Allen Jacobson isn’t your typical trombone hero. Supremely fluent in his instrument, the St. Albert jazz musician, conductor and educator would rather communicate new and diverse ideas rather than show off complex technique.
For the last three decades, Jacobson built a professional career in North America before embarking on a successful and eventful European career.
His return to Canada several years ago and has opened another exciting chapter in his thriving profession. On Sunday, Nov. 27, Jacobson will conduct the second Yardbird Suite Jazz Orchestra concert.
Journeys: The Road Taken features compositions and arrangements from many of the gifted and dedicated musicians he met or was inspired by while travelling.
“They are displaced or misplaced Americans, Brits and Germans who use the jazz orchestra as means of expression and acknowledgement of the power and beauty of collective creativity,” said Jacobson.
One of those transplanted colleagues is Ed Partyka, a Chicago-born jazz trombonist who completed a masters degree at the Conservatory of Cologne and stayed in Europe.
A fluid jazz master, he has toured and recorded with the Bob Brookmeyer New Art Orchestra, the Vienna Art Orchestra, the NDR Big Band and Gansch & Roses.
Jacobson starts the concert with That ’80s Opener, a burner popularized by the Ed Partyka Jazz Orchestra.
Another chart on the program is British-born sax improviser Julian ArgĂĽelles’ lilting Barcelona 1936, a rising and subsiding of brass harmonies.
“It’s tricky. There are a lot of signature changes. There’s a lot of intricate work, not only between sections, but inside sections.”
From South African jazz double bassist and pianist Johnny Dyani, Jacobson borrows Mama Marimba, a tune that echoes Dyani’s roots.
Two other distinctly different charts are Beloved, a trombone and tenor sax swing piece as well as The Wedding, a gorgeous number with a gospel feel.
The Yardbird Suite Jazz Orchestra was first developed last year after trumpeter Joel Gray approached the Yardbird Jazz Society about hosting a big band with a series of rotating musicians.
The goal was two-pronged: create awareness of big band music and provide creative and professional support to regional musicians.
The first concert was held in April 2016 and attracted a strong enough crowd the Yardbird Society decided to sponsor a season of four shows.
Sunday’s show unites 18 of the region’s finest musicians including saxophonist Dan Davis, trumpeter Doug Berner, trombonist Craig Brennan, pianist Tom Van Seters, guitarist Jim Head and drummer Jamie Cooper.
“These are first-rate Edmonton jazz musicians and it will be one of city’s best jazz concerts. It’s an opportunity to hear really fresh big band charts from guys all over the world who use jazz as a mode of expression.”
The concert is held in the Yardbird Suite’s intimate playing space. In recognition of the Grey Cup game on Sunday held between the Calgary Stampeders and Ottawa Redblacks, a television monitor will be set up in the lobby to relay events.
Preview
Journeys: The Road Taken<br />Yardbird Suite Jazz Orchestra<br />With guest conductor Allen Jacobson<br />Sunday, Nov. 27 at 2 p.m.<br />Yardbird Suite<br />11 Tommy Banks Way<br />102 St. and 86 Ave.<br />Ticket information from 780-432-0428; also available at door
