TONY
QUARRINGTON ' GROUP OF SEVEN SUITE
: Live In Concert' 'GROUP
OF SEVEN SUITE' is an original jazz suite,
composed and arranged by Toronto guitarist TONY
QUARRINGTON. The eight tunes that make
up the work were conceived as a musical tribute to
specific canvases by the 7 original Group members
: and 
one
for Tom Thomson's THE
WEST WIND has been added, as a prologue.
There are many different moods and feelings conveyed
by the pieces, and they move through various styles
and grooves: but all are evocative of those painters'
wonderful art, and of the awesome Canadian wilderness
which inspired them.
The
suite was recorded in July 2001 by a core 'group of
seven' musicians, namely Tony Quarrington on
guitars, Jane Bunnett on sax and flute, John
McLeod on trumpet and flugelhorn, Brian Dickinson
on piano, Don Thompson on bass and vibes, and
Barry Romberg on drums. This stellar group
of Canadian jazz artists was augmented by multi-instrumentalist
Jeff Bird, of the rock band Cowboy Junkies,
providing some musical textures not 
usually
associated with jazz, on harmonica, mandolin, electric
bass, shakuhachi flute, birdcalls, bowed psaltery,
and so forth. (In addition, Juno-winning tenor saxophonist
Kirk MacDonald guested on two cuts, while the
album's only vocal, ('Maplewood'), was provided
by pop singer Jane Siberry.) The recorded version
of GROUP OF SEVEN
also features some sound effects, and nature recordings
of wind, rain, birdsong, and thunder.
The
eight pieces of the suite, together with the paintings
that inspired them, are: 1. THE
WEST WIND (Tom Thomson:Art Gallery
of Ontario) 2. OCTOBER GOLD
(Franklin Carmichael : McMichael Collection)
3. MOUNTAIN PORTAGE
(Fred
Varley:McMichael Collection) 4. GRAY
DAY IN TOWN (Lawren Harris
: Art Gallery of Hamilton) 5. THE
TANGLED GARDEN (J.E.H. MacDonald:National
Gallery, Ottawa) 6. PATTERNED
HILLSIDE (Franz Johnston:McMichael
Collection) 7. ISLES OF SPRUCE
(Arthur Lismer:Hart House Gallery) 8. AT
THE EDGE OF THE MAPLEWOOD (A.Y.Jackson:National
Gallery, Ottawa).
The work has been presented live only once before,
with most of the above musicians, at Kleinburg's renowned
McMichael Gallery, in October 2001. [The
band also taped a two-song segment for TVOntario's
STUDIO TWO.]
The recording was subsequently picked up and released
by CBC JAZZ RECORDS,
and it is available from their website, as well as
most record stores.
The
music was prominently featured in 2004's DISTILLERY
JAZZ FESTIVAL, with the work being performed
four times: on Friday, May 28, shows at 8 and 10 pm,
in the Glenlivet Cabaret: and a 4 pm matinee
was held, in the same venue, on both Saturday, May
29, and Sunday, May 30. The band on these occasions
was : Tony Quarrington, guitar: Michael
Stuart, flute, tenor and soprano sax : John
MacLeod, trumpet and flugelhorn : Brian Dickinson,
piano : Neil Swainson, bass: Barry Romberg,
drums : Jeff Bird, mandolin, harmonica, flute,
percussion and SFX: and Julie Michels, vocal.
TO
HEAR THE CUT 'THE WEST WIND' FROM
TONY
QUARRINGTON'S GROUP OF SEVEN CD CLICK
HERE
PROFILE
