, or intense anticipation, only to satisfy us with a great release as they finally hit that note. Even the transitions between Potter on alto sax to soprano sax to bass clarinet worked pretty easily.

When we return to the melody at the end of each piece, and we usually do – though there isn’t really an “end” to many of the pieces but a careful, suave transition from one piece to the next, from one speed to the next, from one mood to the next – it’s not the same as it was at the beginning of the piece. The elements are still there, but there’s new food for thought, too. The transitions from piece to piece are both subtle and clear. And it’s not your average boring slow song, fast song, slow song, fast song, choppy back-and-forth.

The group finished at midnight with a standing ovation, came back for an encore and received another standing ovation. And it’s no surprise why: these guys know how to put on a show. They know how to play together and they know how to give us something new, something different. They take a song that may seem not all that interesting and turn it into a real tour-de-force. As I sat outside the door earlier in the evening, waiting to get in and take my seat, I could hear the group practicing together and doing technical exercises on their own. The result was a strong concert throughout and instead of a weak and rocky start, we were treated to a good, strong start with just a taste of the fun we were about to experience.

These guys know what they’re doing and they’re playing again this week, so don’t miss these must-see shows. Chris Potter’s Underground will be at the Pilot again tomorrow (Tuesday, June 30th) at 9PM; Potter is giving a FREE workshop at Nathan Phillips Square at 2PM on Tuesday as well; and come back to the MainStage concert on Friday to see Chris Potter play with bassist (and long-time collaborator) Dave Holland.

———————————————

What: Chris Potter workshop – FREE
When: Tuesday, June 30th at 2PM
Where: Nathan Phillips Square

AND

What: Chris Potter plays in the Dave Holland Quintet
When: Friday, July 3rd @ 8PM
Where: Nathan Phillips Square, MainStage Concert
Tickets: $35 at the door, general admission seating, first come first serve

The past few days have been absolutely beautiful – the perfect weather, in fact, to explore the city. That is, if you know where to go. We all know about the ROM and Ontario Place, but Toronto’s real beauty lies in its colourful neighbourhoods. There’s nothing quite like picking a street, and wandering around to see what you’ll find. To help you decide where to go, I’ll be posting a series of articles on the best places to wander and explore in Toronto, starting with The Distillery District.

This is absolutely my favourite place to be in Toronto. A set of renovated and refurbished distillery buildings, this pedestrian area is beautiful and charming, and worth seeing if only for its wonderful architecture (think Cannery Row North). The majority of the space is taken up with art galleries, artsy shops, restaurants, and cafes. Its incredible atmosphere, mixing the old, the cultured and the new, makes it a place that can’t be missed, whether you’re new to Toronto or have been here for your entire life.

How To Get Here:

-From King Station (Yonge Line): take the 504 King Streetcar. Get out at Parliament, walk 2 blocks South to Mill St.
-From Castle Frank Station (Bloor Line): take the 65A Parliament bus to Front St., walk 1 block South to Mill St.
-See the Distillery Website for more directions.

Places To Go:

-Bergo Designs: This is an industrial design (a fancy name for home decor items like vases, clocks, and tea pots) store. This sounds pretty boring, but Bergo isn’t Ikea. I don’t know how to describe it except to say that it’s really, really cool – I’ve been known to spend well over an hour looking at the hundreds of unique objects. Their designs are creative, beautiful, and made with more than a little humour. Unfortunately, they also come with more than a little price tag, so if you’re a student just think of it as a gallery.

- Soma Chocolatemaker: Three words: Mayan Hot Chocolate. This is hot chocolate with chilli pepper. Not to everyone’s taste, but definitely an experience not to be missed. If you are not adventurous enough for this, they have many other drinks to try, as well as gelato and handmade chocolates. A window into the kitchens allows you to watch them make their creations.

- Sandra Ainsley Gallery: This is a gallery space full of incredible glass sculptures and mixed media contortions. A gallery not to be missed.

-Gibsone Jessop Gallery: This is an art gallery specializing in international artists and, at least every time that I’ve been there, usually displays photography or modern art. Its door is always open, and it’s far less intimidating for those who just want to take a look than some of the other galleries on the property.

Things to Do:
- Soulpepper Theater: This is easily my favourite theater in Toronto. They have excellent productions and a very well chosen repertoire with everything from Classical plays to Shakespeare to modern theater (and a penchant for producing Stoppard and Beckett doesn’t hurt). Best of all, they have $5 rush tickets for those under 21, $20 regular rush tickets, and $28 student tickets for any level of seating. Click the link for this season’s performances.

- Festivals: There are many, especially during the summer. I’ve personally only attended the Distillery branch of the Jazz Festival, but it was entertaining as always. Although due to space constraints these tend to not be as full as other street festivals around Toronto, they are the perfect time to wander the Distillery. Click the link to see this year’s list.

Photo Credits (top-bottom): 1, 2 by Carly Basian; 3, 5 by me; 4 from here.