Acclaimed electric bassist Chris Tarry has turned a page in his music career.
“I have to say I’ve always been a writer of words, but I was pretty much in the closet about that my whole life,” says Tarry.
“I never really took it that seriously.”
But with a handful of publishing credits under his belt, he found harmony mixing music with manuscripts.
“(Writing) is like learning how to play an instrument,” says the former Calgarian, who’s completing his UBC Masters of Creative Writing remotely from his home in New York City.
“I think that’s one of the reasons my music influences my writing. There’s definitely cadences and the way a line shapes and sounds in my head,” he says.
The jazz composer is on tour to support Rest of the Story, which earned a Juno for Recording Package of the Year and a nod for Contemporary Jazz album.
The ambitious project came together after Tarry was granted a fellowship at The Banff Centre where he penned the music.
He joined forces with Rethink Vancouver, where his brother Rob introduced him to award-winning designer Jeff Harrison and illustrator Kim Ridgewell, who worked to blend four of Tarry’s short stories with the album.
The limited edition, which took about two years to put together, starts off as an illustrated book with a hole cut into the back pages to place the disc.
Since the works were created separately, Tarry says the pairing came together purely with the design.
“We’re trying to make it so the characters in the story are falling into the music and the music kind of takes over,” he says, adding he’s found new fans in graphic artists.
“Those are guys who are still really into the way a project is presented.
“They haven’t lost sight of that. They want it in their hands, they want to hold it and see it.”
That tangible connection is nostalgic for Tarry.
“I always really loved those albums where you got the whole thing and you’d run home and read through the liner notes while you’re listening to the music.
“I miss those albums, everything’s on iTunes now,” he says, adding it’s hard to cuddle up with a digital copy.
As a musician, Tarry continues to amaze with playful and energetic tunes likeFive and Jump the Shark that never presume to put his bass first and really allow the ensemble to shine.
By the time listeners reach the end of the disc, Tarry’s shown how narrative melodies can be with the evocative and moody Three Short Stories (Beginning, Middle, End).
Tarry’s return to the city is the one of the few stops on his summer circuit that isn’t part of a jazz festival and he said he hopes someone in the city “takes the mantel up again in Calgary — even if it’s small.”
He points to the National Music Centre as a future source of growth.
“I think that place is going to do a lot of great things bringing artistic music back to Calgary and to the forefront.”
The Chris Tarry Group will perform at the Beat Niq Jazz and Social Club June 27.
http://www.calgarysun.com/2012/06/25/new-chapter-for-jazz-artist
0 Comments:
Post a Comment