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Jazz Articles about Neil Swainson
Shannon Gunn: On A Mountain
by Dan Bilawsky
Across the years, vocalist Shannon Gunn's raison d'être was the stage. A mainstay of the Canadian jazz scene for several decades, both as an influential educator and performer, she staked her claim in front of countless audiences and acquired plenty of admirers in the process. But when this respected musician passed away in July of 2020, there was little left behind to document the kind of beauty she delivered on a regular basis. Gunn never released an album under her ...
Continue ReadingNeil Swainson Quintet: 49th Parallel
by Pierre Giroux
For those who are geographically inclined, the 49th Parallel is the location of the Canada/US border that runs from British Columbia to the Manitoba/Ontario line. For those with a more musical inclination, it is the title of a limited edition vinyl LP reissue (of a 1987 CD) on Reel to Reel Records by the Neil Swainson Quintet. The recording was supervised by that indefatigable Canadian jazz musician and entrepreneur Cory Weeds. This hard bop session was originally recorded ...
Continue ReadingAl Muirhead's Canadian Quintet: Undertones
by Dan McClenaghan
Swing was the thing, until alto saxophonist Charlie Parker, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, and pianist Bud Powell helped give birth to bebop, and alto saxophonist Ornette Coleman set jazz free. Not that swing ever went away, it just got bumped into the back seat. So when “Confirmation" and “Dance of the Infidels" wailed on the dashboard radio, Johnny Hodges' alto sax sang sweet notes out of one of the back windows, Lester Young blowing them out the other. But ...
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