Sugar Rum Cherry!

Well, it's that time of year....time to get the clarinet out and play some excellent Duke Ellington music. If you aren't aware of Duke's arrangements of the Nutcracker Suite I recommend you stop reading this post and make arrangements to purchase this wonderful work of art. I have to admit that I like Christmas music and right at the top of my favourite albums is Duke's interpretation of the Nutcracker Suite! This upcoming weekend I will have the opportunity to perform the complete suite with the Craig Brenan Big Band at the National Music Center (Nov.29/30) I believe the concert starts at 7, if you are a fan of Christmas music you will not want to miss this show...seriously!

The following week (Dec. 6/7) I will be performing with the Yardbird Suite all-stars (Craig Brenan t-bone, Jim Brenan-saxophone, Bob Tildsley Trumpet, Sandro Dominelli-Drums, Chris Andrew-Piano and Chris McCann-Bass) in Edmonton at the Yardbird Suite! We will be playing the music of Joe Henderson. I have been working on the arrangements for the past few months and am really looking forward to this gig as well.......what a diverse musical landscape we live in in Alberta. One week it's a burlesque show with Quinn Lemley the next big band the next a modern Jazz sextet, and following that AFRO-Beat (more on that later).
 I love the diversity! There is a lot going on in the province these days.... a few of my friends (Rubim De Toledo, Carsten Rubeling, and Jon McCaslin) are playing the Music of Mingus with the Decidedly Jazz Danceworks, definitely worth checking out

Better Get Hit In Your Soul
Dances inspired by the music, life and times of Charles Mingus
November 22 – December 1, 2013
Big Secret Theatre, EPCOR CENTRE for the Performing Arts

...now back to that pesky clarinet! 

 

The week that was....will be

This past weekend I had a great time playing with the (mostly) 70's rock band Alter Ian! We played two nights of some well known and lesser known hits from the 70's. I really enjoy playing with the guys, the music is always a challenge. I really took note of how some of the tunes had such inventive chord progressions....progressions that are not always the easiest to just hear on the fly. I had managed to put together a bunch of charts so I could reference the most needed horn lines, but at times I really had to focus, especially when the leader would point at me to solo. Often I had no idea exactly what changes were that I would be soloing over. I love this kind of ear training....I also love the challenge of playing in a genre. I am really looking forward to the next gig with these guys.

This upcoming week I'll be playing a concert at the National Music Center with the Invertigo trio. We have done a handful of gigs, and when possible we get together just to play...sessions with this group are always satisfying. Rubim and Jon are my favourite Bass/Drums combination in Town!

This weeks concert is with the guitarist Peter Bernstein. Peter is one of the finest jazz guitarists on the planet.

That's kind of all that needs to be said about that. He's fantastic and if you can you should try to attend the concert just to see him.

Tuesday, November 5th

8:00pm

National Music Centre
134 11th Ave SE
Calgary, AB

$20 General Admission
$15 students

Here is a great clip of Ahmad Jamal performing superstition from his 70's album "Ahmad Jamal 73" one of the first albums I bought (5$ at sound connection) great things can happen when you take a chance.

Wayne Gretzky/Peter Bernstein

Last week was great!!

I'd have to say meeting Wayne Gretzky was definitely a highlight. Once a month I play in a duo at the Paliser hotel: Wednesday nights in the lounge. We play standards and generally try to be as quiet as possible. Last wednesday on the first set break Wayne Gretzky walks in. Having grown up Canadian and originally from Edmonton I spotted him right away- as he walked by I said "excuse me" we shook hands and he was on his way.......

I'm not sure how we played but it was a great gig! oh yah, Nelly Furtado's band and the cast of degrassi jr. high were there as well as a band called Down with Webster....but it was all about Wayne!

This week I am preparing for a gig with the incredible guitarist/musician Peter Bernstein!! This is one of those once in a lifetime opportunities, I'm really looking forward to it!! It features a group that I have been working with for a few years with Rubim de Toledo Bass and Jon McCaslin drums, The INVERTIGO TRIO

A busy week!

Gigs!?! it's a good week for me as I am playing at the Pasiler hotel from 6-9 on Wednesday, then I'll drop by the Wine-Oh's jam session from 9-11:30, Thursday my chordless trio meets up and Friday and Saturday I am playing with John Gray's tribute to Ray Charles Orchestra. With John I get to play the Baritone saxophone, something I love to do but have so few opportunities (full disclosure: I Do prefer playing the Tenor), at any rate it's always fun to play and really fun to be playing in so many diverse groups!

woot!

Here is a great track featuring one of my all-time favourite saxophone players: Sonny Stitt, his bari playing was exceptional!!

Meta Mofo!!! Sell OUT!

whew!!!! this past Saturday I had the great pleasure of playing with an amazing new Afro beat band. The first gig was to a sold out crowd!! In fact the room was sold out about an hour before we even played!
The grooves were infectious, the music was creative and everyone had a great time. Our next gig is Dec. 13th (Friday the 13th Christmas party) at Mikey's Juke Joint in Calgary, AB. If you do come, you may want to show up early ;)

As well as afro-beat I have been -playing a lot with two great musicians; Jon McCaslin, Rubim De Toledo and I are taking the stage again at Wine-Oh's this Wednesday (October 16th) Please come down and bring your horn, the more the merrier!

more updates to come, in the mean time I hope you enjoy this great Afro beat clip from KOKOLO!!
enjoy

Embraceable you

From my latest trip to Russia

Embraceable you featuring Richard Jackson. I had a great time in Russia!

UPDATE!

Update!!

Well, it's been a while but I thought it was time to re-start this blog/website. I have officially cancelled my jimbrenan.com dynamod site, it just seemed to cost too much for too little. We had a nice run....but now it's over! All things Jim Brenan will now be through Blogger.

The latest news is that I have really been enjoying my sabbatical from work. It has been great to have a lot more time to remember what life is really all about. I also just returned from a wonderful trip to Russia. It was my first time there and I hope to return soon, everyone was fantastic, and the gig was a lot of fun.

I hope to be much more regular with this....actually I will be much more regular, there is nothing like setting goals and sticking to them (.....could be a future blog post)

have a great fall!

Upcoming gig!!!

Friday Oct. 4th I'll be playing with Jon McCaslin at Wine-Oh's as part of the Western Canadian Music Awards showcase. We hit at 11pm, come on down, it will be great to see you there!

jim

Donny McCaslin in the house

I first heard Donny in 1994 on the Steps Ahead album :Vibe, and then in 1998 on his excellent Naxos release: Exile and Discovery!(My favourite) This past week Donny McCaslin's new group rolled into town. It was a bit of a whirlwind ride for them, I'm sure they were in Calgary for less than 24 hours. The concert was great! and the clinic at the school was also great. I was really taken by how clean his tone was, and his very precise lines and articulation. While I was listening to him it dawned on me that he is really playing his own language. Occasionally something close to "standard Jazz language" would pop up but he definitely has his own take on it all.

I once read a quote of Donny's that has really inspired me.....

"You looked at Downbeat, and there was all these “young lions,” and I’m not one of them. They were all getting record deals and I want to have one and I want to be out there. I think I was feeling that pressure, I’m of that generation, where there was that large thing of the young lions, all these guys had record contracts, the Tough Young Tenors, all that stuff. I was of that generation but I wasn’t included in any of that. I guess I was struggling with that in a way, “Maybe I’m not good enough,” or whatever. I just hung in there and worked hard, and played as much as a could and practiced a lot."

I'm glad he stuck with it!!! I hope you enjoy this clip

Jam session

This past Saturday I had a great time co-hosting the Broken City Jam session with Rubim De Toledo on Bass and Jon McCaslin on drums. The session was good, we really started to stretch and the guests were a lot of fun to listen to. I love the trio/without chords format. I first head Steve Grossman in this context on Way out East (and then figured out it was an homage to Sonny Rollins "Way out West") and was always struck by just how clear the harmonic progression was without a chordal instrument. I think this is one of the best challenges for a musician. It's all about Clarity!!!

Some of my favourite "trio" records are:

Joe Henderson State of the Tenor vol. 1+2 (Christmas gift from my brother)

Steve Grossman Way Out East (Sam the Record Man Toronto)

Sonny Rollins Way out West (from Gordon Towell) and A Night at the Village Vanguard (from Ralf Buschmeyer)

Elvin Jones Live at the Lighthouse 1+2 (two tenors)

Joonatan Rautio Commitment


 I hope you enjoy these clips!!!!

Fun gig at the yardbird suite!!

This past Friday my brother and I reunited the Brenan Brothers for a really fun show. We paid homage to two great J.J. Johnson Albums: Stan Getz and J.J. Johnson live at the opera house and the very difficult to find J.J. Johnson Quintergy. I first heard Quintergy when it came out, a good friend Rod Murray lent it to me, and I loved the modern arrangements over familiar tunes. At the Opera house came later, while I was living in New Zealand-and of course it's a classical all jazz fans are aware of. I love both records and have listened to them dozens of times, it was great to finally play the music. I also really liked how the gig was a straight ahead blowing gig. Very little counting, no odd meter sections or overly difficult ensemble sections.....just a lot of fun. Chris Andrew (piano), Rubim De Toledo (bass) and Jon McCaslin (drums) played great!!!!

I hope you enjoy this live clip of J.J.'s band playing Quintergy!!!!

NEW ALBUM!!!

Happy new year!

I am happy to announce that my new album is now widely available online! I had a great time recording this disc and I think it's my best effort to date! CLICK HERE for CD baby
 or HERE  for Itunes


On an unrelated note, Ralph Bowen visited us for a few days last week, and as usual He. Played. GREAT!! he just keeps getting better and better. I am truly inspired. It was also great to hang with so many of his graduates - we definitely have all been hugely inspired by him in unique ways. I think that's is a true testament to his exceptional abilities as a teacher as well as a performer.

.........now time to practice those triplets!!!