Saskatoon Express: SJO to reimagine Ellington’s repertoire during jazz festival

(This article was originally published in the June 18, 2018, edition of the Saskatoon Express weekly newspaper.)

By Shannon Boklaschuk

The Saskatoon Jazz Orchestra (SJO) will launch its new season during an upcoming SaskTel Saskatchewan Jazz Festival performance that will pay tribute to music legend Duke Ellington.

The SJO began five years ago as the brainchild of jazz trumpeter Dean McNeill. The jazz orchestra is committed to presenting the highest-calibre professional-grade large jazz ensemble music through its programming and by featuring local, national and international talent.

“If there is one word to describe what the SJO is trying to do, I would say it is ‘reimagine,’ ” said McNeill, the SJO’s founder and artistic director.

“It’s what artists do. We’re trying to reimagine that which came before us in reference to the large jazz ensemble. So we might play some music by Buddy Rich or Duke Ellington or whoever, and then we might play something totally new,” said McNeill, who is also a professor of brass and jazz at the University of Saskatchewan and a member of the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra.

“Basically the way art works, in my opinion, is people do things; they create a body of work. And then the next generation comes and they either continue to build upon that legacy or they react against it. . .  . It’s OK for us to do kind of both, a little bit of both.”

On June 24 at 8 p.m., the SJO and special guests will take to the stage at the Broadway Theatre to present a concert called Ellington Reimagined. Ellington, an American pianist and jazz orchestra bandleader, is considered one of the most important composers of the 20^th century. He has more than 2,000 compositions to his name – ranging from pop and jazz to opera and operetta.

“He’s just a fascinating, fascinating figure. He’s a favourite of mine. We’ve done a lot of Ellington,” said McNeill.

“Why I think he’s such a good fit for the brand of the SJO is he spent his entire career on the road – his entire life travelling. He was always, as an opportunist, looking for new ways of doing things. He took Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker and did a jazz version of it. He took Peer Gynt, a classical suite, and did a jazz version of it. He wrote his own music. He was commissioned by the Stratford Festival, which is a Shakespeare festival. So he wrote a piece of music called Such Sweet Thunder and every movement is inspired by a different excerpt from Shakespeare.”

The SJO concert will both recapture and reimagine some of Ellington’s most iconic repertoire. The SJO will be joined by Juno Award-winning musicians Kellylee Evans (vocals), Mike Rud (guitar), Al Kay (trombone) and Ted Warren (drums), as well as Jeff Presslaff (piano), Soren Nissen (bass), longtime Ellington band member Brad Shigeta and Ross Ulmer, the SaskTel Saskatchewan Jazz Festival’s 2018 Special Recognition recipient.

McNeill himself will also perform. He wears a number of hats as a Saskatoon musician and professor, with one of them running the TD Jazz Intensive – a student workshop that takes place within the annual jazz festival. Some of the faculty who are coming to Saskatoon as part of the week-long workshop will also be joining the SJO for its performance.

“They’re just absolutely world-class Canadian musicians, of which about half the SJO will be comprised of. So there’ll be some very special things,” McNeill said of the upcoming show.

“We’ll also feature a gentleman named Brad Shigeta, who was a member of Duke Ellington’s band. He played in the band and he was the librarian for the band for many years – so he’s a wealth of knowledge. So (audience members) will be able to expect a few special stories.”

McNeill describes the SJO as an integral part of his ongoing research and artistic exploration, and he also believes in supporting the growth and development of the next generation of musicians. For example, the SJO often invites U of S Jazz Ensemble students to take part during SJO rehearsals and at selected concerts. In January 2017, the SJO launched the Saskatoon Youth Jazz Orchestra (SYJO), an auditioned ensemble directed by secondary music educator Nick Fanner, for students ages 14-21.

Many past SJO shows have ended in standing ovations from enthusiastic audience members, and all concerts have featured some of Saskatchewan’s top musicians – such as McNeill, Barrie Redford, Sheldon Corbett, Gent Laird, Nevin Buhler, Dawn McLean, Doug Gilmour, Trent Reschny, Ted Crawford, Adam Streisel, Don Schmidt, Ross Ulmer, Nathan Degenhart, Nick Fanner, Kim Salkeld and many others. The SJO’s special guests have also included a local poet, a tap dancer, a visual artist, actors and writers and high-profile musicians such as Tommy Banks, PJ Perry, Ron Paley, Dee Daniels and Wycliffe Gordon.

While there are many die-hard jazz fans in Saskatoon and in Saskatchewan, McNeill also believes “lots of people don’t like jazz because of what they think jazz is.” The SJO is trying to change those perceptions and offer something for everyone at its concerts.

“Part of my job is not to alienate people, but it’s to bring people together,” he said.

Tickets for the June 24 SJO show can be purchased online at saskjazz.com. During the concert, the SJO will provide more details about its upcoming season, which includes events in October and December 2018 and in May and June 2019. For more information about the SJO, go online to saskatoonjazzorchestra.com.

SJO 2018-19 CONCERT SEASON

• SJO Artist-In-Residence Project (with University of Toronto Prof. Gordon Foote and Canadian Composer’s Spotlight, featuring University of Manitoba Prof. Richard Gillis conducting the Canada 150 Big Band Commission Project): Oct. 13, 2018, 7:30 pm., Broadway Theatre, $30 and $15 (for students)
• SJO Holiday Swing and Then Some (classic and modern/contemporary arrangements of holiday classics): Dec. 15, 2018, 7:30 p.m., Broadway Theatre, $30/$15
• Saskatoon Jazz Music Workshop (three-day workshop for high school, university and community-level jazz ensembles): Oct. 22-24, 2018
• SJO Reimagines the Music of Steely Dan (with special guests Ray Baril on sax, Jim Head on guitar and Jamie Cooper on drums): May 26, 2019, 7:30 p.m., Broadway Theatre, $30/$15
• SJO performance at the 2019 SaskTel Saskatchewan Jazz Festival: June 2019 (tentative)

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