Ringing in the New Year

After a glorious couple of weeks off, we've launched right back into planning mode here at jazz festival headquarters. The next few weeks will be busy ones, as we get ready to announce the first few confirmed artists for the 2012 festival, and I head to New York to take in the APAP conference and Winter Jazzfest. But before all that, I'd like to wish you a Happy New Year - I hope these past few weeks have been full of joy and relaxation.

The start of a new year (or the end of an old one) is a time to reflect, to celebrate, to honour. So with that in mind, a few sweet, and bittersweet, items:

We lost a couple of great musicians in the past few weeks. Valve trombonist and composer/arranger extraordinaire Bob Brookmeyer passed away on December 15. I never met Bob, but I did see him in performance a couple of times. His writing especially is enormously important, and has influenced some of today's top composers including Maria Schneider and Darcy James Argue (among so many, many others). And, on a personal note, I can say that the opportunity to play his music when I was a student at the University of Toronto was one of the main influences on my decision to start a big band of my own.

The local jazz scene also lost a great player - pianist Ian Bargh passed away on January 2. Ian moved to Toronto from Scotland in 1957 and quickly established himself as one of the most reliable - and swinging - pianists on the scene. He backed many of the great musicians who played in Toronto over the years and was a regular at the TD Toronto Jazz Festival - even before it was called the Toronto Jazz Festival. Our paths did not cross and I got to see Ian perform only a couple of times with Jim Galloway's groups, but his impact on Toronto's jazz scene has been clear by the tributes pouring in from musicians of all ages.

Although we mourn the passing of these great musicians, we can celebrate their long lives and outstanding contributions to the international jazz community.

On a happier note, our congratulations go out to Archie Alleyne, who was recently named a Member of the Order of Canada, "For his contributions as a jazz percussionist and as a mentor to young and emerging jazz musicians." Archie is a force with which to be reckoned, in the best possible way: as a performer, an educator, and an advocate for jazz, he commits the maximum time and energy to his craft. In recent years he's helped establish Kollage - sort of a modern day Jazz Messengers in the way Archie nurtures emerging jazz talent - as one of Canada's most exciting jazz ensembles, and his Evolution of Jazz and Archie Alleyne Scholarship have helped to respectively celebrate the history of jazz and foster the next generation of jazz musicians. You can read more about Archie here. Congratulations Archie!

Finally, as a big band fan, I'm excited to see that the Kirk MacDonald Jazz Orchestra is in the middle of a mini-residency at The Rex Hotel. They played last night, and are there again tonight and tomorrow night. I got to see this group back in April at Humber College and they are - given the musicians in the ensemble and quality of the performing - easily one of the top big bands in Canada. During this three-day stay at The Rex, they're performing music from their debut CD as well as repertoire which will soon be recorded on their second CD. So - get out and support some outstanding live - and Canadian - jazz. Complete details are here. Congratulations to Kirk (and the band) and The Rex Hotel for helping to start off the new year on a great note.

Josh