IAJE Day 1

After a VERY bumpy landing in Toronto, I am here and settled at the IAJE conference.  Over the next few days I'll be posting about the sensory overload that is IAJE.  I'll also be posting photos; as a test, here is the view out my hotel window:

The CN tower puts on quite a light show at night, but that is not why we are here.  Onward to:

The Opening Concerts:

The evening started with my skin turning a lovely shade of green upon hearing the Clifford Brown/Stan Getz All Stars.  This is an all-star HIGH SCHOOL combo and they were KILLIN'!!!  Clearly there is growth will occur, but when you start from where these kids are, it is scary to imagine where the growth will take them.  Really a treat to hear these young people.

After that it was time for food/coffee (there is a really good coffee/sandwich/doughnut shop right outside the hotel, of course I can't remember the name of it now.  It's a chain, but it is good.

The Highlight was Nordic Connect with Ingrid Jensen, Christine Jensen, Maggi Olin, Jon Wikan, Mattias Welin, and special guest Emma Love.  RUN, do not walk, stroll, saunter or otherwise delay to Ingrid's website and purchase the CD Flurry.  This group was an absolute joy to listen to.  Ingrid's playing was a beautiful as ever and in addition to the great trumpet and harmonic playing, her very tasteful use of pedals/electronics brings a wonderful textural element as well.  A friend of mine that I'm traveling with said something along the lines of "her playing transcends the trumpet".  It's a good description and what we all aspire to.  The highlight of the set was a tune called At Sea where the group was joined by Emma Love on vocals.  I have been hooked on the textural use of voice since Kenny Wheeler's Music for Large and Small Ensembles and it is great to hear it in a smaller orchestration (Tpt/Flugel, Soprano, Vox)

A great beginning.  More to come...