[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...
Photo: Patrick Boyle Teaching music at university is simultaneously a constant joy and a constant dance of compromise. If I am being completely honest, I can’t teach music. I can show it. I can listen and guide. I can be an example of my own best self, including all manner of new and evolving flaws and...
Pianist/composer Bill Brennan is Canadian treasure. We’ve worked together quite a lot through the years and each time I feel more excited about music and life. If you’re in St. John’s, NL Sunday July 9 you can get a bit of that feeling at the Ship Pub from the Brennan/Bendzsa Little Big Band. This cut is from a...
Like you, I've been improvising for a long time. Improvisation is so ubiquitous that it doesn't actually need to be called anything. Essentially, that's the biggest problem in examining improvised activity. Noticing, seeing, remembering, acting, not-acting, playing, resting, driving, cooking, listening. It's in everything people do. Offering the entire world as one interconnected and improvised...
In these TAKE FIVE interviews, I hope to offer some perspectives from musicians around the world and direct you to some incredible sounds. I plan on offering some longer form interviews with much more discussion too, separate from these short vignettes. Jon McCaslin is a dear friend of mine. We’ve had a lot of crazy adventures...