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2006 Season
Friday, June 30, 2006  Synopsis This appearance at the 26th Ottawa International Jazz Festival was the orchestra's premiere performance since being established as a permanent ensemble. It followed an acclaimed debut at Suite Freedom and a highly praised performance by the Impressions in Jazz Nonet at the 25th Ottawa International Jazz Festival.. For the second year in a row, the IJO was the only Ottawa-based group to appear in the festival's main lineup. Billed as a preview of the IJO's 2006/2007 season, the IJO's performance could have been described as a jazz repertory variety show. In a little over ninety minutes, the orchestra performed fifteen miniatures and an encore for the packed house. The broad sampling of pieces included selections from Johnny Richards' scorching Cuban Fire, the civil rights-inspired music of John Coltrane's Africa/Brass, seven suites by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn and inspired interpretations of classical music by Beethoven, Grieg, Tchaikovsky and Paganini. The intimate setting of the NAC Studio allowed the orchestra to present its unique sound with minimal amplification while also facilitating a strong personal connection between the musicians and the audience. Those present enjoyed not just listening to the music but watching the musicians who were clearly enjoying the experience of playing the music. IJO Artistic Director Adrian Cho told wonderful stories about the composers and their inspirations and joked with the audience. People were very clearly engaged as Cho described such connections as those between Coltrane's “Song of the Underground Railroad” and the Negro spiritual “Follow the Drinkin' Gourd;” Ellington and Strayhorn's “Such Sweet Thunder” and Shakespeare's “A Midsummer Night's Dream” and “Othello;” and Ellington's “The Shepherd” and Lutheran pastor John Garcia Gensel. There was a wonderful vibe in the room with the audience very clearly supportive of a group comprised entirely of Ottawa musicians and the promise of great things to come in the seasons ahead. The finale was the thrilling “Arab Dance” written by Gil Evans and Claude Thornhill and based on themes by Tchaikovsky. That led to the first of two rousing standing ovations to which the orchestra responded by repeating “Tres Corazones,” the hair-raising Cuban Fire finale. The orchestra performed the first and the last four works of its programme as a twenty-five-piece neophonic ensemble with Cho conducting. The other pieces were performed as a smaller jazz repertory orchestra with Cho leading from the bass although he opted to conduct for the lush Glenn Miller and Mitchell Parish arrangement of Beethoven's “Moonlight Sonata.” There were many solo features in the programme highlighting the great talent of individual IJO musicians. Audience favourites included Sandy Gordon's gorgeous reading of “Isfahan,” Rick Rangno's vibrant interpretation of “Portrait of Louis Armstrong,” Chris Lane's passionate preaching on “The Shepherd” and Laura Nerenberg's captivating performance of “Paganini Caprice XXIV.” The orchestra would like to express its appreciation to the Ottawa International Jazz Festival (in particular Jacques Émond and Catherine O'Grady) for the opportunity to perform this programme. A very special thank you to our partners for their help with equipment and promotion for this event:
Personnel
Programme A preview of future IJO programmes. Excerpts from suites by Johnny Richards, John Coltrane, Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn.
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