Connecting Community - Education & Outreach

Connecting Community and Disseminating Mastery

Education and Outreach at the Jazz Festival

By Rainbow Robert

Vijay Iyer

Vijay Tweet and Greet Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUX7PQf1yyk

“By now, there can be no doubt that pianist-composer Iyer stands among the most daringly original jazz artists of [his] generation,”

- Howard Reich in the Chicago Tribune.

Master Class with Vijay Iyer

The festival officially kicked off yesterday with a Master Class lead by Vijay Iyer. The session was intimate and beautiful, an ideal opportunity for a group of fifteen talented local artists to interact with Vijay. This Master Class was a new addition to the slate of education and outreach activities offered by Coastal Jazz through the jazz festival.

There are many factors involved in selecting an appropriate artist to teach a Master Class which will be truly dynamic and relevant within the community. The level of profile that the artist possesses is one factor to consider, but what is perhaps more important is to find an artist who has a gift so deep and an approach so unique that new ways of thinking are inspired, ideas are incubated, barriers to creative vaporized. It was a coups to be able to confirm Vijay for this Master Class, his trio performance at Performance Works tonight (June 21) will be the icing on the creative music cake.

Afternoon Piano Sessions at the Ironworks

Cat Toren (by: Peter Gannushkin)

Another exciting new element of the program for 2013 is an afternoon series of free concerts at the Ironworks Studios which will take place June 25^th  – 28^th 5pm.

This program of afternoon piano sessions will encompass a broad range of musical approaches. These interactive concerts will consist of a combination of performance and lecture/demonstration.

June 25 - Heart Song Art Song Kate Hammett-Vaughan & Jillian Lebeck

June 26 – Cat Toren Trio

June 27 – Crowman

June 28 – Paul Plimley/Tommy Babin

Workshops at David Lam Park

Another element of the program that is particularly exciting this year is the series of Workshops at the Roundhouse - The Studio as part of the David Lam Park Jazz Weekend.

The artists involved in this series are particularly amazing this year!!!

Mary Halvorson

June 29 - 1:30 pm Tommy Babin

Prodigiously talented bassist Tommy Babin is known for his fiery, thoughtful work with Benzene Sendero Luminoso and Gordon Grdina Trio.

"There's no shortage of energy of display, with some of the material exploding with free-flowing improv..." - Textura

June 29 – 3:00 pm Mary Halvorson

“…a genuinely exciting face in the creative music scene…the writing has great range and originality, and Halvorson’s precise, hardscrabble guitar playing is just plain bad-ass.”
-John Corbett, DownBeat Magazine.

June 29 – 4:30 pm Tomas Fujiwara

"In an era when free-jazz drumming tend to equate unbridled power with brilliance, Fujiwara exercises impressive restraint; he swings like mad and crafts fragile melodic lines with his kit, unleashing his power judiciously." - Peter Margasak, Downbeat

June 30 - 1:30 pm Peter Van Huffel’s Gorilla Mask

"Huffel’s more direct, confrontational method results in a thrash-jazz record that’s more purposeful, unpredictable and just plain fun. Huffel and Gorilla Mask have created the perfect gateway drug into acoustic jazz for Henry Rollins fans." - Victor Aaron, Something Else!  

June 30 – 3:00 pm Jason Adasiewicz

“Jason Adasiewicz’s vibes shimmer in the ether. A Chicago mainstay, Jason is a true original with a deep sensibility for sound vibration that can be heard through his innate and idiosyncratic approach to harmony and melody. Jason’s musical history is spiked with fervent free improvisation and tight melodic rendering”
-Rob Mazurek

June 30 – 4:30 pm Mike Reed

"Reed can keep time, break down grooves, drive the bus, or paint pictures - sometimes in the same piece - but his decisions are driven by what's best for the ensemble." - Peter Margasak, Chicago Reader

Tomeka Reid

TD High School Jazz Intensive with Tomeka Reid

This year the program (after a long tenure with the great Nicole Mitchell) is headed up by Chicago conductor, composer, cellist  Tomeka Reid.  The students will have a full weeks intensive to work on their program culminating in a grand finale concert at David Lam Park - June 30th. Stay tuned to this blog space, there'll be a full wrap up post festival by Education & Outreach Coordinator Flora Ware.

http://www.coastaljazz.ca/artist/td_high_school_jazz_intensive_tomeka_reid

Anthem Properties Sounds of Youth Stage presented by Tom Lee

Last but not least on Saturday and Sunday (22, 23) at the Downtown Jazz Weekend we've got a new third stage: Sounds of Youth - running from noon until 4pm with ten of the finest small combos and big bands to be found in the Metro Vancouver education system.
http://www.coastaljazz.ca/venue/downtown_anthem_properties_sounds_youth_stage_presented_tom_lee

For full info on Education & outreach events at the Jazz Festival, check out coastaljazz.ca