Submitted by Josh Grossman on Tue Jun 21 4:13pm
We're now only days away from the 30th anniversary edition of the TD Toronto Jazz Festival and, other than a frustrating sideshow or two, I'm raring to go. I'm not going to lie - these past six months have been challenging. Transition at one job, an incredibly hectic schedule at both jobs, extra-curricular activities - plus a recently-minted two-year-old and an about-to-be-minted five-year-old at home...I'm tired! But the adrenaline is starting to pump now.
Submitted by Josh Grossman on Fri Apr 29 11:59am
Over two nights at The Rex Hotel, creativity will abound as some of the top musicians in the jazz and improvised music communities come together to perform selections from CDs which are already earning critical acclaim: Too Many Continents from the Nick Fraser Trio, and Starer from the Nick Fraser Quartet.
Submitted by Josh Grossman on Fri Apr 22 10:32am
I feel I may have achieved peak stress as we seek to finalize the upcoming festival, so I'm looking forward to a musical oasis of sorts with this Sunday's presentation of David Occhipinti's Art Song Concert, the third in our series of Special Projects presentations.
Submitted by Josh Grossman on Fri Apr 8 3:01pm
This Sunday, April 10 at The Rex Hotel, we're proud to be a presenting partner of the third annual Israeli Jazz Showcase. It should be an outstanding night - emerging jazz harmonica player (harmonicist?) Roni Eytan joins us from Boston with his quartet, and one of the most exciting trumpeters in jazz, Avishai Cohen, brings his quartet.
Submitted by Josh Grossman on Thu Mar 31 4:40pm
Last night's show was the second of four Special Projects presentations, and what has stuck out for me about both (Amanda Tosoff's show was a few weeks back) is the quality of the original compositions featured in the shows.
Submitted by Josh Grossman on Thu Mar 24 12:46pm
Submitted by Josh Grossman on Mon Mar 14 3:59pm
Every once in a while, when standing in front of my big band, and especially after someone within the band has made some smart-alec remark, I'll ask the audience - "Anyone want to run a big band?" It's always in jest, of course...
Submitted by Josh Grossman on Mon Mar 7 4:23pm
A bit ironic, I suppose, that for my first post in many months, I’m going to talk about a project called Words since, you know, I haven’t written many here recently…
Submitted by Josh Grossman on Mon Jul 6 4:46pm
Is perhaps what you've been saying to yourself this past week, waiting impatiently for my final festival post. (Also possible: I'm giving the impact this blog has on your daily life far too much credit.) Well wait no longer - here it is!
Submitted by Josh Grossman on Sat Jun 27 9:09pm
And suddenly, it's kind of the last day of the festival. Most of our official programming wraps up today. We'll be celebrating our volunteers at a party tomorrow evening, we've got Jamie Culllum on Monday night, and there's still a plethora of music in the clubs, but for the hub of the festival (Nathan Phillips Square) today marks the end of activity. It's been an incredible week - excellent music, great turnout overall, and a lot of fun.
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