2019 Artists and Adjudicators
Mike Murley - Featured Artist
Horace Alexander Young - Jazz Band and Vocal Adjudicator
John Korsrud - Jazz Band Adjudicator
Greg Yasinitsky - Jazz Band Adjudicator
Joost Patocka - Combo Adjudicator
Bernie Addington - Combo Adjudicator
Loni Moger - Combo Adjudicator
Janet Warren - Vocal Adjudicator
Kinga Hemming - Vocal Adjudicator
2019 Featured Artist: Mike Murley
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An engaging, lyrical saxophonist, Mike Murley is one of Canada’s most celebrated and well-respected jazz artists. His critically-acclaimed recordings have placed him at the forefront of Canada’s jazz scene for the past three decades. He has played on fourteen Juno Award-winning recordings since his 1990 Two Sides album, seven as a leader or co-leader, seven as a sideman. His most recent Junos include The North (2018), Metalwood’s Twenty (2017) and his trio’s Test of Time (2013).
Murley also maintains a busy schedule as both a sideman and an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto Jazz Program. AWARD-WINNING RECORDINGS AND GROUPS: AS A LEADER: Murley’s 2013 Juno Award-winning release, Test of Time, features his with legendary guitarist Ed Bickert and bassist Steve Wallace. Recorded in 1999, this recently rediscovered recording is certainly made significant by the fact that it represents a new release featuring Bickert (who retired from playing professionally in 2001). Murley’s other two Juno Award winning recordings as a leader were in 1990 for Two Sides (Unity Records) and in 2002 for Live at the Senator (Cornerstone). Murley’s 2012 release, Still Rollin’, was the debut recording for his septet. Nominated for a 2012 Juno, it features the saxophonist’s compositions and arrangements performed by some of Canada’s finest jazz improvisers. Murley has released eleven critically acclaimed recordings as a leader and numerous others as a co-leader with Metalwood, David Liebman. David Braid/The North and David Occhipinti. His 2005 recording, Extra Time, won the National Jazz Award for best album. Conversation Piece also received the same honour at the 1997 Jazz Report Awards. He was a four-time recipient of the Jazz Report Award for tenor saxophonist of the year during the 1990s and was also voted saxophonist of the year four times at National Jazz Awards in the 2000s. |
The Melody Lingers On (CBC records), finds the saxophonist’s trio live in concert at the Glenn Gould Studio with a twelve-piece string ensemble conducted by Rick Wilkins. Also featured on the recording are Guido Basso (flugelhorn) and Tara Davidson (saxes) with string arrangements by Murley and guitarist Reg Schwager. This recording garnered an album of the year nomination at the 2007 National Jazz Awards.
AS A CO-LEADER AND SIDEMAN:
WITH DAVID BRAID AND THE NORTH
The North recently won the 2018 Juno Award for Jazz Album of the Year (Group) . The North is a jazz quartet creating music combining the experiences of jazz musicians living in Canada and Scandinavia. Multi-Juno Award winners David Braid and Mike Murley are long time musical collaborators as are Danish drummer Anders Mogensen and Finnish bassist Johnny Åman.
Murley was also a prominent soloist on David Braid’s 2005 Juno award-winning sextet recording, Vivid. Murley co-led a quartet with Braid that toured nationally in 2004. Their debut CD, “Mnemosyne’s March, was released in March 2006. The group was expanded to a quintet to include new co-leader Tara Davidson (see DMBQ).
WITH ROB MCCONNELL
Murley was a member of the Juno award-winning (2001) Rob McConnell Tenet. Their first of three albums on the Justin Time label was also nominated for a 2002 Grammy Award. The group features some of Canada’s finest jazz artists playing masterful arrangements by the legendary valve trombonist who sadly passed away in 2010.
WITH METALWOOD
The electric jazz group, Metalwood, featured the more robust side of Murley’s saxophone during the quartet’s prolific recording period from 1996-2003. The three-time Juno winners (’98 and ’99, and ’17) were signed by Verve/Blue Thumb in 2002 and produced The Recline, featuring special guests John Scofield, Mino Cinelu, and DJ Logic. Their reunion CD, Twenty (Cellar Live), won a 2017 Juno.
INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE:
Murley’s playing experience on the international level includes performances with a diverse cross-section of artists including Kenny Wheeler, Randy Brecker, and the late Jack McDuff. He has also appeared as a featured soloist on four different CDs with trumpeter/composer Wheeler, including two Maritime Jazz Orchestra CDs featuring John Taylor and Norma Winstone. He has also appeared as a featured soloist on four different CDs with trumpeter/composer Wheeler, including the latest two Maritime Jazz Orchestra CDs featuring John Taylor’s Azimuth. In addition Murley has worked with some of the most well-respected New York musicians of his generation including trumpeter Dave Douglas, pianist Renee Rosnes, and drummer Bill Stewart.
In July 2004, Murley was invited to perform as part of Solos: The Jazz Sessions – a series (produced for Bravo: Canada’s Arts Network) which captures renown jazz artists in the challenging solo performance format. In addition to Murley, other artists featured in the series include international luminaries such as saxophonists Joe Lovano and Lee Konitz, guitarists Bill Frisell and Kurt Rosenwinkle, and pianists Brad Mehldau and Andrew Hill.
Murley has performed with numerous internationally renowned Canadian performers including Dave Young, David Clayton-Thomas, and the late Doug Riley. He has also recorded and toured internationally with Cornerstone label-mates Time Warp and the Barry Elmes Quintet as well as numerous other Canadian artists including Kevin Dean’s B3 band, Stich Wynston’s Modern Surfaces, the Shuffle Demons, and NOJO. His work as a sideman has taken him to concert halls and clubs in Europe, South America, and Asia. As a leader Murley has played all of the major Canadian jazz festivals and performed high profile international engagements at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C., at Expo ’92 in Spain, and Festival Internacional Cervantino 2007 in Mexico.
EDUCATOR:
In August 2011 Murley accepted a full-time lecturer position at the University of Toronto Faculty of Music. After promotion to Associate Professor he served as Area Chair in the Jazz Program from 2016-18. He has also taught at the York University (where he served as jazz area coordinator from 2008-11), Humber College, and has been a visiting member of faculty at the Banff Centre for the Arts. He is also a faculty member at the IMC Summer Jazz Camp.
RECORD LABEL:
Murley has been a part owner of Cornerstone Records since the company was formed in the 1994. For more information please visit www.cornerstonerecordsinc.com
AS A CO-LEADER AND SIDEMAN:
WITH DAVID BRAID AND THE NORTH
The North recently won the 2018 Juno Award for Jazz Album of the Year (Group) . The North is a jazz quartet creating music combining the experiences of jazz musicians living in Canada and Scandinavia. Multi-Juno Award winners David Braid and Mike Murley are long time musical collaborators as are Danish drummer Anders Mogensen and Finnish bassist Johnny Åman.
Murley was also a prominent soloist on David Braid’s 2005 Juno award-winning sextet recording, Vivid. Murley co-led a quartet with Braid that toured nationally in 2004. Their debut CD, “Mnemosyne’s March, was released in March 2006. The group was expanded to a quintet to include new co-leader Tara Davidson (see DMBQ).
WITH ROB MCCONNELL
Murley was a member of the Juno award-winning (2001) Rob McConnell Tenet. Their first of three albums on the Justin Time label was also nominated for a 2002 Grammy Award. The group features some of Canada’s finest jazz artists playing masterful arrangements by the legendary valve trombonist who sadly passed away in 2010.
WITH METALWOOD
The electric jazz group, Metalwood, featured the more robust side of Murley’s saxophone during the quartet’s prolific recording period from 1996-2003. The three-time Juno winners (’98 and ’99, and ’17) were signed by Verve/Blue Thumb in 2002 and produced The Recline, featuring special guests John Scofield, Mino Cinelu, and DJ Logic. Their reunion CD, Twenty (Cellar Live), won a 2017 Juno.
INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE:
Murley’s playing experience on the international level includes performances with a diverse cross-section of artists including Kenny Wheeler, Randy Brecker, and the late Jack McDuff. He has also appeared as a featured soloist on four different CDs with trumpeter/composer Wheeler, including two Maritime Jazz Orchestra CDs featuring John Taylor and Norma Winstone. He has also appeared as a featured soloist on four different CDs with trumpeter/composer Wheeler, including the latest two Maritime Jazz Orchestra CDs featuring John Taylor’s Azimuth. In addition Murley has worked with some of the most well-respected New York musicians of his generation including trumpeter Dave Douglas, pianist Renee Rosnes, and drummer Bill Stewart.
In July 2004, Murley was invited to perform as part of Solos: The Jazz Sessions – a series (produced for Bravo: Canada’s Arts Network) which captures renown jazz artists in the challenging solo performance format. In addition to Murley, other artists featured in the series include international luminaries such as saxophonists Joe Lovano and Lee Konitz, guitarists Bill Frisell and Kurt Rosenwinkle, and pianists Brad Mehldau and Andrew Hill.
Murley has performed with numerous internationally renowned Canadian performers including Dave Young, David Clayton-Thomas, and the late Doug Riley. He has also recorded and toured internationally with Cornerstone label-mates Time Warp and the Barry Elmes Quintet as well as numerous other Canadian artists including Kevin Dean’s B3 band, Stich Wynston’s Modern Surfaces, the Shuffle Demons, and NOJO. His work as a sideman has taken him to concert halls and clubs in Europe, South America, and Asia. As a leader Murley has played all of the major Canadian jazz festivals and performed high profile international engagements at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C., at Expo ’92 in Spain, and Festival Internacional Cervantino 2007 in Mexico.
EDUCATOR:
In August 2011 Murley accepted a full-time lecturer position at the University of Toronto Faculty of Music. After promotion to Associate Professor he served as Area Chair in the Jazz Program from 2016-18. He has also taught at the York University (where he served as jazz area coordinator from 2008-11), Humber College, and has been a visiting member of faculty at the Banff Centre for the Arts. He is also a faculty member at the IMC Summer Jazz Camp.
RECORD LABEL:
Murley has been a part owner of Cornerstone Records since the company was formed in the 1994. For more information please visit www.cornerstonerecordsinc.com
2019 Adjudicators:
Jazz Band Adjudicator: John Korsrud
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Honored with the City of Vancouver’s Mayor’s Arts Award for Music for 2012, and the 2015 Canada Council Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award, John is a composer, producer and trumpet player based in Vancouver. He is the leader and principle composer of the 17-piece Hard Rubber Orchestra, a highly active jazz/ new music ensemble that has toured to Europe and across Canada, released three CDs, and is the recipient of Canada’s largest arts prize, The Alcan Arts Award.
As a trumpet player, John’s wide range of experiences include everything from performing with international improvisors such as George Lewis, Anthony Braxton, Han Bennink, Barry Guy and Kenny Wheeler to punk legends DOA to with The Vancouver Symphony. John has performed in the jazz festivals of Berlin, Havana, Chicago, Lisbon, Amsterdam and Montreal. John also leads the very popular 20-piece salsa/ latin-jazz orchestra, Orquesta Goma Dura, which has released a live CD on CBC’s Mothercorp records and the 14-piece Drum & Light Orchestra. John teaches at Vancouver Community College and Capilano University. |
Jazz Band and Vocal Adjudicator: Horace Alexander Young
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Horace Alexander Young is a 21st Century musician whose combined saxophone and vocal style revisits the sensitivity and grit of Lester Young and Cannonball Adderley, and the smoothness and grace of Nat King Cole. While he has spent most of his 30+ years in the music business playing, arranging. composing and recording music for other artists, his focus now is on his personal artistry and mentoring the next generation of musicians. His personal intent is to leave a mark in both the domains of instrumental and vocal Jazz, as previously explored by Louis Armstrong and Chet Baker, and do so from a platform based on "the road less traveled". Stay tuned.
Horace Alexander Young uses Vandoren Reeds, Mouthpieces and Ligatures, SKB Cases and AMT Microphones exclusively. www.pacificcoastjazz.com https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horace_Alexander_Young |
Jazz Band Adjudicator: Greg Yasinitsky
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Gregory W. Yasinitsky, Regents Professor of Music at Washington State University, has an international reputation as a composer, arranger and saxophonist. He is the winner of the American Prize for Orchestral Composition. Yasinitsky is a member of the Board of Directors for the Jazz Education Network and is a member of the Washington State Music Educators Hall of Fame.
Additionally, he is the recipient of the WSU Eminent Faculty Award, the university’s top award for faculty, and the Distinguished Faculty Award from the College of Arts and Sciences. Yasinitsky is a recipient of grants and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, The Commission Project, Artist Trust and ASCAP. He has written music especially for David Sanborn, Clark Terry, Dave Liebman and the USAF "Airmen of Note" big band. Yasinitsky has over 210 published musical works which are performed in over forty countries world-wide, and his compositions and saxophone playing are featured on over fifty recordings. Yasinitsky has performed with Randy Brecker, Sean Jones, Marcus Printup, Tom Harrell, Ed Calle, Alex Acuna, Kirk Whalum, Claudio Roditi, Conrad Herwig, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, Louis Bellson, Stan Getz, Lionel Hampton, Lou Rawls, Manhattan Transfer, and many others. Yasinitsky is a Yamaha performing artist and a JodyJazz Artist. |
Combo Adjudicator: Bernie Addington
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Bernie began composing, performing and recording in 1983. From 1989-91, Bernie studied Jazz at The Vancouver Community College School of Music, majoring in performance and acoustic bass. While there, he studied under the renowned bassist, Rick Kilburn. Since completing his studies, Bernie has enjoyed a successful career as a freelance musician and private instructor.
Bernie has played extensively throughout North America, Europe, and Australia. Over the years, he has recorded with numerous artists (too many to mention), as a session musician. Since moving to the Okanagan, Bernie continues to play and record throughout the Interior as a first call musician and band leader. |
Combo Adjudicator: Loni Moger
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Loni Moger is a talented and versatile musician who played his first professional gig at the age of fourteen and began teaching at the age of sixteen. After spending four years on the East Coast of the U.S. he received his bachelor’s degree from Boston’s prestigious Berklee College of Music, studying Guitar, Voice and arranging.
Loni has performed along side such international artists as “Bo Didley” and San Francisco’s “Tuck and Patti“; "Senator Tommy Banks" as well as local Calgary favorites “ The Swinging Bovines”, “Karl Roth” and former host CBC radio’s “Tonic”, “Tim Tamashiro”. He moved to Kelowna, BC in September of 2008. Loni shares, " I've played night clubs, concerts, weddings, political rallies, live radio and television, bowling alleys, country clubs, street corners( otherwise known as Busking), churches and living rooms, all of which were equally fun!" He enjoys interpreting the works of others and performing his own material as well. Loni is equally at home in a wide variety of musical styles ranging from Blues to Jazz to Funk, Rhythm and Blues, Pop and Country. He also harbors a secret passion for Classical music, having had several opportunities to work with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra , including Pops concerts and most recently on the Operatic work "Ainadamar, Fountain of Tears" and The "Lord of the Rings Symphony". |
Combo Adjudicator: Joost Patocka
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Drummer Joost Patocka is one of few musicians able to focus on both the past and the future. He worked on a classical idiom with drummers Eric Ineke and Clarence Becton, which to this day has been the foundation of his otherwise timeless style.
Joost also studied with major American drummers such as Joe Morrello, Marvin ‘Smitty’ Smith, and Carl Allen. In doing so, he developed a way of playing as solid as it is adventurous, helping him become what he is now: one of the most sought-after jazz drummers of the Netherlands. Joost is a member of the Kurt Rosenwinkel Trio, the Benjamin Herman Trio, and the Maarten Hogenhuis Quartet, and he is one of the founders of Krupa & The Genes. He has been working at Codarts Rotterdam since 2007 as a teacher of jazz drums. |
Vocal Adjudicator: Janet Warren
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Recipient of the British Columbia Music Educator’s Professional Music Educator Award, is recognized nationally for her work in both traditional repertoire and vocal jazz. A graduate of the University of British Columbia, she completed the Diploma in Music Education in 2000. Recently retired from teaching in North Vancouver, she is presently a Faculty Advisor for UBC, working with pre-service teachers at both elementary and secondary levels. Ms. Warren enjoys a variety of adjudicating and clinic experiences which continue to take her throughout Western Canada and as far as Japan.
Two career highlights for Ms. Warren have been conducting the BC Music Educator’s Provincial Honour Vocal Jazz Ensemble and directing the BC Choral Federation’s Provincial Youth Choir. She was honoured by colleagues in North Vancouver with the Award of Excellence, and was named 2004 Teacher of the Year by the Sylvan Learning Center. For twenty-two years, Ms. Warren organized the Sea-to-Sky Choral Festival; she formed and has conducted Higher Ground Women’s Vocal Ensemble for ten years. Since retirement, Ms. Warren has been performing as a solo singer, has appeared in several live shows, and is featured on the locally produced CD “A Time To Heal”. Other interests include travel (notably cycling internationally), dragon boating, and three awesome grand-daughters. Choral conducting continues to be Ms. Warren’s favourite and most creative musical outlet. |
Vocal Adjudicator: Kinga Hemming
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Jazz and Pop chanteuse Kinga was born in Poland, then moved with her family to Amsterdam before settling in Ottawa, Ontario. While being baptized at four months of age, she screamed out, and the attending priest predicted that Kinga would become a singer. Her parents gifted Kinga with appreciation for music, including and especially jazz, at an early age: Her father played in a jazz cabaret while her mother constantly played vocal pop and jazz records by The Platters, Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra and the like.
By age thirteen, Kinga had studied classical piano and voice theory, and began immersing herself in classical and contemporary music, both jazz and pop. She soon began performing at recitals and competitions, and helped assemble and lead a jazz quartet (called West Berlin) that played in and around Ottawa until all its members graduated from high school. She also discovered and began learning the repertoires of many great jazz vocalists, including Diana Krall, Dianne Reeves, Sarah Vaughan, Natalie Cole, and especially Ella Fitzgerald. Kinga moved on to Humber College, studying voice and theory under Trish Colter, Lisa Martinelli, and Lisa Sullivan; she also served as instructor for voice, piano, theory, ear training and improvisation to child and adult students. "The most important experiences during my time at Humber College were working alongside very talented and reputable musicians, learning different aspects of the jazz world, and lastly, winning the Duke Ellington Honoree award in my final year there," Kinga recalls. |
Kinga has subsequently spread her vocal talents - as smooth, heady and sophisticated as well-matured brandy - throughout Canada: She has sung the American and Canadian national anthems for the Toronto Blue Jays, Toronto Maple Leafs (in partial French, for a sold-out contest against the Montreal Canadians), the Toronto Raptors, and internationally-broadcast Hockey Night in Canada. Kinga has performed with pianist Renee Rosnes, flugelhornist Guido Basso, and Don Thompson's jazz ensemble, and appeared at the National Jazz Awards, the Royal Ontario Museum, Canada's Walk of Fame, and on CTV and CBC Radio.
Guess Who I Saw Today brings all Kinga's influences and experiences full circle. Knowing that a great singer's best friend is a great song, her debut release features new interpretations of Ellington's classic "Mood Indigo" and such familiar tunes as "Don't Len Me Be Misunderstood" and "This Bitter Earth." Its title track was first recorded by Nancy Wilson. Songs by such talented singer-songwriters as Randy Newman ("I Think It's Going to Rain Today"), Bill Withers ("Ain't No Sunshine") and Mose Allison ("What's With You" and "Swingin' Machine") round out the set.
Guess Who I Saw Today was arranged and produced by pianist Bill King. "I could tell during our first practice sessions, the voice fit comfortable around the rich melodies and could deliver a heartfelt interpretation of the lyrics," producer King recalls. For Kinga, the most important thing about this debut is her emotional connection to each track. Each song reflects a time or point in her life where she experienced an emotional roller coaster - whether it was love, happiness, anger or frustration - and these experiences speak to and through each song on Guess Who I Saw Today.
Guess Who I Saw Today brings all Kinga's influences and experiences full circle. Knowing that a great singer's best friend is a great song, her debut release features new interpretations of Ellington's classic "Mood Indigo" and such familiar tunes as "Don't Len Me Be Misunderstood" and "This Bitter Earth." Its title track was first recorded by Nancy Wilson. Songs by such talented singer-songwriters as Randy Newman ("I Think It's Going to Rain Today"), Bill Withers ("Ain't No Sunshine") and Mose Allison ("What's With You" and "Swingin' Machine") round out the set.
Guess Who I Saw Today was arranged and produced by pianist Bill King. "I could tell during our first practice sessions, the voice fit comfortable around the rich melodies and could deliver a heartfelt interpretation of the lyrics," producer King recalls. For Kinga, the most important thing about this debut is her emotional connection to each track. Each song reflects a time or point in her life where she experienced an emotional roller coaster - whether it was love, happiness, anger or frustration - and these experiences speak to and through each song on Guess Who I Saw Today.
