Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Jazz festival gig

While I did rant (below) against the local paper for its lack of coverage, our show was a great success! The venue was sold out, and we got a standing ovation, to which we responded with an encore. It was a huge thrill for me to drum with an ensemble of this size - I am in control of the tempo and dynamics, and everyone must follow. If I do it right it sounds amazing, and if I get slack there's nowhere to hide and everyone knows its me! :P

What I really like is the change in contrasts that are available with such a group. With a piece like the Cuban Fire Suite it's pretty much full blast with blazing trumpets and swirling reeds. Or we play a soft ballad like Isfahan (played beautifully by Jivewires altoist Sandy Gordon), where I just play gently with brushes.

Director Adrian Cho has been receiving some glowing reviews (including one from Jacques Émond, the Festival's Director) and posting them to our website, and we'll have photos very soon on the Gallery page. If you haven't yet visited the site, this page has both audio and video clips from last February's performances, along with photographs of this and the shows in 2005 (before I joined).

No comments: