Making a Scene – by Jim Hynes

Canadian Jazz Collective
Septology – The Black Forest Session
HGBS Blue

The Canadian Jazz Collective (CJC) is fronted by three of Canada’s most acclaimed and accomplished jazz treasures and familiar names to readers of these pages, especially trumpeter Derrick Gardner alongside saxophonist Kirk MacDonald, guitarist Lorne Lofsky. We introduced clarinetist Virginia MacDonald (Kirk’s daughter) on Michael Dease’s recently issued The Other Shoe. The rhythm section feature pianist Brian Dickinson, bassist Neil Swainson whose Fire in the West was one of our 2022 Top 30 Jazz Albums) and drummer Bernd Reiter. This innovative septet delivers a set of originals, three each composed by Gardner and Lofsky with Kirk MacDonald contributing two.

Canada boasts a storied history of jazz greats that includes Oscar Peterson, Maynard Ferguson and Gil Evans and today’s great players such as Renee Rosnes, Cory Weeds, the Doxas brothers and many others. The most familiar name to readers of these pages is Chicago-native Derrick Gardner, who has performed with a who’s-who of jazz greats and has been an Associate Professor at the University of Manitoba for over a decade. We covered his two most recent works, Still I Rise (2019), with the Big dig! Band, and Pan Africa (2023), with the Jazz Prophets. Of even more notoriety in Canada is Kirk MacDonald, a 2x Juno Award winner and recipient of the Toronto Music Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Having appeared on over 50 albums as either leader or sideman, and with over 100 compositions to his credit, MacDonald is an iconic jazz figure in Canada. Lorne Lofsky, a veteran of 40+ years, is a master guitarist known for his pianistic voicings and virtuosic skill. He was once a member of the Oscar Peterson Quartet, among many notable stints in his lineage.

So, this is a supergroup in the vein of such combos as Artemis, The Cookers, and The Heavyweights although the inspiration didn’t appear to necessarily stem from those ensembles like. Instead, the CJC is the pre-Covid brainchild of artist manager Judith Humenick, who had a hunch that putting MacDonald, Lofsky and Gardner together would result in something truly special. In May 2022, the septet embarked on a string of dates in Europe, which culminated at London’s famous Ronnie Scott’s in front of a sold-out house. The recording of Septology occurred during this tour at the iconic MPS Studios (Most Perfect Sound) in Villingen, Germany, located on the Eastern edge of the Black Forest, hence the reference in the title. MPS is dear to Canadians as it was one of Oscar Peterson’s favorite places to record. Some of Peterson’s most notable recordings were born there, including the Exclusively For My Friends series (1963-1968).

Gardner’s “Dig That!,” opens with the trumpeter leading a series of blistering solos which also includes each of the two MacDonalds. If you missed the clarinetist on Dease’s album, you’ll be struck with the fervor she brings to her instrument. Her dad’s reflective “Silent Voices,” a nod to those lost during the pandemic years, is a showcase for the two of them. Kirk’s second contribution, “Shadows” is a lush, orchestrated piece displaying the colorful blended harmonies of the septet and one of his most declarative solos as a poignant spot from bassist Swainson.

As stated, Lofsky offers three, the first of which is “The Time Being,” with its harmonious horn parts serving as a backdrop for an emphatic solo from pianist Brian Dickinson. Lofsky nods to Thelonious Monk’s “Well You Needn’t” with “Waltz You Needn’t,” which first appeared on Lofsky’s landmark 1992 self-titled solo album. His “Highway 9” reflects a relaxing, scenic cruise as he leads the melody with strong ensemble work from the front line before Dickinson’s bright piano and MacDonald’s fluid tenor clusters suggest a more eventful, rollicking experience.

Gardner’s two compositions close out the set, with “Terre de DuSable” an homage to his Chicago roots, with ample opportunities for several members to stretch out.  It begins as a heavy strut with musicians issuing brief point/counterpoint bursts as if in vigorous conversation before Gardner takes flight followed by Lofsky, V. MacDonald, Dickinson, all in animated fashion building to a dynamic climax. The mid-tempo, gently flowing “One Thing Led to Another” puts a cap on the session with more deft ensemble work and especially glistening turns from the guitarist and pianist.

CDC is a gift from our friends in the Great North – colorful, mostly relaxing mainstream jazz with well-crafted and executed compositions.

Ottawa Citizen – by Peter Hum

Canadian Jazz Collective
When: Thursday, April 6, 8 p.m.
Where: National Arts Centre, Azrieli Studio
Tickets: $45 plus fees at nac-cna.ca

Look at a list of Canada’s top exports and you’ll see goods such as crude petroleum, cars, petroleum gas, planes, helicopters and even spacecraft. You will not see jazz music.

An all-star group called the Canadian Jazz Collective wishes it were otherwise, and is doing its part this spring.

It’s already exceedingly difficult for Canadian jazz groups to tour across their own sprawling homeland, let alone internationally. But the collective, a septet with veteran Torontonians Kirk MacDonald and Lorne Lofsky among it, will embark for most of May on a 16-city European tour with performances in Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Spain and the U.K.

Before hitting the road across the pond, the septet will visit six Canadian venues in the next week, including a stop on Thursday in the NAC’s Azrieli Studio.

It was Ottawa-based manager Judy Humenick, who came up with the idea for the collective. Her company represents MacDonald, Lofsky, and trumpeter Derrick Gardner, the septet’s third co-leader. For years, Humenick toiled to raise the profiles of her individual musicians in Europe. Then, Humenick proposed that her clients join forces and brand themselves under a maple leaf.

“We all thought this would be a great idea and that the chemistry of the co-leaders’ playing and writing styles would work very well musically,” MacDonald says.

By combining their star power, Humenick was able to send them to Europe in May 2022. The septet embarked on a seven-gig run that hit storied jazz clubs in London, Paris and beyond.

The band also went into the studio for a recording session that yielded the collective’s debut album.

Released last week, the album is entitled Septology. It includes eight compositions by MacDonald, Lofsky and Gardner, covering “a nice spectrum of styles ranging from straight-ahead to more modern-sounding,” MacDonald says.

The group recorded at the iconic MPS Studio in Villingen, Germany, which coincidentally was where Oscar Peterson, perhaps Canada’s greatest jazz icon (and export) made several much-loved albums in the 1960s.

MacDonald says the recording session “was a throwback to the 1960s in every aspect,” listing old-school details of how recordings used to be made with as much fidelity to the performance, and as little technological skullduggery, as possible.

Producer Friedhelm Schulz of HGBS Blue Records was interested in producing an analog vinyl album. As a result, the project shunned today’s standard digital recording gear and had the musicians play live to quarter-inch tape. There was no editing, overdubbing, or even headphones used by the musicians. The mixing of the album was done in real time as the tracks were being recorded.

“So, the environment itself was very different from what we are now accustomed to when embarking on a modern recording project,” MacDonald says. “There’s a certain purity of sound that a producer would be going for in the vinyl production, and I think that warmth gets captured in the recording within the analog realm.”

In addition to MacDonald, 63, Lofsky, 68, and Gardner, 57, the collective includes clarinetist Virginia Frigault-MacDonald. In her late 20s, she is not only MacDonald’s daughter; She is also one of Canada’s brightest rising jazz stars. Rounding out the group are pianist Brian Dickinson, 62, Neil Swainson, 67, and drummer Bernd Reiter.

You could arguably also call the band the Toronto Jazz Collective, as five of its members call that city home. American jazz man Gardner’s connection to Canada is that he was for some time a Winnipegger, while teaching at the University of Manitoba. Drummer Reiter is Austrian. He joined the band last year after working with MacDonald during some of his past European jaunts.

MacDonald sees a lot of potential for this project. He hopes to record again with the band, and says its concept is flexible enough to allow for a roster of members and composers who could rotate in and out as needed.

The band’s name prompts a perhaps trite question: Is there a distinctively Canadian take on jazz that differentiates it from jazz elsewhere?

“I’m not sure how I would describe the Canadian sound, but I certainly feel that there are a number of individuals in this music who do possess their own sound and to my ears it feels Canadian and unique,” MacDonald says.

He names some of the greatest jazz musicians that called Canada home, including Ed Bickert, Claude Ranger, Guido Basso, Rob McConnell, Guy Nadon and Nelson Symonds.

As different as those musicians sounded, they were all able to draw on a wide variety of influences and develop their singular sounds, MacDonald says. Perhaps being removed from jazz hubs such as New York City gave them to the space to be more personal and less immediately influenced, he offers.

“(They) seem uniquely Canadian to me,” MacDonald says.

HGBS Blue Records is proud to announce the March 31, 2023 release of Septology – The Black Forest Session by the newly assembled all-star ensemble, the Canadian Jazz Collective. The CJC is fronted by three of Canada’s most acclaimed and accomplished jazz treasures: saxophonist Kirk MacDonald, guitarist Lorne Lofsky and trumpeter Derrick Gardner. Augmented by clarinetist Virginia MacDonald and supported by a noted rhythm section comprised of pianist Brian Dickinson, bassist Neil Swainson and drummer Bernd Reiter, this innovative septet takes a collaborative approach to the presentation of original Canadian jazz, and blends the unique artistic visions of the leaders into one creative and cohesive voice.

Since the 1950’s, Canada has played an indispensable role in the jazz vista. Oscar Peterson, Maynard Ferguson and Gil Evans are just some of the iconic figures that called Canada home. Today, Canada continues to be a reliable source for some of the world’s best jazz artists, with a robust and vibrant musical scene. The Canadian Jazz Collective strives to uphold that tradition, and to display their virtuosic, world-class artistry through the performance of original work. “The idea is to put together musicians with a similar aesthetic, who approach the music with openness and respectfulness of each other’s personalities, and to bring them to the forefront,” shares MacDonald, adding, “it’s the idea that the whole should be greater than the sum of the parts.”

Simply put, MacDonald, Gardner and Lofsky are icons of Canadian jazz. Kirk MacDonald, a 2x Juno Award winner and recipient of the Toronto Music Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award is one of the most well-established Canadian musicians of his generation. Having appeared on over 50 albums as either leader or sideman, and with over 100 compositions to his credit, MacDonald’s influence and reach cannot be overstated. Chicago-native Derrick Gardner has performed with a who’s-who of jazz greats as well as some of the most revered large ensembles in jazz including the Count Basie Orchestra, Frank Foster’s Loud Minority Band, Harry Connick Jr.’s Big Band and more. An Associate Professor at the University of Manitoba for over a decade, Gardner has garnered international attention for his two most recent works, Still I Rise (2019), with the Big dig! Band, and Pan Africa (2023), with the Jazz Prophets. Lorne Lofsky is a master guitarist known for his pianistic voicings and virtuosic skill. For 40+ years, the Toronto native has left an indelible mark through his definitive solo work, fruitful collaborations with fellow guitarist Ed Bickert, and earlier as a member of the Oscar Peterson Quartet. With so much history between them, it is no exaggeration to say that the members of the Canadian Jazz Collective are the torch bearers of this storied
tradition.

The CJC is the pre-Covid brainchild of artist manager Judith Humenick, who had a hunch that putting three powerhouses like MacDonald, Lofsky and Gardner together would result in something truly special. In May 2022, the septet embarked on a string of dates in Europe, which culminated at London’s famous Ronnie Scott’s in front of a sold-out house. The recording of Septology was the centerpiece of this first outing. “The tour was wonderful. The reception we had was great everywhere. And the recording at MPS Studios was a real throwback to how things used to be done,” MacDonald shares.

Deepening the CJC’s rich musical lineage is the studio Septology was recorded at: the iconic MPS Studios (Most Perfect Sound) in Villingen, Germany, located on the Eastern edge of the Black Forest. In Canadian jazz canon, MPS holds a very special distinction as one of Oscar Peterson’s favorite places to record. Some of Peterson’s most notable recordings were born there, including the Exclusively For My Friends series (1963-1968). Lofsky, a former member of Peterson’s Quartet in the 1990’s, admits a strong sense of “delayed synchronicity” in recording there himself, so many decades later.

Six striking, original compositions make up the collector-edition vinyl album Septology. It swings right out of the gate with Gardner’s “Dig That!”, which showcases Gardner on a ferocious solo that takes no prisoners. Virginia MacDonald and Kirk MacDonald also shine on their respective solos. The reflective and pensive “Silent Voices”, penned by Kirk MacDonald for the “people who are no longer with us” features stunning two-part writing for the saxophonist and clarinetist. Kirk’s daughter, Virginia, shows the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree on this gorgeous display. Lorne Lofsky’s nods to Thelonious Monk’s “Well You Needn’t” on the next track, with “Waltz You Needn’t”, which first appeared on Lofsky’s landmark 1992 self-titled solo album. The three-decades later
update takes on a new life as Lofsky and his bandmates soar above the changes. “Terre de DuSable” is Gardner’s homage to his Chicago roots, and its clever construction allows each member of the band to marvelously shine. Beautiful harmonies shine through on Kirk MacDonald’s “Shadows”, before the program comes to a close with Lofsky’s “The Time Being”, which, as the composer reflects, “relates to my musical development thus far in my life,” and alternates between the deftly ordered polyphony of the writing for horns, and giving freedom to pianist Brian Dickinson.

“I’ve been playing with several members of the CJC for over 40 years. The kind of trust and rapport that has developed over this period of time has certainly contributed to a deeper connection within the group and the current repertoire,” shares Lofsky. Anchored by these long-standing ties, as well as their respective musical histories, with Septology, the Canadian Jazz Collective ushers in a new era of Canadian jazz excellence.

Septology – The Black Forest Session will be available digitally, and on compact disc on March 31, and as a collector-edition vinyl LP by mid April. The digital and compact disc versions include two bonus tracks, Lofsky’s Highway 9 and Gardner’s One Thing Led to Another. The ensemble will tour in Canada in April and Europe in May, followed by a New York debut at Birdland Jazz Club in July.

See European Tour Dates Listen to Sample Tracks Buy Now on BandCamp

Official single release by The Canadian Jazz Collective (CJC) performing Dig That! Composed By Derrick Gardner.

Canadian Jazz Collective Septet are proud to present their newly-released album Septology — The Black Forest Session for release on March 31, 2023.

Formed in 2022, this exciting new ‘supergroup’, led by three of Canada’s most renowned and award-winning jazz artists, takes a collaborative approach to the presentation of original Canadian jazz on the international stage. Highlighting the compositions of saxophonist Kirk MacDonald, trumpeter Derrick Gardner and guitarist Lorne Lofsky, the Septet also features rising star clarinetist Virginia MacDonald, bassist Neil Swainson, pianist Brian Dickinson, and Austrian drummer Bernd Reiter.

Now available on Spotify, Amazon, and Apple Music

Follow the CJC:

https://www.facebook.com/canadianjazzcollective/
https://www.instagram.com/canadianjazzcollective/
https://twitter.com/CanadianJazz

Production Company: HGBS Blue Records
Producer: Friedhelm Schulz (Black Forest Sounds) and Judith Humenick
Design: Lucie Frigault
Recording Studio: MPS-Studio Villingen
March 3, 2023
© 2023 The Canadian Jazz Collective, assisted by Canada Council for the Arts

Trane of Thought CDTrane of Thought on Cellar Live features the music of the great John Coltrane. Recorded live at The Rex Hotel Jazz and Blues Bar this CD captures music from our long running (27 years) annual tribute to Coltrane.

Recorded over two nights in September of 2018 featuring Brian Dickinson (piano), Neil Swainson (bass) and Joe LaBarbera (drums) along with Pat LaBarbera (saxophones) and Kirk MacDonald (saxophone).

Listen to sample tracks & learn more.

Bill King chatting with Kirk August 29, 2019 a7 CIUT 89.5 radio. Check out the podcast below.

The Bill King Show
Thursdays, 9:00-10:00am

The father-and-daughter frontline make the trip from Toronto to Montreal and then Ottawa this weekend.

Ottawa Citizen – PETER HUM November 24, 2018

GenerationsKirk MacDonald  presents his latest CD Generations, his first release with the Label HGBS Blue Records Canada. It’s Kirk MacDonald’s 15th CD as a leader. After recording almost exclusively his own compositions over the past two and a half decades, MacDonald wanted to return to the music he cut his teeth on. This is a collection of ballads & standards from the Great American Songbook and jazz compositions by a few of his favorite composers. The band spans three generations, with Kirk MacDonald’s daughter Virginia the youngest at 23, Neil Swainson, André White and MacDonald well into their fifties or early sixties, and Harold Mabern at 82. It is a testament of the timelessness of this art form and of the great compositions contained on this CD, that the musicians could so easily find common ground with the material and each other. Listen to sample tracks.

This new collective quartet puts a unique spin on the “two-horn” sound. Performing originals from each of the band members as well as the jazz standard repertoire, the Pat LaBarbera Kirk MacDonald Quartet recently toured Canada & recorded the CD Silent Voices in July 2016.

Pat LaBarbera: tenor & soprano saxophones
Kirk MacDonald: tenor & soprano saxophones
Kieran Overs: bass
Adam Nussbaum: drums

Listen now to sample tracks.

Common GroundIt is always a major undertaking to produce a recording for large ensemble Common Ground was no exception. Common Ground is the third recording by KMJO (The Kirk MacDonald Jazz Orchestra) & Kirk MacDonald’s thirteenth CD as leader. Common Ground is a follow up to the 2015 Juno Award Winning CD  Vista Obscura (AJR025). The Kirk MacDonald Jazz Orchestra  has come a long way from their debut performance at the Halifax Jazz Festival in 2004. Since then, the group has performed extensively, released two albums, & developed a book that consists of over thirty-five of Kirk MacDonald’s compositions arranged by some of Canada’s finest composers/arrangers. Listen to sample tracks.

Interview with Jazz Musician Kirk MacDonald

The Body Electric Podcast is hosted by jazz guitarist Nathan Hiltz and features musician to musician interviews. The show airs Thursdays. Kirk MacDonald and Nathan play a few duets and discuss where they come from musically and what they’ve been focusing on lately.

Listen to Kirk MacDonald and Nathan talk how to practice, teaching, and writing for a band.

www.nathanhiltz.com

The SOCAN Awards were presented to members whose complete repertoire of creative works achieved the highest number of performances in their respective categories during 2014:
The 2015 SOCAN Award for excellence in the genre of jazz was presented to jazz saxophonist Kirk MacDonald.

Youth Jazz Canada congratulates Artistic Director Kirk MacDonald on his Toronto Musicians’ Association 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award. Born in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Kirk MacDonald joined the Cape Breton Musicians’ Association at age 12, and made his first recording a year later. Since moving to Toronto in 1997, he has performed on over 45 CDs, both as leader and sideman, and has participated in numerous national broadcast recordings for CBC Radio. He has performed extensively throughout Canada, as well as in the USA, Spain, France, Italy, Holland, Monaco, Australia, Korea, Bermuda, and the Bahamas. Over 90 of his compositions appear on 22 CDs, of his own and of other artists. Kirk has built an extensive body of jazz reflecting both tradition and innovation, and has built a solid reputation as a player, having performed or recorded with leading musicians from all over the world. In 1992 he was declared Winner at the prestigious 4ème Concours International de Solistes de Jazz in Monaco. Kirk MacDonald has been nominated for National Jazz Awards Saxophonist of the Year three times, among many other nominations and accolades. An educator for 27 years at jazz studies programs such as the University of Toronto and McGill, he is presently a full time professor at Humber College in Toronto. A member of the Toronto Musicians’ Association since 1979, he has received 11 Juno Awards nominations, winning in 1999 and again in 2015, for Vista Obscura. The Toronto Musicians’ Association congratulates Kirk MacDonald on his recent Juno, and are delighted to acknowledge him with their highest honour — the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Kirk MacDonald’s CD Symmetry wins the 2015 East Coast Music Award for Jazz Recording of the Year.

Symmetry is saxophonist Kirk MacDonald’s eleventh CD and is his fixth release on Addo Records. Symmetry features the legendary trumpeter Tom Harrell, along with  jazz greats bassist Neil Swainson, pianist Brian Dickinson, and drummer Dennis Mackrel.

Jazz Album of the Year – Solo for Vista Obscura

Vista Obscura is the latest album by saxophonist Kirk MacDonald. It is his sixth release on Addo Records and features the legendary Harold Mabern, along with Canadian jazz greats Neil Swainson, Andre White, and Pat LaBarbera. Vista Obscura is Kirk’s second Juno Award winner and sixth Juno Award nomination.

Kirk MacDonald’s CD, Symmetry has been nominated for Jazz Recording of the Year for the 2015 East Coast Music Awards being held this year in St. John’s Newfoundland. Symmetry features Tom Harrell, Brian Dickinson, Neil Swainson & Dennis Mackrel. Symmetry is available to purchase through CDBaby.

Kirk MacDonald - 2015 Juno Award Nomination

Kirk MacDonald – 2015 Juno Award Nomination

Kirk MacDonald’s latest release, Vista Obscura has been nominated for Jazz Album of the Year, Solo for the 2015 Juno Awards being held this year in Hamilton, Ontario. The CD features Harold Mabern, Pat LaBarbera, Neil Swainson & André White. Vista Obscura is available to purchase through CDBaby.

ALL ABOUT JAZZ
Kirk MacDonald: Symmetry (2014)
By JACK BOWERS,
Published: January 12, 2014

Following two splendid albums as leader of his own big band (Deep Shadows, Family Suite for Large Jazz Orchestra), Toronto-based saxophonist / educator Kirk MacDonald has returned to a small-group format for Symmetry, the thirteenth recording on which his name has been listed atop the marquee. In this case, however, any member of MacDonald’s quintet could have easily laid claim to the honor, as every one is an all-star in his own right, from the renowned trumpeter Tom Harrell, who shares the front line, to the exemplary rhythm section comprised of pianist Brian Dickinson, bassist Neil Swainson and drummer Dennis Mackrel.

Granted, assembling five world-class musicians in a studio to record doesn’t always pay dividends. Here, however, the idea seems truly inspired, thanks in part to their easygoing rapport and in even larger measure to MacDonald’s admirable compositions and arrangements, which bring out the best his colleagues have to offer. In the liner notes, MacDonald writes that he was searching for “beauty as a result of balance or harmonious arrangement.” Mission accomplished, starting with the shapely title selection and continuing through the nimble finale, “Bop Zone.” MacDonald later amplifies the remark, pointing out the genesis and form of each arrangement, but that is best left for musicologists to read and assimilate. Suffice to say that MacDonald has readily achieved his purpose.

“Bop Zone” is especially well-suited to MacDonald whose robust, darting tenor solos bring to mind such bop-era (and later) flame-throwers as Hank Mobley, Johnny Griffin, Teddy Edwards, George Coleman, Harold Land and Charlie Rouse, among others, not to mention such contemporaries as Lew Tabackin, Don Menza, Joe Lovano and Canada’s own Pat LaBarbera. As for Harrell, he is as always a model of tastefulness and consistency on trumpet or flugel, pouring years of invaluable discipline and experience into every persuasive solo. Dickinson and Swainson make the most of their moments in the sun (each is bright and perceptive whether out front or lending support), while Mackrel toils earnestly to help keep the rhythm sharp and steady. Even though no one is likely to end the day humming any of MacDonald’s themes, all are well-honed and consistently pleasing.

In sum, Symmetry more than lives up to its eurythmic name: a burnished and cohesive group endeavor whose whole is actually greater than its parts. Definitely worth checking out.
Track Listing: Symmetry; Eleven; Common Ground; Mackrel’s Groove; Shadows; Brazil Like; Labyrinth; Greenwich Time; Contemplation; Bop Zone.

Personnel: Kirk MacDonald: leader, composer, arranger, tenor saxophone; Tom Harrell: trumpet, flugelhorn; Brian Dickinson: piano; Neil Swainson: bass; Dennis Mackrel: drums.

Record Label: Addo Records

http://www.allaboutjazz.com

I’m looking forward to releasing my eleventh CD as a leader. It’s a quintet recording featuring ten new compositions of mine with a great band.

Members are Tom Harrell (trumpet/fluglehorn), Brian Dickinson (piano), Neil Swainson (bass), Dennis Mackrel (drums) and yours truly on tenor saxophone. Look for an early October release on ADDO Records.

kmjo_family_suiteKirk MacDonald’s latest CD “Family Suite for large ensemble” under the Addo Records label was released today.

The nominees for the 2012 JUNO Awards were announced by The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) and The Kirk Mac Donald Jazz Orchestra’s CD Deep Shadows was nominated in the “Traditional Jazz Album of the Year” category!

This follows up consecutive Juno Award nominations for Kirk’s previous CDs, Songbook Vol. I (2010), and Songbook Vol. II (2011). Congratulations to all the nominees.

Visit: http://www.addorecords.com to purchase the CD or MP3s.

KMJO in the studio

From left to right. First row: Kirk MacDonald, Luis Deniz, P.J. Perry, Pat LaBarbera, Perry White. Second row: Al Kay, Barry Romberg, Nancy White, Brian O’Kane, Joe Sullivan, Lorne Lofsky, Collin Murray, Mike Ardagh. Third row: Nick Bonin, Neil Swainson, Kevin Turcotte, Rob Smith, Jason Logue, Terry Promane, Kenny MacDonald, Steve Belamy.

Recording Session at the Humber Recording Studio (located at the Humber College Lakeshore Campus in Toronto) for the CD Family Suite for large ensemble.

We did two days of recording after a three night gig at The Rex Jazz & Blues Bar in preparation for this CD. Everyone played great on this recording and the orchestrations by Terry Promane were beautifully conceived, capturing the spirit of the compositions. A big thank you to all involved and to the Ontario Arts Council for helping fund this project.