This past weekend I was in the recording studio for a session put together by pianist/drummer/professor Andre White. Every Canadian jazz musician knows who Andre is and many have played with him or have been recorded by him (he is also a sound engineer/record producer) and many have been taught and influenced by him through his role as an educator at McGill. His status on the Canadian jazz scene is second-to-none. I have had the great pleasure and fortune to work with him for many years but almost always while he was playing piano. His drumming has influenced my playing enormously however and it was a definite treat to be a part of this recording session that he organized in which the two of us both play drums. We did play together once before however. Back in the early 90's, bandleader Andrew Homzy hired us to play a concert of Duke Ellington's Nutcracker Suite with his band. Here is a track from that concert that I have posted to my Soundcloud. (sorry but I'm a little foggy on the band personnel!)
This past weekend's recording featured music composed by Andre and the following musicians: myself and Andre on drums; saxophonist Janis Steprans; bassists Alec Walkington and Marcin Garbulinski; and pianist Pierre Francois. We recorded 5 tunes and Andre is planning a second studio date to record more material for this project. I will certainly let everyone know when it is ready to be released! |