VIVE, The VIDYARD & PLUGIN in conjunction with BROWNMAN MUSIC INC. proudly presents the 2017 - 7th Edition of: FIVE WEEKS FOR MILES 5 Saturdays... 5 Ensembles... 5 Eras of Miles Davis... Produced & directed by Brownman Ali Executive producer Terry Pender @ KW Boathouse www.KWBoathouse.ca 57 Jubilee Dr., Kitchener, Ontario, Canada 519-749-8080 Every Saturday in April 2017 ---- 6:00pm - open for dinner 9:00pm - all shows ---- $20 at the door Or buy your tickets online at Eventbrite: placeholder for Eventbrite ticket link Table seating will be given preference to those with dinner reservations on a first come first serve basis. The Boathouse features a succulent Havest Menu. See the MENU: http://www.kwboathouse.ca/menu/ Reservations: 519-749-8080 ---- In 2017 there are 5 saturdays in April. Every Saturday multi-award winning trumpet player BROWNMAN will lead 5 different all-star ensembles through 5 historic eras of jazz which Miles Davis catalyzed & immortalized with his presence. ---- Brownman, when asked about the tribute and the musicians behind the music, states, "For those who appreciate jazz as a true art form, FIVE WEEKS FOR MILES represents a rare opportunity to understand it's greatest legend's career, where he could have gone and a reminder of what he might have meant to us today. I'm truly honoured to be fronting this sequential tribute and performing with such a monsterous cross-section of players." Brownman has put together a spectacular all-star cast for his production featuring everyone from Juno Award winning Canadian jazz legends Dave Restivo & Mike Downes, to luminaries in his own generation such as Adrean Farrugia & Ross MacIntyre to the best of the youngest new breed of jazz modernists like Nick Maclean, Morgan Childs & Norbert Botos (nephew of luminary pianist Robi Botos). This year will also feature in Week 5 acclaimed rapper Ayrah Taerb (formerly Ase Eschu Bafamet and member of Brownman's GRUVASYLUM SYNDICATE), and World Turntable Champion DJ Dopey making the Week 5 ensemble an all-star jazz-hip-hop affair. "Whatever age, whatever background, whatever colour - we're all going to be giving all of ourselves over to Miles’ music… to try and do the man and his vision justice”, Brownman concludes. ---- "Brownman Ali ... one of the greatest interpreters of Miles Davis' work in Canada." -- Graham Rockingham, Hamilton Spectato ================================= Week 1 - Sat Apr 1, 2017 "Young Miles" - The Bird Years ================================= At 17 years of age Miles would travel across the river from his home in East St. Louis, Illinois to St. Louis, Missouri to hear well-known jazz musicians play in clubs. Mesmerized by their talent and style, he would listen to their all night jam sessions until Charlie "Bird" Parker arrived in St. Louis with the Billy Eckstine Band in 1944. Bird was the creative force behind a new form of jazz later to be dubbed "bebop" and the young Miles would become fascinated with it's complex melodic and harmonic structure leading Miles to follow Bird across the country until he was allowed to substitute for his trumpet player at the time - Dizzy Gillespie. His tenure as Bird's sideman would most exemplify this hard-swinging period of his life. -- Brownman Ali - trumpet (National Jazz Award winner) Nick Morgan - alto sax (Grand Prix Du Jazz nominee) Adrean Farrugia - rhodes & synths (Juno nominee / Mohawk faculty) Ross MacIntyre - upright bass (Elizabeth Shepherd / Matt Dusk) Norbert Botos - drums (22-year old fast-rising jazz drumset star) ================================= Week 2 - Sat Apr 8, 2017 "Birth Of The Cool & Kind Of Blue" - Post-Bop Miles ================================= The term "cool" came to particular prominence in the 1950s to describe a more cerebral, less impassioned way of playing jazz. It's generally supposed that these sessions were part of the inspiration for the 'cool school' of jazz which flourished, particularly on the West Coast, in the 50s. Miles would confound the public's expectations by departing the bop world of Charlie Parker and embracing this new order of jazz as heard on "Birth Of The Cool" (Capitol Records, '49). This 'cooler' form of expression would gradually over the next 10 years lead to the modal approaches of "Kind Of Blue" (Columbia, '59) free of fixed harmony and the now legendary collaboration with the then rising tenor saxophone icon John Coltrane. -- Brownman Ali - trumpet (National Jazz Award winner) Jeff King - tenor sax (Juno Award winner) Nick Maclean - piano (Global Jazz Awards Gold Medal winner) Jesse Dietschi - upright bass (Sugar Devils / Akoustic Trio) Tyler Goertzen - drums (Nick Maclean Quartet / Koopa Troop) -- The first set will focus on the "Birth Of The Cool" beginnings of this era... the second set will emphasize the "Kind Of Blue" approaches ================================= Week 3 - Sat Apr 15, 2017 "Plugged Nickel" - The Shorter Years ================================= Two quintets in particular featuring 2 tenor saxophone giants dominated Miles' musical life almost exclusively from the mid 50's, right up until the 70's, one featuring John Coltrane and the other featuring Wayne Shorter. This period would feature an assortment of quintets and sextets all pushing the boundaries of improvisation within a simple modal framework, but the two teamings that would leave the world breathless would be those of Coltrane and Shorter. Of those two teamings it would be the Miles-Shorter pairing that would result in some of the most explosively creative & exploratory jazz in Miles' history. "Live at the Plugged Nickel" (Columbia / Legacy '65) continues to be a paramount recording in the great Miles lineage and considered by many to be some of the most ground-breaking jazz in history. -- Brownman Ali - trumpet (National Jazz Award winner) Andy Ballantyne - tenor sax (Juno Award winner) Dave Restivo - piano (National Jazz Award winner) Mike Downes - upright bass (Juno Award winner) Morgan Childs - drums (CBC Galaxie Rising Star Award) ================================= Week 4 - Sat Apr 22, 2017 "From Bitches Brew to Tutu" - Electric Miles ================================= Legendary as a kind of line in the sand challenging jazz fans during the ascendance of electric, psychedelic rock, "In a Silent Way" (Colombia Records, 1969) hinted at the repetitive polyrhythms Davis would employ throughout the early '70s. It also partook generously of electric piano and bass tonal colourings previously explored in acoustic settings, but "In a Silent Way" and the subsequent "Bitches Brew" and "Live Evil" recordings remains a clearly electric jazz record, part ambient color exploration, part rock-inflected energy and vibe, and part outright maverick creativity. Long, breathy solos would be a feature of this era, glistening against his new groups' strange admixture of musical moods. Miles would stay on this "electric" path right in to the '80's, continually exploring these textures with newer and younger generations of musicians. -- Brownman Ali - electric trumpet (National Jazz Award winner) Mike Murray - electric guitar (Snaggle / Ten Meter Band) Stu Harrison - rhodes & synths (Justin Bacchus Collective) Marc Rogers - 6-string electric bass (Gruvasylum / Juno Award winner) Colin Kingsmore - drums (Brownman Electryc Trio) w/ special guest Nick Morgan - alto (in the role of Kenny Garrett) -- The first set tonight will focus on the "Bitches Brew" 70's era... the second set will emphasize the "Tutu" 80's ideologies. ================================= Week 5 - Sat Apr 29, 2017 "Doo-bop" - Had he lived... ================================= Towards the end of Miles' life he began an exploration of another sub-component of modern popular music - hip-hop. The "Doo-bop" recording (Warner,'92) would feature rappers and loops and would have marked the beginning of Miles' exploration or this artform. It is often harshly referred to by critics as his "worst" documented recording and as a "forgettable" era of his life, but it still stands strongly as a prime example of the Milesian ethic - his ability to recognize "what's next" and creatively move within and extend that artform. Brownman states "I believe it is extremely probable that Miles would have worked closely with the likes of Tribe Called Quest, The Roots, Rakim, Guru, Big Daddy Kane, junglists, DJs, rappers, beat-makers alike... had he lived. Tonight will be a salute to what MIGHT have been." -- Brownman - electric trumpet (National Jazz Award winner) Ayrah Taerb - rapper (formerly Ase Eschu Bafamet / Dirty B-sides) DJ Dopey - turntables (DMC World Turntable Champion) Ian De Souza - electric bass (Sisters Euclid / Modus Factor) Geoff Bruce - drums (Ali Bros / Socialist Night School) ================================= About BROWNMAN | www.Brownman.com ================================= Trinidadian-born, NYC-schooled & heralded as “Canada’s preeminent Jazz trumpeter” by NYC’s Village Voice, multi-award winning trumpet player Brownman Ali stands at the forefront of innovation in the Canadian jazz community. A protégé to his teacher, Grammy-winning trumpet legend, Randy Brecker, he tirelessly leads 7 unique ensembles of his own including the internationally acclaimed Miles Davis influenced BROWNMAN ELECTRYC TRIO, and the award-winning CRUZAO latin-jazz quintet. In 2009 he launched his own record label: Browntasauras Records, which saw the Electryc Trio's flagship release "Juggernaut" shoot to number 3 on the iTunes USA jazz charts. The label is now a home to all his ensembles. In high demand in the studio world with over 300 CD appearances to date, Brownman delivers stylistically authentic horn playing over a wide range of styles from bebop to hiphop having recorded or toured with the likes of Guru's Jazzmatazz (replacing Donald Byrd in that primordial ensemble), Mos Def, KRS-1, Jay-Z, Quincy Jones, Paul Simon, Mingus Dynasty Big Band, Gary Bartz, John Scofield, Wayne Shorter, Chucho Valdes & far too many more to name here. Brownman is nationally recognized as one of the most unique and provocative improvising trumpet players in the nation and is widely regarded as a vanguard for the evolution of Jazz in Canada. A highly decorated artist, his accolades include 2 National Jazz Awards (11 nominations over the years), a CBC Galaxie Rising Star award, a SOCAN composers award, Montreal Jazz Fest's "Grand Prix Du Jazz" award, 3 Toronto Independent Music Award (& 9 nominations), an International Independent Music Award, an induction into the WHO'S WHO IN BLACK CANADA, a BRAVO! channel documentary on his life, NOW magazine naming him "Toronto's Best Jazz Musician", CBC Radio Canada named him "one of the most recorded trumpet players in Canadian history", the Trinidad & Tobago Consulate General awarded him with a citation for being a "Distinguished National of Trinidad", and was once listed by Air Canada as one of the "Top 10 reasons to visit Toronto". As evidenced by almost 700,000 visits to his website, Brownman has evolved from Canadian jazz icon to worldwide phenomenon -- catapulted by 3.5 years of touring the globe as the featured soloist with the legendary rapper Guru and his seminal jazz-hiphop band Jazzmatazz (until the great man’s tragic passing in April 2010). Driven by the desire to push and expand the boundaries of jazz composition and musicianship -- and the perceptions people have of what jazz music is and can be -- Browman is a proud torchbearer to the tradition of fearless exploration represented by immortals such as Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard, his own mentor Randy Brecker, John Coltrane, and Wayne Shorter. Brownman also holds a degree in physics, a minor in philosophy, writes the brass column for Canadian Musician Magazine and is an often called upon international lecturer and clinician on such topics as "advanced jazz harmony", "hip-hop and the modern jazz improviser" & "latin rhythms for the jazz improviser". ================================= Awards: ================================= 2016 Brownman Electryc Trio - T.O. Independent Music Award nominee - "Jazz Group of the Year" 2015 Brownman Electryc Trio - Independent Music Award winner - "Jazz/Funk Album of the Year" 2015 Brownman Electryc Trio - T.O. Independent Music Award winner - "Jazz Group of the Year" 2015 Brownman - Black Canadian Award nominee - "Jazz Arist Of The Year" 2014 Brownman Electryc Trio - T.O.Independent Music Award nominee - "Jazz Group of the Year" 2012 Brownman Electryc Trio - T.O.Independent Music Award winner - "Jazz Group of the Year" 2012 Brownman named "2012 Artist To Watch" by Resonancity.com 2012 Toronto Blues Society "Band of the Year" (with the Sugar Devils) 2011 Trinidad High Commission citation: "Distinguished National of Trinidad in Canada" 2010 Brownman inducted into the WHO'S WHOS IN BLACK CANADA biographical directory 2010 Brownman Electryc Trio - Independent Music Award nominee - "Jazz Group of the Year" 2010 Brownman Electryc Trio - Artvoice Magazine nominee for "Jazz Act of the Year" 2009 Brownman - named "favourite touring soloist" (w/ Jazzmatazz) by London, UK's Jazz After Dark 2008 Brownman Electryc Trio - Independent Music Award nominee - "Jazz Group of the Year" 2008 Brownman Electryc Trio - National Jazz Award nominee - "Electric Jazz Group of the Year" 2007 Brownman - BRAVO! channel documentary - "The Life & Times of Brown" 2007 NOW Magazine's "Toronto Jazz Trumpet Player of the Year" 2007 Brownman Electryc Trio - National Jazz Award winner - "Electric Jazz Group of the Year" 2007 Brownman - National Jazz Award nominee - "Musician of the Year" 2007 Brownman - National Jazz Award nominee - "Latin-jazz artist of the Year" 2007 Brownman - SOCAN National Jazz Award nominee - "Composer of the Year" 2007 Brownman - National Jazz Award nominee - "Instrumentalist of the Year" (flugelhorn) 2006 Brownman - National Jazz Award nominee - "Latin-jazz artist of the Year" 2005 Brownman - NOW Magazine's "Toronto Jazz Artist of the Year". 2004 Brownman & CRUZAO - Independent Music Award nominee - "Jazz Group of the Year" 2003 MARRON MATIZADO - "Best Toronto Salsa Band" (SalsaSPOT) 2002 Brownman - National Jazz Award winner - "Jazz Composer of the Year" 2002 Brownman - National Jazz Award nominee - "Jazz Trumpet Player of the Year" 2001 Brownman & CRUZAO - winner of the Montreal Jazz Fest's "Grand Prix Du Jazz Award" 2001 Brownman & CRUZAO - winner of the CBC Galaxie "Rising Star" Award Brownman - 3 time nominee for "Jazz Trumpet Player of the Year" (NJA). Brownman & CRUZAO - 4 time nominee for "Electric Group of the Year" (NJA). ================================= Quotes: ================================= "Awards are nice, naturally, but to dig what Brownman is doing, you’ve got to see him live. I had a chance to do just that over the summer when Brownman fronted a killer trio ... I came away with a blown mind. This guy’s got chops galore, soul to match, and a sense of phrasing that recalls many of the greats, but suggests itself to be his own." - Buffalo News “Brownman... Canada’s preeminent jazz trumpeter.” ~ The Village Voice, New York City "Brownman... one of the next great voices in the new generation of jazz improvisers..." ~ Randy Brecker, legendary multi-Grammy winning trumpeter "Brownman is the real deal... this abundantly talented young musician was handpicked by the late MC Guru to blow the sinewy lines that made his Jazzmatazz project such a groundbreaking hybrid of jazz and hip-hop... with each appearance the buzz surrounding the bold and electric Brownman style has grown in amplitude." - Art Voice Magazine "Brownman... the most versatile hornman in Canada" ~ Chicago Tribune "... virtuostic, energized and in the spirit of Miles Davis" ~ Toronto's NOW Magazine "Brownman... a truly gifted improviser with an original creative voice..." ~ Gary Bartz, saxophonist with Miles Davis "Brownman... uniquely creative and fearless - like a young Miles Davis." ~ Guru, legendary hip-hop icon of Gangstarr/Jazzmatazz fame "lively, entertaining and hip ... the music's muscular and quick, much of it thrilling..." ~ Whole Note Magazine (CD review) “It’s hard to imagine [him] being more in the pocket, more energetic.” ~ Peter Hum, The Ottawa Citizen “It’s incredible the energy output [he] can generate... ~ Toronto’s NOW Magazine "Brownman plays with fire and intensity ... executed with skill and feeling ... Visceral and edgy, [he] recalls the music Miles Davis made in the early '70s." ~ Errol Nazareth, The Toronto Sun ---- FIVE WEEKS FOR MILES 2017 is proudly presented by : Vive Development Vidyard Plugin Momentum Developments Long & McQuade Brownman Music Inc & Browntasauras Records