Volume 16 Issue 5 - February 2011

Club ModeJIM GALLOWAYPHOTO JACK MACQUARRIEAndrew Chung fronts Silverthorn.addition to their concerts, the SSW will feature free public masterclasses for both adult and high school aged clarinetists. Throughoutthe season Stoll will assist in six SSW rehearsals where he willcoach the woodwinds and offer advice to the ensemble as a whole.IN RECENT YEARS I have developed an interest in how musiciansthat I meet settled on their chosen instruments. When I meet achoose the tuba (or whatever instrument they play) or did the tubaare common. However, among tuba players, a more common answerI have had the pleasure of following the development of threeSome years ago, as a grade ten student, Courtney Lambert arrivedat the Newmarket band with the determination to be a professionaltubist. Now, some years later, with a masters degree in music, she isbusy performing professionally and teaching. At the other end of thetime spectrum, Caitlin Jodoin was determined to play tuba in gradeeight. Now in grade eleven and headed for France for a stint as anexchange student, she’s not taking her tuba with her. She’s rentingFaculty of Music at the University of Toronto and has won theU of T Wind Ensemble Concerto Competition. He will beperforming the Gregson Tuba Concerto with the U of T WindSymphony on February 11 at 7:30pm in the MacMillan Theatre. Icertainly intend to be in the audience.I think it is no accident that all three of these young musicianshoned their skills under the tutelage of Anita McAllister and theHannaford Youth Band organization.Definition DepartmentThis month’s lesser known musical term is: Fiddler Crabs: Grumpystring players. We invite submissions from readers. Let’s hear yourdaffynitions.Acouple of issues ago I wrote about the less than thriving clubof you who did not read the article in question it bemoanedbeen an easy career choice. It’s tougher now. The article eliciteda larger than usual response, favourable, with one exception andmostly from musicians who could empathise with the challengesfaced by the musical community.This is not to suggest that there is no scene at all in town. A fairnumber of venues do present jazz on a regular basis, albeit sometimesonly once a week – a partial list includes Quotes, featuring theCanadian Jazz Quartet on a Friday evening at 5pm, (I’m happy tosay that I’ll be playing there on February 11), The Old Mill with itsthree nights a week policy in the Home Smith Bar, Grossman’s NewOrleans inspired sessions on a Saturday afternoon, The Reservoirwith its nightly entertainment and, of course, The Rex which rollson its merry way.They deserve your support.Looking at all of the above you might say not a bad little crop.But it’s still a far cry from the days when you had a choice of threeor four clubs six nights a week. Today it is the concert events whichjazz. The Wayne Shorter Quartet with pianist Danilo Perez, bassistJohn Patitucci, and drummer Brian Blade will be at Massey Hall onSaturday Feb.12; JAZZ.FM91’s Sound of Jazz Concert Series at TheOld Mill on February 14 will present a Valentine’s Day special withThe Steve Koven Trio, special guests Christopher Plock on reedsand vocals, and singer Lori Cullen; and as part of the same series,on the Toronto jazz scene, will team up with Robi Botos to play atribute to Bill Evans.A relative newcomer on the scene is the Jazz Performance andEducation Centre, created to support and nurture the jazz scene herein Toronto and, whenever possible, across Canada. Created in 2007,it is dedicated to the preservation and continued development ofjazz in Canada. A committee of jazz lovers, musicians and businesspeople was assembled to make plans which would enrich Toronto’sjazz scene and complement existing successful local establishmentsThe driving forces behind the venture are longtime jazzsupporters Ray and Rochelle Koskie and the ultimate goal is tocreate a full time multi purpose facility which would featureAnd this just in: It has become common practice for communitybands to program a concert around a particular theme. Now, TheCity of Brampton Concert Band goes one better. Their concludingconcert for this season is titled “The Good, The Bad and the Ugly: ATribute to the Music of the West.” The program will highlight familiarmusic from the movies such as and“Hang ‘em High,”natural beauty of the region including “The Yellowstone Suite,” andother music inspired by native lullabies, dances and culture. Theinnovative twist is a throughline narrative, with local actor ScottLale telling tales of the many personalities that gave the wild westits iconic imagery, and with local dancers as well as performers onsuch instruments as banjo, guitar and harmonica woven in. It allhappens at 8pm on Saturday February 26, 2011 at the Rose Theatrein Brampton.Please write to us: bandstand@thewholenote.com.24 thewholenote.comFebruary 1 - March 7, 2011