The cool has been born and now it continues to grow.
That’s the message Jazz YYC is hoping to send a year after the organization officially launched in the city.
A hub for the entire community — musicians, promoters, educators, venues, fans of the genre — it stepped in to fill the void that was created when the local jazz festival failed, collapsing on the eve of 2010 event, and sinking with it, to a great extent, the reputation of this city as being a welcoming home to the music.
That misperception, Jazz YYC president Deb Rasmussen says, is well on its way to being corrected.
“I think we’ve got a good thing started,” she says, pointing to the growing membership and growing partnerships that the organization has secured in such a short period of time.
That’s due in large part to the five-year plan that was put into place by Jazz YYC, one that was designed after consultation and with input from all the stakeholders of the jazz community, “with the goal of supporting a vibrant jazz scene in Calgary 12 months a year.”
Some of the initiatives they’ve launched include: the jazzyyc.com website that acts as an information clearing house for all parties; the annual National Jazz Summit held in conjunction with the National Music Centre, which features performances as well as seminars and teaching components; the newly established youth lab band which provides opportunities for “exceptional” young musicians to complement and expand on what they’re doing in school; and, of course, concert series featuring local musicians as well as touring artist.
“Our long-term goal is to see a festival in Calgary again,” says Rasmussen. “So we have some of these seeds planted within our programming framework.”
One of those concert series is this fall’s four-show Illumin8, which kicks off Thursday night at the National Music Centre with a performance of the iconic Miles Davis album Birth of the Cool. A fitting choice, Rasmussen thinks.
“I guess it fits into our whole ‘We’re growing’ message,” she says with a laugh. “And it’s really unique. You don’t see a recreation of Birth of Cool very often, any place.
Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/entertainment/music/Jazz+nurtures+local+scene+with+McCaslin+Birth+Cool/8963696/story.html
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