D.D. Jackson with Peggy Lee & Brad Turner
VCC King Edward Campus Auditorium (1155 East Broadway) 8:00 PM
Feb 5th, 2005
Ottawa-born, New York-based jazz pianist/composer D.D. Jackson is one of the most exciting artists on the contemporary music scene. He is part of a new generation of players who, while respectful of jazz tradition is also seeking to move the language forward. Over the course of eleven CD releases, Jackson has developed a musical lexicon which, while hinting at a variety of styles and influences, is nevertheless very much his own, at times rhythmically charged, at other times graceful, soulful and delicate.
Jackson has received several awards including the National Jazz Awards Socan Composer/Songwriter of the Year, six JUNO Award nominations, the 2000 JUNO for Best Contemporary Jazz Album, and has been voted #1 Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition for Piano in the Down Beat Critics Poll. This year Jackson was awarded Canada Council Grant to orchestrate his major large-scale work for jazz/classical ensemble called Suite for New York. As a sideman, the pianist has performed with some of the most important names in contemporary jazz such as David Murray, Jane Bunnett, James Carter, Chico Freeman and Dewey Redman.
In 2003 Jackson premiered a new jazz opera entitled Québécité (libretto by the acclaimed Canadian poet George Elliot Clarke) at the Guelph Jazz Festival, followed by performances presented in Vancouver by Coastal Jazz & Blues Society. Both Brad Turner and Peggy Lee were members of the opera’s five member musical ensemble and played significant roles in the opera’s critical success.
Brad Turner is a JUNO Award winning Vancouver-based musician and one of the most prominent jazz players in the country. Although primarily recognized as a terrific trumpet player, Brad is also an excellent pianist and drummer. The Globe and Mail wrote “he’s kind of a Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock and Keith Jarrett rolled into one” Besides leading his own groups he co-leads the highly popular electric quartet Metalwood. Turner has also performed with such artists as Wynton Marsalis, Joe Lovano, John Scofield, Mino Cinelu, Renee Rosnes and Joe Williams.
Peggy Lee is a magnificent Vancouver-based cellist and one of Canada’s leading improvisers. Her wide ranging credits include Talking Pictures, new music ensemble Standing Wave, singer/songwriter Veda Hille, and the Vancouver Opera. As an improviser she has shared the stage with many of the world’s best players: Dave Douglas, Louis Sclavis, Butch Morris, John Wolf Brennan and Barry Guy. She plays with astonishing dedication and intense lyricism. Writing in the Georgia Straight Alex Varty remarked that “Lee has won an international following for the strength and beauty of her improvisational style.” Since 1998 Lee has led her own six-piece group that performs her original compositions that explore the interesting area between the melodic and the abstract.
Tickets $12/10 Students, Snrs., Jazz Friends at Ticketmaster, Highlife Records or through the Jazz Hotline at 604 872-5200.
D.D. Jackson web site www.ddjackson.com
