Jazz Yukon, Frostbite Music Society, MusicYukon & Ryan McNally are collaborating to present a series of workshops, master classes and private lessons.
This is advance notice of some exceptional opportunities. Additional offerings may be forthcoming. If you are interested in signing up or have questions, please follow-up with the indicated contacts below.
Acoustic bass w/ Jodi Proznick
- see detailed bio below
Opportunities:
- Master classes (up to 3 people/each at $40 for 1 1/2 hours)
- Private lessons ($50/hour)
Date and times:
To be scheduled 3 – 6 pm, Friday, Feb 17; between 12:30 – 5:30 pm, Saturday, Feb 18 and/or Sunday, Feb 19 depending on enrolment.
Contact:
- duncan.sinclair@jazzyukon.ca
Drums w/ Jesse Cahill
- see detailed bio below
Opportunities:
- introductory skill building workshop (maximum 8 at $25 for 1 1/2 hours)
- master classes (up to 3 people at $40 for 1 1/2 hours)
- private lessons ($50/hour)
Date and times:
To be scheduled 3 – 6 pm, Friday, Feb 17; between 12:30 – 5:30 pm, Saturday, Feb 18 and/or Sunday, Feb 19 depending on enrolment.
Contact:
- duncan.sinclair@jazzyukon.ca
Rhythm section workout with Jodi Proznick & Jesse Cahill for bass, drums, piano, guitar, horn and other instrumental players
- targets music and formats in the jazz genre and focusses on playing/improvising and working with a rhythm section
Opportunities:
- workshops (up to 5 people at $40 for 1 1/2 hours)
Date and times:
To be scheduled 3 – 6 pm, Friday, Feb 17; between 12:30 – 5:30 pm, Saturday, Feb 18 and/or Sunday, Feb 19 depending on enrolment.
Contact:
- duncan.sinclair@jazzyukon.ca
Blues guitar with Paul Lucas
– guitarist extraordinaire, teacher and author of renowed method book
Opportunities:
- introductory workshop (maximum 8 at $25 for 1 1/2 hours)
- master classes (up to 3 people at $40 for 1 1/2 hours)
- private lessons ($50/hour)
Date and times:
To be scheduled Wednesday, February 15 and possibly on a second day depending on enrolment.
Contact:
- duncan.sinclair@jazzyukon.ca
Guitar with Paul Pigat
- see detailed bio below
Opportunities:
- workshop
- master classes
- private lessons
Date and times:
To be scheduled Monday afternoon/early evening, Feb 20 and Tuesday afternoon/early evening, Feb 21 depending on enrolment.
Contact: - ryanmcnallymtl@gmail.com
JODI PROZNICK – BASSIST, EDUCATOR, COMPOSER
Jodi is in demand as an educator as well as a performer. She completed her Bachelor of Music at McGill University in 1997 and a Masters in Art Education at Simon Fraser University in the fall of 2006. Jodi is on faculty at Capilano College in the Jazz Studies degree program (bass and combo instructor). She also instructs at the CYMC Pacific Jazz Workshop, and has as well at the Douglas College Summer Jazz Workshop and the Yukon Summer Music Program.
She has adjudicated at the Envision Jazz Festival, the Nelson Jazz Festival, the Moose Jaw Optimist Festival, and the Brandon Jazz Festival. In 2007, Jodi will adjudicate the Winnipeg Optimist Festival and at Music Fest Canada. She has given clinics at various colleges and high schools including Grant MacEwan Community College, Western Michigan University, McGill University, St. Francis Xavier University, Capilano College and Brandon University.
In 1998, Jodi was a panel guest at the International Association of Jazz Educators Conference on issues surrounding women in jazz. She presented a workshop on bass fundamentals at the BCMEA conference in 2005. Her essay “Toward Creative Musical Achievement” was published in the BCMEA Journal in the Spring of 2006.Jodi is also a trained early childhood music educator with 10 years of experience.
In 1993, after winning the General Motors Award of Excellence as one of the top young musicians in Canada, bassist Jodi Proznick moved from her native White Rock, B.C. to Montreal, P.Q. where she obtained her Bachelor of Music from McGill University under the tutelage of Michel Donato, Eric Legace and Alec Walkington. Jodi was awarded a Performance Scholarship in 1997 as a member of the McGill Big Band I. She performed extensively in Montreal, appearing in club and concert venues as well as on local television and radio programs. In Montreal, Jodi performed with Juno nominated Ranee Lee, Joel Miller, Christine Jensen, Kelly Jefferson, Michel Cusson (of Uzeb), André White, Steve Amirault, Greg Clayton and many others. In 1998, Jodi gained international recognition as a member of the IAJE Sisters in Jazz Quintet that brought her to New York to perform with Ingrid Jensen. The group toured together in the spring of 1998, including an opening performance for Geri Allen in Detroit.
Since moving to Vancouver in 2000, Jodi has become a top call bassist. She has played with international jazz stars such as George Coleman (Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock), David Fathead Newman (Ray Charles), Ed Thigpen (Oscar Peterson Trio, Ella Fitzgerald), Charles McPherson (Charles Mingus), Sheila Jordan, Seamus Blake, Eric Alexander, Ryan Kaisor (Lincoln Center Orchestra), Eddie Henderson, Eddie Daniels, Mark Murphy, George Colligan, Kitty Margolis, Patience Higgins, Jim Rotundi, Houston Pearson, Scott Hamilton, Ingrid Jensen, Frank Catalano, Darrell Grand as well as Carsten and Christina Dahl. Jodi has also performed with Canadian greats such as P.J. Perry, Ian McDougall, Denzal Sinclaire, Oliver Gannon, Brad Turner, Kirk Macdonald, Phil Dwyer, Mike Allen, VEJI, Hugh Fraser, Campbell Ryga, Dee Daniels, Karin Plato, Brian Dickinson, Kate Hammett-Vaughan, Bill Coon, Heather Bambrick, Jean-Francois Groulx, Ron Paley, Celso Machado, Kia Kadiri, Maestro Bramwell Tovey, Jennifer Scott, Melody Diachun, Dave McMurdo, The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, The Vancouver Chamber Choir and many others. She has been featured on over a dozen recordings including a recent release with the Tilden Webb Trio featuring the legendary David Fathead Newman. She has performed on CBC Radio´s Jazzbeat, Hot Air, Silence en Jazz, the Early Edition, West Coast Performance and Sounds Like Canada.
A highlight for Jodi was opening for Oscar Peterson with the Oliver Gannon Quartet at the Orpheum in the summer of 2004. Also In 2004, Jodi won the Galaxie Rising Star Award of the Vancouver International Jazz Festival with her own group, the Jodi Proznick Quartet.
In 2005, Jodi had the opportunity to play a concert series with VSO concertmaster Mark Fewer and Grammy nominated classical pianist, John Novecek for CBC´s West Coast Performance. In the winter of 2007, Jodi was a featured performer with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.
The group released their debut CD Foundations on Cellarlive in October of 2006 that features many of Jodi’s compositions. She is a member of many critically acclaimed groups including the Tilden Webb Trio, the Joel Haynes Trio, the Jill Townsend Big Band and the Weeds/Minemoto Quartet.
Jodi was awarded Bassist of the Year at the 2008 National Jazz Awards. Her group, the Jodi Proznick Quartet, which features pianist Tilden Webb, drummer Jesse Cahill and tenor saxophonist Steve Kaldestad, was awarded the Acoustic Group of the year and their album Foundations (Cellarlive) was given of the Album of the Year honour.
The Jodi Proznick Quartet album, Foundations was also nominated for a 2008 Juno Award for Best Traditional Jazz Album. The group performed at the Beat Niq in Calgary, Alberta as part of Junofest 2008.
JESSE CAHILL – DRUMS
Jesse Cahill is known and respected as one of the top drummers on the Canadian jazz scene. He started playing drums at a young age and worked his first professional gigs at 16 in restaurants and clubs in his hometown of Victoria, British Columbia. In 1993, Jesse moved to Montreal to study music at McGill University, graduating in 1999 with a Bachelor’s degree in Jazz Performance.
Now living in Vancouver B.C., Jesse is an instructor in the music program at Vancouver Island University and maintains a busy recording, performance and touring schedule.
This October, Jesse’s band, the Night Crawlers won the 2011 Western Canadian Music Award for Outstanding Jazz Recording.
Jesse has worked with jazz legends like David ‘Fathead’ Newman, George Coleman, Red Holloway, Dr. Eddie Henderson and Charles MacPherson and Bobby Shew as well internationally recognized artists such as Eric Alexander, Joe Magnerelli, Jim Rotondi, Ryan Kysor and George Colligan.
He also performs regularly with top Canadian artists including Tilden Webb, Jodi Proznick, Brad Turner, Phil Dwyer, P.J. Perry, Mike Allen, Neil Swainson, Bill Coon, Ken Lister, Miles Black, Roy Styfe, Cory Weeds and many others. Among the many projects, he recently toured with the rockabilly band Cousin Harley, The Mike Ledonne/Cory Weeds Quartet and the Darren Sigesmnd Sextet.
Check out Jesse’s lessons, blogs, photographs and selected recordings, among other things, at jessecahill.wordpress.com/.
PAUL PIGAT – GUITARIST, COMPOSER, SINGER & CLINICIAN FOR GRETSCH GUITARS
You’d never think it to look at Paul Pigat, but behind that unassuming grin and underneath those Doc Watson glasses lurks one of the most restless, combustible musical imaginations ever crammed like so much canned heat into a single body. Blessed with a jazz man’s sheen, a rockabilly heart and a hobo’s soul, there aren’t many genres of music that don’t pull at Pigat’s wayfaring imagination like a magnet. In many ways, it’s a mystery why Paul Pigat isn’t a household name yet. Maybe he’d be a lot easier to pin down if he wasn’t so darn good at so many different things.
One could be forgiven for thinking that up until now Paul Pigat has spent his whole career flying under the radar. Like all those great old Stax records where Steve Cropper stood behind Otis Redding and played his heart out before anyone knew who he was, Pigat has been creating sweet sounds for some of the best artists in the country without getting the attention you’d expect. Still, you’d have to have been hiding under a pretty big rock to have never heard the immediately recognizable sound of his distinctive guitar playing as over the last several years this unassuming Vancouver native has quietly compiled a list of credits that would be the envy of anyone in the music business.
There aren’t many musicians who can put their egos aside and lay down exactly the right part without giving into the temptation to be flashy. Without exception, Paul Pigat’s playing is the epitome of taste and discretion as he fits easily into so many different musical universes without ever overplaying or surrendering to rock and roll cliches. It doesn’t take very long to hear why his intuitive rhythms and fluid, creative solos have become an indispensible part of so many musicians’ and bandleaders’ sounds. Whether he’s playing a searing solo to elevate the soaring vocals of a traditional gospel rave up from The Sojourners or flying in to support Jakob Dylan at a showcase in New York, Paul Pigat’s singular dedication and peerless work ethic have earned him a growing respect within music’s inner circles.
However impressive the list of credits he’s compiled over the last few years has been — earned by supporting artists such as Neko Case, Jim Byrnes and Carolyn Mark — it’s when you get to hear Paul on his own that his star really shines. All of the ideas that have been percolating for years while he’s been playing in the background have the chance to come out into the limelight and have their moment in the sun.
To paraphrase the old blues song, Pigat’s got so many tunes he don’t know which way to jump. So, instead he simply gives into his muse and exuberantly follows wherever it carries him. Sometimes, he takes on the guise of inbred rockabilly hero, Cousin Harley to crank up the energy so high that no one can resist digging deep into their pockets to pay the wages of sin and dance around the still to Pigat’s exhilarating hillbilly squonk.
Called the “Motorhead of Rockabilly” by a delirious fan after a particularly raucous show in Holland, there’s nothing tentative about Cousin Harley’s pedal to the metal approach to this stripped down form of rock and roll. As Pigat notes, “Cousin Harley’s been my main project for 12 or 13 years now, and people think it’s easy to play rockabilly, but nothing could be farther from the truth. Everyone has to be on board from the first note or it just doesn’t work.” And judging from the people who drove or flew hundreds of miles to attend shows on his last European jaunt, everything’s working just fine.
But, just when you think his music is all lit up like a leaky propane tank in a fireworks factory, Pigat can bring it down to 3 am embers with trouble in mind as he steps out and opens up his trunk full of Boxcar Campfire songs to romance you with.
Originally created as a way of “bringing it down a bit”, Boxcar Campfire has taken on a life of its own as this new recording and touring project allows a more reflective and insular shade of Pigat’s creativity to come into play. Those with sharp ears will hear snatches of everything from Debussy to Jimmy Rogers blues inflections thrown into the mix, but — as always — the sounds Pigat creates are all his own. With long gone days of railroad steam trailing out back of his head as he sings of possums in the pot and holes in his heart, this music gets you in the mood to hit the open road and jungle up down by the water, just before he takes it down again and you start dreaming of Lester Young and debonair jazz club suits.
From solos raw enough to melt the door off an old Cadillac to delicate etudes written for the crows to fly home to, Paul Pigat is a guitarist who can truly play it all. Is he a genteel sideman, unrepentant redneck, sensitive singer/songwriter, classical composer or a Mulligatawny blend of all the above? Listen long enough and you’ll realize it really doesn’t matter what he plays. Music this good transcends boundaries and resists any attempts at categorization. And, even if you reached the point where you thought you’d figured Paul Pigat out, by that time he’d have gone and changed on you again. So, perhaps it would be better if we all stopped thinking, buckled up, and held on to enjoy Mr. Pigat’s wild ride for all its worth.