By Terry Pender http://terrypender.blogspot.ca/2014/11/new-york-city-friday-nov.html NEW YORK CITY, Friday Nov. 14, 2014 — The legendary pianist Harold Mabern steps outside the front door of Mezzrow – the newest club in the West Village jazz scene – to talk about his upcoming gig at The Jazz Room in Waterloo. The 78-year-old Mabern is among the greatest-living practitioners of …
Category: News
New info you'll want to hear about.
Nov 26
David Braid is breaking the boundaries of contemporary jazz
By Terry Pender http://terrypender.blogspot.ca/2014/11/david-braid-is-breaking-boundaries-of.html WATERLOO ON., Nov. 25, 2014 — Juno-Award winning pianist and composer David Braid has a new project that breaks the format of traditional-small ensembles. Usually there is an introduction, everyone plays the melody, and then one-by-one each musician does a solo. That pattern is repeated for every piece. “It’s fun to …
Nov 13
Childhood trips to Village Vanguard had huge impact
By Terry Pender – http://terrypender.blogspot.ca/2014/11/childhood-trips-to-village-vanguard-had.html WATERLOO ON., NOV. 13, 2014 — The musical journey that brings alto-sax sensation Tara Davidson to the stage of The Jazz Room started decades ago with trips the legendary Village Vanguard in Greenwich Village. “My dad took us to New York a lot,” Davidson says. “Lucky us, for sure.” Davidson is …
Nov 06
Tall musicians stretch all the boundaries
By Terry Pender – Thursday, 6 November 2014 http://terrypender.blogspot.ca/2014/11/tall-musicians-stretch-all-boundaries.html One of the most unique voices in contemporary jazz, the genre-defying Stretch Orchestra, is coming to town. If you never heard this trio before, you will never forget it. Three virtuoso musicians, and a bundle of instruments, producing a big sound unlike anything you ever heard before. …
Nov 05
Rest in peace, Phil Bast
This week, we lost a huge supporter of the KW art scene, an early and ardent supporter of the Jazz Room, and a good friend with a big voice and easy smile. Philip Bast passed away suddenly but peacefully on Monday at the young age of 63. He had spent the weekend filming a local …
Oct 29
Brooklyn jazz meets Mississippi blues in The Jazz Room
By Terry Pender http://terrypender.blogspot.ca/2014/10/brooklyn-jazz-meets-mississippi-blues.html WATERLOO ON., Sept. 29, 2014 — About four years ago the Brooklyn-based tenor saxophonist and composer Petr Cancura made a life-changing trip to Senatobia County, Mississippi for the annual Otha Turner Family Goat Roast & Picnic.The music Cancura heard that August weekend inspired him like nothing else. After returning to Brooklyn, he …
Oct 29
First Manhattan, then Berlin, now Waterloo.
By Terry Pender http://terrypender.blogspot.ca/2014/10/first-manhattan-then-berlin-now-waterloo.html WATERLOO ON., Oct., 27, 2014 — Peter Van Huffel brings the sounds of Toronto, New York and Berlin to the The Jazz Room on Friday night, fresh from a gig in the Cornelia Street Cafe in the West Village. The alto-saxophonist and composer is nearing the end of his most productive …
Oct 22
Joe Sullivan’s long apprenticeship pays off big time
Joe Sullivan’s long apprenticeship pays off big time by Terry Pender http://terrypender.blogspot.ca/2014/10/joe-sullivans-long-apprenticeship-pays.html WATERLOO ON., Oct. 21. 2014 — When Joe Sullivan auditioned at the Berklee School of Music in Boston in 1982 the music he played changed his life and enriched the lives of jazz fans for the past generation. On Saturday night, Sullivan and …
Oct 22
Seats will be scarce when Big Band Theory hits the stage Friday
Seats will be scarce when Big Band Theory hits the stage Friday by Terry Pender http://terrypender.blogspot.ca/2014/10/seats-will-be-scarce-when-big-band.html WATERLOO, ON., Oct. 20, 2014 — A hard-driving, loud and joyous celebration of complex music comes Friday night to The Jazz Room with the return of Big Band Theory. The Musical Director and Conductor, Robin Habermehl, wants you to know …
Oct 16
Haruka-Ettun Project from NYC plays two gigs in Waterloo this weekend
WATERLOO, ON., OCT. 15, 2014 — Ehud Ettun played the double bass and spoke Hebrew. Haruka Yabuno played piano and spoke Japanese. But the two classically-trained musicians instantly found a common language in jazz. Ehud traveled from his home in Israel four years ago to do a Master’s Degree in jazz at the New England Conservatory …