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Justin Gray
The Composers Collective Big Band: The Toronto Project
by Jack Bowers
The term Composers Collective is quite often a thinly veiled phrase that signifies experimental" or avant-garde" jazz. Thankfully, that is far from true on the Composers Collective Big Band's irrepressible The Toronto Project, which carries the listener on a buoyant and colorful musical journey through Canada's largest city, capital of the province of Ontario and home to a number of superb jazz musicians. True, there are some moments when the Collective veers from conservative to exploratory, but ...
read moreNoam Lemish: Twelve
by Jack Bowers
The number Twelve has several explicit meanings on Israeli-born composer/pianist Noam Lemish's eighth album as leader of his own ensemble, which is twelve members strong (well, thirteen on the first two numbers, on which Laura Swankey adds wordless vocals, and twenty-five if one counts the thirteen-member chorus on Track 3). Returning to the basic premise, Lemish composed his first piece of music at age twelve, and it has been twelve years since he relocated from San Francisco to Toronto, Canada. ...
read moreJustin Gray: New Horizons
by Dan McClenaghan
What's an artist to do if he can't find an established instrument to suit his musical needs. If you are bassist Justin Gray, you design and co-create one. It's called the Bass Veena, a a hybrid that combines the characteristics of the fretless bass and numerous Indian string instruments. New Horizons by Justin Gray and Synthesis introduces the Bass Veena, traveling a Raga route with an ensemble that includes an array of Western strings--violins and cellos, guitar, electric ...
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Music
West Toronto Ode
From: The Toronto ProjectBy Justin Gray
Steals on Steeles
From: TwelveBy Justin Gray
New Horizons
From: New HorizonsBy Justin Gray