Jazz Studies Dept. Events for Fall 2016

Have a look at our lineup of great musical events for Fall 2016.
Members of the public are always welcome at all of our lunch time concerts and evening shows.
Come back to the blog for more detail on  events as they get closer in the calendar.

Sept 7, 8pm, Presentation House.  $10 at the door. Free tea and cookies.	Len Aruliah Quartet UK saxophonist leads band including Cap faculty and alumni.
Sept 14, 8pm, Presentation House.  $10 at the door. Free tea and cookies.	Natasha D’Agostino Quintet Cap student vocalist leads band of Cap students and alumni in a concert of originals and standards
Sept 15,  7:30, Blueshore Theatre. Free admission for Cap students with ID.	Bill Evans Documentary screening plus Miles Black Trio performance. Featuring Cap jazz faculty Darren Radtke and Dave Robbins.
Sept 21, 8pm, Presentation House.  $10 at the door. Free tea and cookies.	Jesus Caballero Band Drummer and Cap alumnus presents original tunes.
Sept 22, 11:30am-1:00pm, Fir 113. Free admission.	Itamar Erez Adama Ensemble Guitarist  Itamar Erez leads a band of top Vancouver players in a concert of original compositions influenced by jazz, classical, flamenco and Arabic music.
Sept 28, 11:30-1:00pm. Fir 113. Free admission.	Renowned NYC saxophonist Grant Stewart and his trio present a concert/workshop session.
Sept 28, 8pm, Presentation House.  $10 at the door. Free tea and cookies.	Lyle Hopkins and Friends Cap alumnus, bass player, composer presents original tunes. Lyle recently returned from MMus studies in Oregon.
Oct. 3-8 Carlo Morena Residency Various times and locations at Cap. Free admission for Cap students.	Carlo Morena Residency Italian pianist , composer, and educator will coach students in combos, present workshops, and collaborate with faculty in various concerts.
Oct 5, 8pm, Presentation House $10 at the door. Free tea and cookies.	Ben Frost’s Adanac Fine young trumpeter and composer presents original music with Jenny Xu (piano), Eli Davidovici (bass), Miles Wong (drums)
Oct 12, 8pm, Presentation House $10 at the door. Free tea and cookies.	Van der Schyff/ Reed/ Clark/Burrows Improvised music with Vancouver veterans
Oct. 14, noon-1:30, Fir 113.  Free admission.	Samuel Blaser Quartet Berlin trombonist, Samuel Blaser, presents a concert and workshop with top NYC players.
Oct. 18, 11:30am-1:00pm in Fir 113. Free admission	Guitar/Bass Ensemble and Percussion Ensemble concert.
Oct 19, 8pm, Presentation House $10 at the door. Free tea and cookies.	Jessica Toplak Band One of Vancouver’s finest young vocalists presents originals and cover tunes.
Oct. 20, 11:30am-1:00pm in Fir 113. Free admission	NARWHAL concert
Oct. 21, 11:30am-1:00pm in Fir 113. Free admission	B Band and C Band concert.
Oct. 24, 6:00-10:00pm.  Blueshore Theatre.  Free admission	3rd and 4th year Combos Concert
Oct 26, 8pm, Presentation House $10 at the door. Free tea and cookies.	Nomads
Oct 27, 11:30-1:00, Fir 113. Free admission.	Donny McCaslin workshop.
Oct 28, 8:00pm, Blueshore Theatre. Tickets through box office.	Donny McCaslin  concert with A Band and Nitecap
Nov. 1, 11:30-1:00. Fir 113. Free admission.	Amanda Tosoff Band Toronto pianist and Cap alumna presents her music and a workshop.
Nov 9, 8pm, Presentation House.  $10 at the door. Free tea and cookies.	Michael Vlatkovich Quintet Renowned LA trombonist leads a band of Vancouver and Seattle players in a concert of original compositions.
Nov 12, 8pm, Presentation House.  $10 at the door. Free tea and cookies.	Thunder Lizard Funky jazz/rock organ trio with Jared Burrows (guitar), Nick Peck (organ), Joe Poole (drums)
Nov 16, 11:30-1:00. Fir 113 Free admission.	Ken Aldcroft Convergence Ensemble Toronto guitarist and bandleader presents a concert of improvised music plus Q&A session.
Nov 16, 8pm, Presentation House.  $10 at the door. Free tea and cookies.	Ken Aldcroft Convergence Ensemble
Nov 17. 11:30-1:00. Fir 113 Free admission.	Rhythmic Music Ensemble Concert
Nov 21, 2:00-4:00. Fir 113. Free admission	Talk with record producer and jazz historian, Zev Feldman.
Nov 21 6:00-10:00pm.  Blueshore Theatre.  Free admission	3rd and 4th year Combos Concert
Nov 21, 8:00pm.  Tickets on Frankie’s website/at door	A Band at Frankie’s
Nov 22, 11:30am-1:00pm in Fir 113. Free admission	Guitar/Bass Ensemble concert.
Nov 23, 11:30am-1:00pm in Fir 113. Free admission	Percussion Ensemble concert.
Nov 23, 8pm, Presentation House.  $10 at the door. Free tea and cookies.	Aaron Andrada Band Cap alumnus and bass player, Aaron Andrada presents originals and standards.
Nov 24, 11:30am-1:00pm in Fir 113. Free admission	Hal Galper Trio Renowned NYC pianist and jazz educator presents a concert/workshop with his trio
Nov 25, 11:30-1:00. Fir 113 Free admission.	Capital Jazz Concert
Nov 29, 11:30-1:00. Fir 113 Free admission.	C Band and B Band Concert
Nov 29, 8:00pm, Blueshore Theatre Free admission.	NARWHAL concert
Nov 30, 11:30-1:00. Fir 113 Free admission.	Ineke VanDoorn Concert/workshop One of Europe’s top vocalists presents original music in duo with guitarist, Marc Van Vugt
Dec 2, 12:00-1:30. Fir 113 Free admission.	Nitecap and A Band concert
Dec 7, 8:00pm, Blueshore Theatre Free admission.	Capital Jazz Concert
Dec 8, 8:00pm, Blueshore Theatre Free admission.	C Band and B Band concert

Cap Jazz Grads Head for Grad School

Where do graduates go?  To graduate school of course! Well, at least some of them do.

Meghan Gilhespy (photo Vincent Lim)

We are very pleased that some of our highly skilled and hard working Cap Jazz grads have been accepted to graduate programs this year at some of North America's top music schools. MMus program provide an opportunity for musicians to refine their skills, expand their horizons, connect with peers from across the globe, and to develop a personal approach to their music. In many cases, they also provide opportunities to gain teaching and administrative experience, both of which will be very important in possible future careers in music education. We are extremely proud of all these fine musicians and wish them all the best for their future.

Leo Bae (piano, BMus 2015) will attend University of Oregon for his MMus is Jazz Studies.  Leo has been offered a teaching fellowship and full tuition waiver.
Meghan Gihespy (voice, BMus 2015) will attend the University of Toronto for her MMus in Jazz Studies.
Thomas Houlden (trumpet, BMus 2015) will also attend University of Toronto for his MMus in Jazz Studies.
Brent Mah (saxophone, BMus 2013) will attend Rutgers University (New Jersey) for his MMus in Jazz Studies. Brent has been offered a full tuition scholarship.
John Nicholson (saxophone, BMus 2015) will attend University of Toronto for his MMus in Jazz Studies.

Lyle Hopkins (photo Vincent Lim)

Other Cap Jazz grads currently attending graduate programs include:

Cary Campbell, Simon Fraser University, PhD  Arts Education
Daniel Hersog, New England Conservatory, MMus Jazz Studies
Lyle Hopkins, University of Oregon, MMus  Jazz Studies
Duncan Maunders, University of BC, MMus  Composition
Brittany Mielnichuk, University of Manitoba, MMus Choral Conducting

Thomas Houlden (photo ??)

Leo Bae (photo Vincent Lim)

John Nicholson (photo Vincent Lim)

Narwhal performs Carnatic Music/Jazz Fusion concert

The Capilano Jazz Studies program is not only a place where students can learn about jazz and its traditions, but also a place where they can explore the intersections of jazz with other forms of music and imagine what jazz might become in the future.

Students in the Narwhal ensemble spent the first half of the Spring semester working with Carnatic musicians Vidyasagar Vankayala (voice) and Curtis Andrews (drums).  Cap instructor and Narwhal director, Dr. Jared Burrows, arranged compositions from the Carnatic (South Indian Classical) tradition for the ensemble and fused that music with some elements of jazz.  the students worked extremely hard to learn this challenging material and performed it on Feb 24 at Presentation House Studio in North Vancouver. To our knowledge, this kind of adaptation of Carnatic music for large ensemble with voices and instruments is a unique project that has never been tried before and everyone was pleased with the results.

Another performance of this music will take place April 13, 2016 at the Blueshore Centre for the Performing Arts at Capilano U.  8pm, free admission.

Here are some video clips from the Fenruary  concert.  More to come soon....

Cap Jazz People on CBC Outstanding Albums of 2015

Cap Jazz faculty members and alumni are some of the top players in the country.  Several of them have made the cut for CBC Music 10 Outstanding Jazz Albums of 2015.

photo of Steve Kaldestad by Steve Mynett (from CBC website)

Faculty:
Steve Kaldestad leads a quartet of New York's finest on New York Afternoon (Cellar Live Records)

Bill Coon, Dave Robbins and Darren Radtke play on Oliver Gannon and Bill Coon, Two Much More (Cellar Live Records)

Bill Coon, Dennis Esson, Dave Robbins, Steve Kaldestad, Chad Makela, Brad Turner are all on this wonderful tribute to a former cap faculty member.  Jill Townsend Big Band, Legacy: The Music of Ross Taggart (Cellar Live Records)

Alumni:
Cory Weeds, Condition Blue (Cellar Live Records)

Paul Cram November Residency

Composer and multi-reed player, Paul Cram, is our artist in residence for November.  Paul began his career in Vancouver and was a key part of the scene here in the 70s and 80s, perhaps most importantly as co-founder of the New Orchestra Workshop and New Orchestra Quintet.  Paul then moved to Nova Scotia where he formed the Upstream Ensemble. He is now a signifcant force in creative music in that province.  More on Paul at his website 

Paul will be working with a large student ensemble on Saturday afternoons this month and then presenting a concert showing the fruits of their labours on Wednesday, December 2 at 11:30am..  Among other things, the ensemble will be working on Paul's scores for Buster Keaton films "The Navigator" and Steamboat Bill Jr".

We are really excited that Paul is sharing his music and his time with us!

Ian McDougall Residency Sept 29 - Oct 1

We are extremely pleased that Ian McDougall will be our artist in residence this week.  He will be on campus Tuesday through Thursday. Click on "Workshop & Concert Info" tab above for detailed schedule.

Ian is one of the finest trombone players on the planet and is renowned as a composer, arranger, and music educator.  Visit his website for more information:  www.ianmcdougall.com

The Tuesday masterclass and Thursday concert are open to all.  Rehearsals with A, B, and C band are open to as many as we can fit.  If you wish to attend other events, please speak directly to the instructors who are running the classes that Ian will be visiting.

Ian will also be giving a free concert and workshop with RIO at Vancouver Community College auditorium on Saturday, Oct 3, 1-3pm.  RIO is Ian, Ron Johnston (piano) and Oliver Gannon (guitar).

Ron's Flea

One of our faculty members, guitarist Ron Samworth, was diagnosed with cancer this past spring. A summer of chemo therapy treatments led to an operation last week. The treatments and surgery are going according to plan, but Ron has been unable to work for some time now and the recovery will be slow.

Another member of our faculty and fellow guitarist, Bill Coon, suggest that we hold a flea market to raise some funds to help Ron through this difficult time. This method of fund raising was especially appropriate as Ron is a 'picker' and veteran of many flea markets and garage sales. On Saturday, September 26, Capilano Jazz faculty members and many other members of the Vancouver music community showed up with musical goods and services to be sold. Others who couldn't make it on that day sent all kinds of things to be sold.  The room was full of vinyl records, CDs, musical gear, and music books.  Generous students, musician friends, and people from the community snapped up everything on offer in just a few hours and emptied their pockets for Ron. A very large sum of money was raised.

The feeling in the room was one of tremendous goodwill and community togetherness. Lots of recordings found new homes and everyone really enjoyed hanging out and sending love and positive vibes to Ron.  I am very proud of our Cap Jazz family for pulling together as a group to help a friend. Special thanks to Bill for thinking of the idea and organizing everything.

Cap Jazz event calendar is up

The Jazz Studies Dept event calendar is now attached to this site.
Please click on "Workshop and Concert Schedule" or "More Concert Info" tabs above to see what is going on.
We are really excited about all of our upcoming events including residencies with Ian McDougall and Paul Cram, shows in the Blushore, and lots of lunchtime concerts and workshops.

Cap Jazz Students Entertain at Capilano Suspension Bridge

Its time once again for another story on the many wonderful things that our students and grads are doing.

For the past few years, Cap Jazz students have been entertaining visitors at the Capilano Suspension Bridge.  The historic bridge is a major tourist attraction for our region and the music made by our students is a big part of the experience.

Student bands work throughout the spring and summer playing at least five sets of thirty minutes of music each day as well as helping out by interacting with guest and giving tours. The musicians dress in period costumes recalling the 19^th century origins of the bridge and they perform in a variety of styles including folk, blues, celtic, and bluegrass.  Seven of the nine performers on staff are current students in the B.Mus in Jazz Studies program: Madeleine Elkins (banjo), Derek Maroney (bass), James Prescott (bass), Trevor Bernard (guitar), Kyle Hayes (guitar) Chris Roberts (drums), Ivan Barbou (drums).  Fiddler and singer, Clarice Scop is a student in Capilano U’s Music Diploma program. 

Cap Jazz grad, Mike Meroniuk, (BMus 2013) is an experienced veteran of the bridge entertainment crew and plays mandolin.  Mike also plays with the highly successful folk/rock group, Greg Drummond Band, and will be touring across western Canada with them this summer.  Speaking of his experience playing music at the Bridge, Mike says, “Not only does this job provide us with a ton of live performance experience but it allows us to work on teaching and speaking to large groups of people.“  Very valuable skills indeed.

It is really great to see Cap Jazz students out there showing their musical skill and versatility and making music with their friends.  One of the most important roles that a music school can play is to help create a community of musicians and a network of people that will be lifelong colleagues and collaborators.  These students demonstrate just how well this is happening at Cap.

Pat Ernst Is Burning Up the Bow

The stories about grads on this blog often relate to flashy accomplishments like prizes, awards, tours, grants, and the like. Our grads do some really amazing, high-profile things, but just as important for me are the daily successes that alumni have in playing gigs and making a living through their art day to day. When he showed up at one of my gigs recently and recounted some of the things he was doing, I was amazed at the number and diversity of his musical activities. Pat is one of the most versatile violinists in the city and performs in many styles including celtic, jazz, flamenco, rock, mariachi, and just about anything else he may be asked to do.

Pat told me that the musical training he received at Cap has been critical in his success as a player. In particular, he cited the benefits of lessons with Bill Coon, learning to play tunes in twelve keys, and the challenge of large ensemble classes.

Pat has regular gigs in Whistler and Las Vegas with the Irish music band, The Whiskeydicks and performs with the Pat Ernst Trio, Los Mariachis Dorados, and Pearl Jig at venues such as the Tangent Cafe, Libra Room, and Kino Cafe. He also teaches violin lessons at Capilano's Community Music School. Finding success as a performing musician is a really significant accomplishment these days. I am really proud to see Pat out there playing so much and having a lot of fun doing it.

Here is a quick look at just some of the musical activities Pat has on the go. Why not go out an hear him play soon?

May 29th - Mariachi Festival Canada, District Theatre in Port Alberni

May 30th - Mariachi festival Canada Finale, Vogue Theatre in Vancouver

May 30-31 - Art in The Garden with The Pat Ernst Trio 4188 range crescent North Vancouver

June 1 - Capilano U Convocation ceremonies with The Pat Ernst Trio

June 3 - Kino Cafe with Toque Flamenco

June 4 - Ceili's Irish Pub with the Whiskeydicks, Richmond

June 5 - Whistler Brewing Co with The Whiskeydicks.

June 6 - Community Day in Ambleside with The Whiskeydicks at Ambleside Park 

June 10 - Kino Cafe with Toque Flamenco

June 12- Art in the Park in Lepage Park with The Whiskeydicks in Whitehorse YT.

June 12 - The Jarvis Saloon with The Whiskeydicks in Whitehorse YT

June 13 - 10th annual Sunstroke Music Fest in Whitehorse YT

Wylie Ferguson selected for Highscore Festival in Italy

photo by Gillian Weber-Leedham

Wylie Ferguson is a composer from Squamish, BC, currently in the final year of the BMus in Jazz Studies at Capilano University.  He studies composition with Bradshaw Pack. Wylie is also a guitarist and has been involved in many local death metal and grindcore bands, the avant jazz-metal band, Big Evil, and has composed for various jazz and chamber groups. His music has been performed by the Erato Ensemble and has been featured at the Sonic Boom Festival and Vancouver Pro Music Electroacoustic Festival.  Listen to some of Wylie's music here

Wylie has been selected to take part in a composers workshop at the Franco Vittadini Higher Institute of Music Studies in Pavia, Italy from August 3rd-25^th.  The workshop is part of the Highscore Festival, which involves private composition study, public performances, and daily lectures and workshops. Wylie is currently writing a string quartet that will be performed during the festival by Quartetto Indaco. The guest of honor at the Highscore Festival this year is Helmut Lachenmann and the faculty includes Amy Beth Kirsten, Mario Garuti, Christopher Theofanidis, Dmitri Tymoczko, and Marina Giovannini. One of the venues for the concerts is the Basilica of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro, a late medieval church which is the burial place of St. Augustine and Boethius, among others.

We are really happy for Wylie and wish him all the best in this adventure. Buona fortuna!

Huge Cap Jazz Presence at 2015 Vancouver Jazz Festival

The Vancouver International Jazz Festival is one of the largest and most important events of its kind on the planet.  I really look forward to hearing music and performing each year. In addition to bringing in top jazz artists from around the globe, the festival always does a great job of showcasing musicians and bands from the Vancouver scene and Cap graduates and faculty are always a central part of that scene.  I spent some time this morning highlighting cap students, alumni, and faculty members in my festival program.

Some rough and ready stats:

58 events at the Festival will features Cap alumni, students or faculty.
38 Cap alums or current students will perform
15 faculty members will perform

Here is a list  (apologies if I missed anyone - the program listing don't always have all personnel for bands.)

Cap Alumni (38)

Arai, Bernie

Arntzen, Evan

Bentley, Jon

Blake, David

Conlinn, Juhli

Cox, Ian

Cronin, Sean

Davidovici, Eli

Dhillon, Neelamjit

Gaucher, Dan

Grdina, Gordon

Gubbels, Brent

Hodge, Jennifer

Luykx, Sandra Mae

Maskell, Colin

Meger, James

Minckler, Wynston

Minemoto, Sharon

Naso, Kristian

Northgraves, Bonnie

Pemberton, Dawn

Rushka, Paul

Saunier, Elea

Schmidt, Cole

Scott, Shannon

Sholberg, Russell

Sikula, David

Skonberg, Bria

Taylor, Dave
Thomas, Adam

Thue, Shannon

Toren, Cat

Tucker, Scott

Wagler, Michael

Weeds, Cory

Youngash, Gavin

Younger, Jeff

Faculty (15)

Allen, Mike

Burrows, Jared

Esson, Dennis

Hammet-Vaughn, Kate

Kaldestad, Steve

Korsrud, John

Lachance, Andre

Maddock, Steve

Makela, Chad

Mollerup, Laurence

Radtke, Darren

Robbins, Dave

Samworth, Ron

Turner, Brad

Vanderschyff, Dylan

Cap alumni, students and faculty feature prominently in Hard Rubber Orchestra 25th anniversary show

HRO photo by Diane Smithers

This year marks the 25th anniversay of the founding of the Hard Rubber Orchestra by composer and trumpeter, John Korsrud.  We are fortunate to have John as a faculty member teaching composition in the Jazz Studies program. The HRO is one of Canada's most important jazz orchestras (website here), once very aptly described as 'the Godzilla of the Vancouver jazz scene', with an impressive history of commissioning new works from Canadian and international composers and an omnivorous appetite for digesting other forms of contemporary music and blending them with the jazz tradition.  The band's most recent CD, Crush, is a showcase for both Korsrud's considerable compositional prowess and musical leadership as well as the capacity for the band of first-call Vancouver players to perform incredibly dense, intense, challenging, creative, thrilling, and energetic music.

Dave Robbins hitting hard.  Photo by Diane Smithers.

Cap Jazz faculty members have always featured prominently in the band: Ron Samworth (guitar), Dennis Esson (trombone), Dave Robbins (drums), Andre Lachance (bass), Chad Makela (saxes), Brad Turner (trumpet), Steve Kaldestad (saxes), and others have performed regularly with HRO in recent years.

HRO's most recent concert was May 9, 2015 at the Milton Wong Theatre at SFU Woodwards.  The concert featured trumpet soloist, Ingrid Jensen, music by her sister, Christine, along with new works from Korsrud, Peggy Lee, and recent Cap Jazz grad, Eric Wettstein.  Alex Varty's Georgia Straight review of the show had this to say:

Capping the first set was the introduction of the local jazz scene’s next star: singer-guitarist Eric Wettstein, whose “Mechanical Dreams” was both a thoughtful meditation on self-censorship and a jagged showcase for its composer’s extroverted guitar.  As a vocalist, the 26-year-old Wettstein is still finding his feet; here, at least, it was easy to distinguish the suture lines where his jazz and rock leanings meet. But this was such a confident performance that improvement is assured; watch out for this guy!

John introducing Eric.  Diane Smithers photo

Not mentioned in the review is the incredible compositional skill that Eric brought to the piece and the roaring energy he helped create in band.  Eric has been in funded mentorship program with John Korsrud and the HRO for the past year and the fruits of this work were very impressive.  I was thrilled with all aspects of the performance and extremely proud of Eric.  He is combining all the things we teach at Cap in compostion, improvisation, theory, and an understanding of the jazz tradition with all the things that are unique to his experience and that can't be taught - youthful rock and roll energy, fearless creativity, eclectic tastes and sensibilities, and a vision for where jazz might go in the next 25 years.

In addition to Eric's participation, another Cap Jazz student, Luis Melgar (trombone) has also been called on to join the ranks of Vancouver's top professionals and has played on several recent Hard Rubber concerts. His presence in the band's trombone section wasn't heralded by much fanfare, but it was significant for me and for all of us associated with Cap Jazz to see Luis in the center of the trombone section, calmly nailing some of the most challenging jazz orchestra parts on the planet.  They are both great examples of what we are trying to achieve in the Capilano Jazz Studies department and of what can be accomplished with hard work and passion. Way to go guys!