THE WINNIPEG JAZZ ORCHESTRA

EAST MEETS WEST: CONNECTIONS

Chronograph Records

This is the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra’s 8^th critically acclaimed album.  It features new works by two Canadian composers, Fred Stride and Jean-Nicolas Trottier.  They continue the legacy of WJO’s goal of fostering connections between jazz performers and composers across Canada.

The orchestra opens with a swinging arrangement of Trottier’s tune, “Sounds of Joy.” It features the incredible drums of Fabio Ragnelli. This song was composed using a Morse code rhythm. The saxophone solos were marvelous, with Niall Cade blowing a fluid soulful Tenor solo and Kyle Wedlake offering a stunning baritone saxophone solo. This is immediately one of my favorites on this recording.

A tune called “Leave No Stone immediately catches my attention.  The arrangement is beautiful and mysterious. This piece was written by Stride.  It features a sexy tenor saxophone solo by Niall Cade. This composition and arrangement quickly become another favorite of mine.

“I’m attracted to music that has shifts in colors, textures, tension and release—music that tells a story with hopefully, surprising twists and turns,” Fred Stride explains.

The Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra (WJO) is Canada’s first professional community-based jazz orchestra.  They have been entertaining and enriching Manitoba’s cultural scene since 1997. This awesome orchestra promotes big band jazz with their performances, recordings, and they are a registered charity since 2000.  Because of this popular orchestra, over 100 new works have been commissioned.  They also offer a robust educational outreach program. They partner with local Canadian schools and support a High School Honor Jazz Band project, as well as offering workshops.

“The Healing Song” is a jazz waltz and features Will Bonness proffering a spectacular piano solo that lifts this arrangement. Then Larry Roy steps forward to share a creative improvised guitar solo. The lush support given by the orchestra must be noted, with blaring harmonic horns and a swell of energy that buoys the music. Just when I thought the excitement was over, Karl Kohut takes a bass solo that quiets the mood and pleasantly pulls at this listener’s ear.

A tune called “Halfway Point” swings and puts me in a Straight-ahead mood.  There are lots of breaks that are dynamic and dramatic. Once again, I enjoy the tenacious drums of Fabio Ragnelli.  Composed by Fred Stride, the title is a reference to Winnipeg, a city halfway between Vancouver and Montreal, by air.

This is an exquisite listen!  The arrangements are lush and beautifully played by these talented musicians.  The compositions by Stride and Trottier are extremely well written, and Musical Director, Richard Gillis is to be commended for bringing this orchestra to digital life on Chronograph Record label.  They close with “The Great Return” a Trottier composition that is gorgeous.

THE WINNIPEG JAZZ ORCHESTRA: RHYTHM SECTION: Will Bonness, piano; Karl Kohut, bass; Fabio Ragnelli, drums; Victoria Sparks, vibraphone; Larry Roy, guitar. SAXOPHONES: Neil Watson & Jonathan Stevens, alto; Niall Cade & Monca Jones, tenor; Kyle Wedlake, baritone sax. TRUMPETS: Shane Hicks, (lead); Jonathan Challoner, Matthew Walden, Richard Gillis & Andrew Littleford. TROMBONES: Jean-Nicolas Trottier (lead). Jeremy Duggleby, Karin Carlson, Joel Green & Isabelle Lavoie (bass trombone). MUSICAL DIRECTOR, Richard Gillis.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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