The Tour De Force?

The Tour de Force?

Well perhaps the recent tour I was on wasn’t exactly a tour de force (Dictionary: “A feat requiring great virtuosity or strength, often deliberately undertaken for its difficulty”) but then again perhaps there were elements of that existing too. I deliberately embarked upon the tour even although I didn’t receive a touring grant but not because I thought it might be difficult or challenging. It WAS indeed challenging at times but for the most part it was (and hind sight as they say is 20/20) a wonderful adventure. Many kilometers were logged both in the Ontario/Quebec part of the tour and also in Alberta and Saskatchewan. In the Prairie Provinces we logged 4100 km of driving and in total for the whole tour we drove 6800 km. In the first stage of the tour we were treated to the unbelievable beauty of the Ontario and Quebec autumn colors, quite different from our own changing season in BC. In Alberta and Saskatchewan there was lots of time to gaze across the landscape and check in with my prairie roots so to speak; the sprawling fields following the harvest brought back memories of my Dad’s farming days. On the prairies, there actually were areas where farmers were still working their land since this was a rather unusual year and the season began late and then in turn ended late too. Some harvesting was taking place right into the month of November and that is unusual. Driving up to Jasper from Banff was a dramatic contrast to the prairies and a reminder that Canada has such a wide spectrum of landscapes.

So along with the music making (which is the real reason for the tour of course!) we were on a real Canadian road trip traveling our highways and seeing the varied landscape which included the dramatic vista of the Rocky Mountains and the vastness of the prairies where at some points you can see for many miles and you can witness why it is called “big sky country”.

One of the wonderful things that did take place on the tour is that my trio (particularly the second stage of the tour) became a very solid little group. The musical connection between pianist John Roney and cellist Bryan Holt continued to change and expand and my own role within the group probably improved as well the more we played together. Stage one of the tour with cellist Dominic Painchaud was lovely as well but John, Bryan and I played many more shows together on stage two of the tour. It was gratifying to know that my decision to include the cello as the foundation for the piano + voice trio worked very well. With the cello included in the trio the repertoire we presented could be quite varied. We were able to play bebop and swing based tunes and then include some of the more classically oriented music and art songs as well. Audiences everywhere seemed to really enjoy the sound variation of the trio and perhaps they realized that it was rather unusual since typically they would be hearing an acoustic bass in jazz trio format.

Another exciting thing for me personally is to have the music that was recorded on my CD “out of town” take on a new life while touring. I have never been a fan of simply trying to play the tunes exactly as they are on a recording when you are performing live although sometimes that can be quite satisfying as well if the arrangement is used as a framework for the tune. It was fun to have my trio play tunes that were recorded as duo tunes with piano and voice only, incorporate the cello and have the arrangements expand and develop throughout the tour. The interplay between the three of us on several of the songs we performed is what made the tour ultimately exciting and worthwhile. That is why I love this music!

So even though there were many days leading up to the actual tour when I asked myself if it was really all worth it what with all the hours of work putting it all together involved and with some disappointments and frustration in that process, I can honestly say now that it was a positive experience and I am so glad that I was able to go.

I extend my gratitude to all the presenters and people in the media in Canada who supported our efforts. Of course I thank pianist John Roney cellists Bryan Holt and Dominic Painchaud for their wonderful musicianship. Perhaps most of all I thank the co-producer of my “out of town” recording Gorm Damborg for being our tour manager and tour driver. We were very lucky to have him with us on this tour and I am truly thankful since there were some long and grueling days and he always remained positive and upbeat and, got us to all our shows safely and on time.

Now, its good to be home in Vancouver  and to look forward to new music experiences that may come my way…

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