Additional Information
The Orchestre national de jazz de Montréal (ONJ) and the ODD SOUND Festival welcome saxophonist and composer Donny McCaslin, under the direction of Montreal conductor, composer and saxophonist Philippe Côté.
This is in fact the opening concert of the ODDSOUND organization’s festival, whose star piece is Shades of Bowie, a piece by Philippe Côté inspired by the music of David Bowie, composed for Donny McCaslin and the Orchestre national de jazz de Montréal. The American saxophonist and composer, a Montreal regular since the late ’80s, was musical director for the recording of the extraordinary Blackstar album, David Bowie’s final offering.
Philippe Côté has known Donny McCaslin since a long stay in New York some fifteen years ago. McCaslin befriended saxophonist and composer David Binney, with whom he produced the album Lungta, released in concert in 2016 with the ONJ. The rock spirit and electro openness that Donny McCaslin’s music led Bowie to recruit him to the musical direction has taken for several years, and from the pivotal role McCaslin played in Bowie’s masterful final opus Blackstar, Philippe Côté wanted to pay tribute to Bowie as well as his influence on McCaslin’s career by interlacing his music with subtle Bowian evocations.
For the guest soloist, Shades of Bowie is an opportunity to improvise to his heart’s content on an orchestral fresco noticeably reinforced by percussion.
Opening the evening, McGill University’s Jazz Orchestra 1 will present a repertoire including Two fifteen, a piece by Philippe Côté inspired by Lee Tsang’s poem of the same title about residential schools.
So many reasons to interview the soloist and his composer by video, before the concert takes place on Wednesday April 10, an ONJ program in Place des Arts’ 5e salle.
PROGRAM
ORCHESTRE NATIONAL DE JAZZ DE MONTRÉAL
Ariste invité | Donny McCaslin
Chef d’orchestre | Philippe Côté
Saxophones
Jean-Pierre Zanella, Samuel Blais, André Leroux, Frank Lozano, Alexandre Coté
Trombones
Dave Grott, Margaret Donovan, Taylor Donaldson, Jean-Sébastien Vachon
Trompettes
Jocelyn Couture, Aron Doyle, David Carbonneau, Bill Mahar
Piano | Marianne Trudel
Guitare | Steve Raegele
Contrebasse | Rémi-Jean LeBlanc
Batterie | Kevin Warren
Percussions | Fabrice Marandola, Joao Catalao
crédit photo: Dave Stapleton
