BeatRoute Magazine [AB] print e-edition - [June 2018]

YYCJAZZ
DEANNE MATLEY
on not being afraid to tuck and roll
Deanne Matley knows a lot about
love. After all, her new record
Because I Loved takes listeners through
the gambit of love, loss, intimacy, and
lust in hopes that they come out the
other side being able to understand
not only her experience with love
but also their own. Matley, an award
winning jazz vocalist has travelled
the world representing Canada and
Calgary.
Matley has been a fixture of the Calgary
jazz scene for several years, having
hosted jazz nights around the city and
performing with the Primetime Big
Band out of the Ironwood Stage and
Grill. “A lot of people don’t realize just
how much jazz is in Calgary, we have
a tap dancing culture, a swing dance
culture and a big band culture, all of
which are jazz.”
“Calgary has such a thriving scene, it
is becoming more accessible and more
people are realizing they like jazz.”
Said Matley from her Calgary home.
Although Matley has recorded several
albums before Because I Loved, this
BY ANDREW BARDSLEY
album was the hardest for her but also
the most transformative. “After my
marriage ended in 2016, I realized that
now I finally have that to sing about. I
have that experience.”
Travelling to Montreal to record
much of the album, Matley felt out
of her comfort zone, an experience
which she credits as having helped her
produce such a raw, emotional and
honest album. “It was an uncomfortable
experience, it was giving up a lot
of control and allowing myself to be
open to receiving help.”
Much of Because I Loved was made
possible through Indiegogo, a crowd
funding platform. “That was really uncomfortable,
you feel like the expectations
in giving back are so high.”
Matley is headed back into the
recording studio and experience
she used to dislike, “I love singing,
performing in front of people is where
I am the happiest. “I don’t like the
mixing process because its all in your
head but the recording part is all in
your heart.”
KODI HUTCHINSON
there’s always A Time For Jazz
When you think of the Calgary music scene you
may think of the singer songwriter, the folk
artist, the rap scene or any number of other scenes
that Calgary has to offer. However, you may not
think of the small but mighty jazz scene that Calgary
has on offer.
“This is their craft, this is what they have decided
to devote their lives to,” said Kodi Hutchinson, host
of CKUA’s A Time For Jazz and Artistic producer of
the Calgary Jazz Festival. Hutchinson has been active
in the Calgary jazz scene for a number of years and
runs the jazz centric record label Chronograph
Records with his wife, Stephanie.
“Calgary has a very entrepreneurial spirit in a lot of
things, and jazz is no different. A lot of musicians have
decided to just go do it themselves instead of waiting
around for someone else to do it.” Hutchinson said,
referring to the recent rise of a large amount “free
enterprising” jazz sessions around the city. “You have
Cafe Koi, the Cliff Bungalow-Mission Jazz Concert
Series, Lolita’s and so many others.” He added.
Hutchinson wants to serve as a jazz educator, he
does so in his roles at CKUA and as the provider of
Jazz Appreciation 101, an educational experience
Hutchinson recently hosted in Calgary.
In Hutchinson’s other role as artistic producer
for the Calgary Jazz Festival, a yearly festival hosted
around the city on June 14-17, he has carefully
balance the line up. “I have to find the flavours that
SHELDON ZANDBOER
making music like you’re the only one who knows how
BY ANDREW BARDSLEY
people like. I am trusted to do a good job and I
appreciate good art,” he added.
In his role at Chronograph Records, founded in
2004, Hutchinson prides himself on representing
western Canada. A label focused entirely on blues,
jazz and acoustic artists, Chronograph has had the
opportunity to represent artists out of New York
but has turned them down. “We are proud of who
we represent and I believe that if we start representing
artists from other parts of the world it kind of
goes against what we want to be.”
Sheldon Zandboer puts his mark on the jazz scene
with the release of Tipping Velvet, his first album
of entirely original work. Zandboer, a fixture of the
Canadian jazz scene has always found he made his
best music when he wasn’t trying to emulate either
Calgary jazz or other Canadian scenes such as Toronto,
where his musical abilities greatly expanded.
“I never tried to be part of any scene, once you start
emulating other artists you like you lose your voice, you
have to do what sounds good to you,” said Zandboer.
Zandboer in his debut album was chasing a 1970’s
analog sound and set out to find musicians that shared
his vision. “you have to be a certain type of musician
to make that type of sound.” In a sense, this made the
album a bit of a daunting experience. “you need to
work with people who give you wings and don’t hold
you back but it has to be a bit of a symbiotic relationship.”
He later added.
Zandboer has been a fixture of the Calgary jazz
scene and he has scene the rise and fall of storied jazz
joints such as the Beatnik, the scene is much different
from Toronto, “people don’t go to each others shows. It
is a very corporate environment.”
Zandboer also works as a jazz instructor and uses his
self published self-help book The Tao of Jazz Improvi-
BY ANDREW BARDSLEY
sation, a book that Zandboer devotes to his method of
improvisation which is based of Bruce Lee and martial
arts. “he taught it for your body and so I figured you
could do it for your brain too. It is all about speeding
up your brain to the point of breaking down and thats
when you build ‘brain muscle’.
Zandboer has been a fixture of the Calgary jazz
scene and he has scene the rise and fall of storied jazz
joints such as the Beatnik, the scene is much different
from Toronto, “people don’t go to each others shows. It
is a very corporate environment.”
“This is what jazz is! It is a conversation where you
don’t need to think. I remember one time I was part of
a improv session and we just went for four hours, not
a single plan on how it would go. You just play off one
another.”
BEATROUTE • JUNE 2018 | 27