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| Five Orange Grove Publicity clients nominated for JUNO Awards The nominations for the 2020 Juno Awards have been announced, and Orange Grove Publicity is thrilled that five of our clients are up for awards this year! Congratulations to Al Muirhead and Ernesto Cervini's Turboprop for their nominations for Jazz Album of the Year (Group); and to Jacques Kuba Séguin, Joel Miller and Ted Quinlan for their nominations for Jazz Album of the Year (Solo). The JUNO Awards will be held on Saturday, March 14th and Sunday, March 15th in Saskatoon, SK. Here's a little info about them, and their JUNO-nominated projects 2016 JUNO-nominated trumpeter Al Muirhead is excited to present his most intriguing project to date; Undertones. Recorded in mid February 2018, the album features Muirhead on the rare bass trumpet with his new Canadian Quintet. The album highlights musicians he has admired over the years, including Canadian jazz heavyweights Kelly Jefferson (sax), Reg Schwager (guitar), Neil Swainson (bass) and Ted Warren (drums). With a 70-year career in music, Muirhead is a true expert at what he does – and every time he steps on stage or into the studio, something special comes out of his horn. He is one of the few masters in the world on the rare bass trumpet, and Undertones showcases its mellow and deep tones. The album is a collection of standards that he and his quintet selected in studio, along with two tribute pieces composed by Muirhead. "A Tune For Cal" is a post-bop celebration for his late and eldest brother, a magnificent musician and one of Canada's finest copyists. "Take It To The Bank Tom" pays homage to his life-long friend and collaborator, Tommy Banks, who passed away weeks before this recording. "I'm grateful for the abundance of good that there is in the world and I feel privileged to experience it every day." These words, from the liner notes of Ernesto Cervini's new Turboprop album, Abundance, describe the feeling and purpose behind the Canadian drummer's incredible new release. Gratitude is on full display, as Cervini again features all of his band members as instrumentalists, featured soloists and composer/arrangers in this gorgeous collection of 8 songs. As Cervini states, "although I am the band-leader, Turboprop truly feels like a collective due to the passion, commitment, and love everybody brings to each performance." Following the critical success and JUNO nomination of the group's sophomore release, Rev, this album cleverly mixes three standards (including an incredible new arrangement of pianist Geoff Keezer's tour de force solo performance of Harold Arlen's My Shining Hour) and original material written by the band, including 2 by Cervini himself. Those 2 originals are both dedications: Gramps, for Cervini's late grandfather; and Song for Cito - that's Cito Gaston, the manager of the Toronto Blue Jays' back to back World Series winning teams from the early 1990's. Announcing Migrations, the exciting new album from the multi-talented trumpeter, Jacques Kuba Séguin, one of Montreal's most adventurous musicians. Migrations is a collection of compositions based on interviews with people from various cultural communities in Quebec, Canada. It crosses stories and sheds light on the miscegenation of culture. Séguin's music is cinematic, direct, and dynamic. It encourages an openness to others, something that is built into the history of the artistic medium Séquin loves best: jazz music. Séguin has gathered a group of experienced, like-minded musicians, each with a strong voice to add to the musical dialogue. Migrations represents a form of jazz that will sound familiar to listeners, but also brings with it a renewed, free, personal, and uniquely emotional approach to the storied genre. Séguin is more and more present on the Quebec stage. In 2015, he was nominated for two ADISQ awards: best arranger and jazz album of the year for L'élévation du point de chute and, in 2016, for Litania Projekt with the Quatuor Bozzini in the same two categories. In 2015, he was nominated for a Prix Opus for jazz album of the year and for jazz and world music concert of the year for his 2014 Montreal International Jazz Festival show. An engaging showman, Séguin is widely recognized as one of the most brilliant Canadian trumpeters of his generation. Migrations is sure to solidify his sterling musical reputation. Montreal saxophonist, composer, and bandleader Joel Miller's UNSTOPPABLE is a 21st-century chamber symphony, inspired in equal parts by Afro-Peruvian folk music, early 2000s indie rock, and large ensemble jazz. This music is the result of Miller's recent studies with contemporary composer John Rea and conductor Guillaume Bourgogne, whom he worked with at McGill University during the completion of his Master's in Jazz Composition. The album's title is a spin on What You Can't Stop, the six part epic fantasy that anchors the record. On Song Story, a three-part rhapsody conducted by Christine Jensen - one of Montreal's finest musicians - Miller is featured on both soprano and tenor saxophones. Deerhead Hoof is a nod to the legendary San Francisco rock band Deerhoof: Miller has long been a fan of pop and rock, and is no stranger to integrating those sounds into his own music. The final piece of the puzzle is the rollicking Dance of the Nude Fishes, a simple, joyful melody played by the whole orchestra. This UNSTOPPABLE ensemble is made up of many of Montreal's most in-demand freelancers in the jazz, classical and Latin music communities, including members of Miller's previous bands Mandala, Dream Cassette, and Honeycomb. Expertly recorded at Studio Piccolo by John D.S. Adams (Tafelmusik, Yo-Yo Ma, Jane Bunnett), Miller has realized his symphonic dream. Absolutely Dreaming is the latest release from Toronto jazz guitarist Ted Quinlan. Quinlan, a veteran of the Canadian jazz scene, combines his deep roots in the tradition with an adventurous spirit and an eclectic point of view. He is joined by his longtime musical cohorts, pianist Brian Dickinson, bassist Kieran Overs, and drummer Ted Warren, each of whom brings a wealth of experience to the project, along with a shared affinity for exploring new territory. The album's nine original compositions exemplify the range of expression found in contemporary jazz. Many songs are inspired by Quinlan's love of travel; Cheticamp is named for the beautiful Cape Breton town; Babylon captures the spirit of a Long Island seaside community that became a regular destination during driving trips from New York City; the title La Bionda comes from the name of a Berlin restaurant that served as refuge during a powerful summer thunderstorm. Melody and groove propel the tracks, and provide a basis for the bands' prodigious improvisational skills. While the concept of the "tune" still reigns supreme, the forms are challenging and unpredictable, and lead the band to surprising places. Quinlan's guitar, the group's distinctive lead voice, draws from a variety of sounds, all of which have been crafted to the suit the spirit of each particular song. From the warm timbres of Building 8 and Twilight Sky, to the edgier tones of Not What It Seems and X Marks The Spot, this record is sure to intrigue fans of modern jazz guitar playing. The title of the record, Absolutely Dreaming, alludes to the creative interplay one finds between the far reaches of the artistic imagination, and the discipline and precision required to venture out toward its fringes. Here's some of what critics have to say: If you enjoy intelligent, swinging jazz, deeply rooted in the mainstream, but with some unexpected sonorities (that bass trumpet again), this is for you! Glyn Pursglove – Musicweb International Cervini drums like someone who's an arranger at heart, carefully placing each accent for maximum melodic impact. Abundance is the best sort of musical uplift. J.D. Considine – Jazz Times Splashy, fun and unrestrained, MIGRATIONS is yet another album from a lesser-known Montreal jazz musician who is doing his city’s scene proud and deserves more recognition beyond its borders. Peter Hum – Ottawa Citizen "Unstoppable" is a delightful look inside the creative mind of saxophonist Joel Miller. While it rarely sounds like a "big band" album, his arrangements utilize the instrumentation in enchanting and, often, powerful ways. Sit back and soak in the sounds!! Richard Kamins – Step Tempest With Absolutely Dreaming Quinlan has created a fine recording of mainstream jazz which demonstrates his dexterous capacities as a composer and musician while also keeping things catchy and easy to grasp. Friedrich Kunzmann – All About Jazz write your comments about the article :: © 2020 Jazz News :: home page |