Music Art Collective’s The Ostara Project!
My music education company Music Arts Collective started a supergroup of top Canadian musicians – we’re called the Ostara Project and the band features Joanna Majoko, Allison Au, Rachel Therrien, Jocelyn Gould, Jodi Proznick, Sanah Kadoura and myself! We just recorded a new album on Cellar Live Records and were featured on a documentary “Change the Tune” that is all about the life and work of Judy Singh and what is means to be a woman in jazz. We’ve partnered with Lisa Buck at BuckingJam Palace, a wondering arts organization based in Calgary, AB. We can’t wait to get touring with this band!
Read more about the band and its members: About the Ostara Project
Music Education: What a Year!
My music education company Music Arts Collective was launched in Sept 2020 and we’re so proud of the amazing events and live-streams we hosted this last year. There are 9 different workshop videos available to check out on a host of topics, from jazz piano, creating bass lines, composition, rhythm, chord theory and much more. We also have a set of freebie resources we put together, so make sure to check those out as well.
Check out our library here: Music Arts Collective
And stay in loop about our upcoming season by joining my mailing list!
New Teaching Tech
I’ve been growing quite fond of teaching online – in part because there are some fun apps and tech that makes online teaching effective. Check out my new set up on Zoom with multiple cameras and Chordie App!
Sisters in Jazz Day Workshops
I’m very excited to be part of “Sisters in Jazz Day” with Music Arts Collective (Jodi Proznick, myself, and our guest Heather Bambrick) and the VSO School of Music. We’ve partnered up to present a day of online workshops on March 19, 2021 – which will include topics in rhythm, improv, composition, and history!
It’s great for students AND teachers who are looking to explore new topics and a bit of history about Women in Jazz. JUNO nominated vocalist/songwriter Heather Bambrick, jazz radio host at Jazz FM, will be hosting the listening exploration. It’s going to be a treat!
The initiative is a response to the fact that there are still only approximately 5% women instrumentalists in the world of jazz – and we have discovered that the virtual environment is a fabulous and safe space to explore some guided practice and jazz concepts. All ages – and anyone who identifies as a “sister” is welcome!
You can find more information here: https://vsoschoolofmusic.ca/program/sisters-in-jazz-online-class/
Don’t worry if you can’t make it all day! All the workshops will be recorded and up on our site later, so register now and you can tune in anytime after we have them posted!
Transcription of Kelly Jefferson’s Solo on “Dream Within a Dream”
Saxophonist Kelly Jefferson played an amazing solo on my tune “A Dream Within a Dream” from my new recording Earth Voices. His solo is so good that it has been floating around in my head for months – this may also have to do with me having heard this song a million times during post-production of the recording!
Well I finally wrote it out and played a clip of it in the short video above. Thanks Kelly for such an inventive and perfect solo – so much to learn from this!
Download the full transcription and listen to the entire solo or album in the links below: