16. Alison Krauss - Forget About It (1999) Alison Krauss phoned my house on Thursday November 23, 2000. Yes, the Alison Krauss. I was at York U taking Rob Bowman’s Popular Music course. Rob loves music more than anyone. One of the very best teachers I’ve had. Right at the top. By age 21, his life was...

If you're just tuning in, this is what I am up to. 11. The Artistry of Christopher Parkening (1993) The next few albums on this list relate to a specific time in my life governed by the anxiety of Columbia House and the urgency of the guitar. The first CD player I ever got was a Hitatchi...

4. The Shaggs – Philosophy of the World (1969) In my UVic Jazz Theory class, we discussed The Shaggs and what it means to be an original. It was a thrilling class and I really enjoyed hearing so many insightful and differing opinions expressed with such passion. Love or loathe them, The Shaggs challenge ideas around...

2. Barry Elmes – Climbing I’ve told this story a hundred times but never written it down till now. As Canadian jazz festival season is in full swing, it seems appropriate to finally pen it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwfmfyndYAQ Long ago in a land where jazz was valued, touring Canadian bands would come to St. John’s NL and record at the...

Presenting the first in a few installments of my top 40 records of all time ahead of my 40th birthday in August. This meticulous research is sustained by red wine and all my ethics reviews came back negative. I’m not afraid to turn 40. In fact, I’ve been dressing like I am 80 for a long...

Big bands are more about people than music. Ellington wrote specific parts for specific sounds people made. Freddie Green played with Count Basie for 50 years. In buses, hotels, and in rehearsal, players learned to live and work together against all common sense. The twenty-two hours off stage is fuelled by the two hours on...

Join myself, George McFetridge (piano), James Young (double bass) and Paul Fitterer (drums) at the intimate Martin Batchelor Gallery Saturday April 28, 2018. We'll play an opening set of new music, but then things really get interesting. We'd like to experiment with a kind of "improv salon" where musicians, poets, dancers collaborate with us in the...

[photo Jack Vartoogian/Getty Images] In my recent youth, me and Mark Neary were typical arseholes. We knew it all.  Tinkling his parents Young Chang during a break from a Trimmed Naval Beef rehearsal, we hatched a scheme. “What if we just made posters that said GORD NEARY: ONE NIGHT ONLY?” Mark’s dad, to the best of my knowledge then...

Dr. Peter Narvaez wore many hats. Musician, singer/songwriter, folklorist, and friend. I was lucky to perform and record with him, but my favourite Peter moments were in his MUS 3018 Blues and Jazz course at Memorial University. When I was getting ready to start work at the University of Victoria where I taught a similar...