Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Jazz festival offers great lineup of talented musicians on Algonquin Theatre stage

(The following article originally appeared in The Huntsville Forester on July 29, 2009.)

The third annual Huntsville Jazz Festival starts tomorrow, July 30, and runs until Saturday, Aug. 1.

This ‘festival within a festival’ focuses on the genre of jazz and, as in previous years, a great lineup of talented musicians has been confirmed.

On Thursday evening, the big sound of the Toronto All Star Big Band takes the Algonquin Theatre stage. Described by the National Post as “a great swing band,” this group of young, very accomplished musicians will energetically interpret the great music of the '30s and '40s, including the works of Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey.

Armed with brilliant programming, slick choreography and witty cultural nostalgia, this vibrant cast of young talent has earned its position at the top of the list of presenters throughout Ontario and in the U.S.

At the heart of the musical matter, the Toronto All-Star Big Band provides one of the most intense and stimulating youth music programs in Canada. Behind their extraordinary entertainment, they engage cream-of-the-crop young musicians from across the GTA in a rigorous regime of rehearsals, workshops and rich skill-building performance experiences with international stars. They have also worked with talented Canadians such as Peter Appleyard, Tommy Ambrose, Phil Nimmons, Oliver Jones, Ranee Lee and the great Jackie Richardson.

On Friday night, crooner Michael Danso and the celebrated jazz trio Kollage will present an evening of great jazz music. Kollage is led by acclaimed drummer Archie Alleyne, who was nominated at the 2007 National Jazz Awards for Drummer of the Year, Musician of the Year, and Instrumentalist of the Year. Alleyne has accompanied a who’s who of great jazz performers from Billie Holliday to Oscar Peterson and Oliver Jones to Big Joe Turner, as well as producing a couple of CDs with Danso.

Singing with symphony orchestras and jazz groups, Danso has travelled from Toronto to China and back. He has toured extensively as a singer and dancer with Riverdance, has acted in dramatic roles on television and the stage, and has appeared in hit musicals across North America.

Originally from Scotland, Danso first appeared on stage at the age of five. Ella Fitzgerald spotted him at the age of 10 and wanted to take him to the U.S. but his grandmother vetoed the idea. Danso spent the next nine years continuing to hone his talents in Scotland. He finally came to North America at the age of 19, performing in the hit musical Hair.

Danso spent three years in Los Angeles, then three more touring Japan and the Far East. He finally settled in Canada, where he immediately became a favourite of audiences and media alike. He has performed in top jazz rooms, festivals and nightclubs all across Canada and the U.S.

Just added to the program is a guest vocalist, the aforementioned Jackie Richardson. Known as the queen of gospel and soul, she achieved theatrical acclaim for her award-winning work on Cookin’ at the Cookery and Raisin in the Sun.

On Saturday night, the jazz festival closes with the legendary Peter Appleyard. A versatile studio percussionist and nightclub/television personality in Toronto, he moved to Canada in 1951 as a drummer and soon turned to the vibraphone.

LEGENDARY VIBRAPHONIST: The jazz festival closes on Saturday with legendary percussionist Peter Appleyard, who will be joined on stage by jazz vocalist Carol McCartney.

Appleyard’s television shows include the CBC’s Mallets and Brass (1969), with flugelhornist Guido Basso, and the syndicated Peter Appleyard Presents (1977-80). Appleyard, who has conducted his Canadian career with a keen instinct for popular tastes, has recorded several light-instrumental albums, including Swing Fever (1982), as well as the jazz CDs Barbados Hot and Barbados Cool (1990). His version of the Lincolnshire Poacher was a pop hit in the early 1970s.

Appleyard has worked abroad with Benny Goodman, Dick Hyman, Mel Tormé, Bob Wilber and other noted U.S. jazz musicians.

He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1992. Joining Appleyard on the evening’s program will be vocalist Carol McCartney, well known on the Toronto jazz scene.

Tickets for all shows are available at the Algonquin Theatre box office, by calling 789-4975, or online at www.huntsvillefestival.on.ca.