Ted Crosby tenor saxophone, clarinet
James Meger bass
Joe Sorbara drums, percussion
In mid-November, 2019, Vancouver bassist James Meger will fly east to join Toronto-based musicians Ted Crosby (tenor saxophone, clarinet) and Joe Sorbara (drums, percussion) on an excursion from Montréal through Guelph, Hamilton, and Toronto to share their joy for creative music with the musically curious along the way. They will play one another’s original music along with excursions into the influential work of Ornette Coleman, Paul Motian, and Thelonious Monk.
Ted Crosby was born in rural Vermont, USA and is a multi instrumentalist specializing in tenor saxophone, clarinet, and bass clarinet. He moved to Montréal to study music at McGill University and lived and worked there for ten years. He recently relocated to Toronto where he is becoming active on the jazz, improv, and folk scenes. His band Nomad performs regularly throughout Canada and has released two full length albums to date. In 2018, Ted composed for and directed Revival Ensemble, a large group project based on the music of Duke Ellington, featuring a varied cast of Canadian improvisers such as Brad Turner, Josh Zubot, Ron Samworth, and Lina Allemano. Ted is equally interested in jazz, avant garde, and popular music styles. He has collaborated with songwriters like Leif Vollebekk, Sam Tudor, and Isla Craig; worked with improvisers like Peggy Lee, Lori Freedman, Dylan Van Der Schyff, and Karen Ng; and performed with jazz musicians like Michel Lambert, Andre White, Kevin Turcotte, Pablo Held, and Tommy Crane. He has performed at small festivals such as L’Off Festival (Montreal), IMOO (Ottawa), Something Else! (Hamilton) and Tone (Toronto) as well as major international jazz festivals in Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver.
James Meger is an active bassist and composer currently working and residing in Vancouver. He’s received education in music from Capilano College in Vancouver and also from Mcgill University in Montreal, where he received a bachelor’s degree in Jazz performance. Since moving back to Vancouver he has had the opportunity to collaborate with many local and international players such as Wayne Horvitz, Lori Freedman, Ig Henneman, Lina Allemano, Peggy Lee, Brad Turner, and Lisa Miller, among others, and has made many appearances at The Vancouver Jazz Festival, The Suoni Per Il Popolo Festival, Tone Fest in Toronto, and The Vancouver Improvised Music Meeting. He is also active as a sideman and co-leader in various ongoing projects, including: Peggy Lee’s Echo Painting, Sick Boss, The Alicia Hansen Band, The Bruno Hubert Trio, The Now Orchestra, Elisa Thorn’s HUE, Cow Trance, The Sumner Brothers, and many more. Recently James spent several months in the Netherlands studying with renowned improvisor Wilbert de Joode thanks to an Early Career Development grant from the BC Arts Council. He also co-curates the weekly interdisciplinary performance series, Sawdust Collector, at the Gold Saucer Studio in Vancouver.
Canadian drummer and percussionist Joe Sorbara has spent nearly two decades developing a reputation as an imaginative and dedicated performer, composer, improviser, organizer, and educator throughout the extraordinary creative music communities in and around his home in Toronto. In the fall of 2017, Sorbara and his family made a somewhat-temporary move to Vancouver where he is currently getting to know many of the west coast’s most adventurous musicians including Meredith Bates, Jared Burrows, Nikki Carter, Bill Clark, François Houle, Bruno Hubert, Peggy Lee, James Meger, Clyde Reed, Ron Samworth, Carol Sawyer, Jeff Younger, and Josh Zubot. Sorbara is a highly inventive musician who has played and recorded with the AIMToronto Orchestra, Ken Aldcroft, Anthony Braxton, Evan Parker, Allen Ravenstine, and Friendly Rich as well as with his own projects including The Imperative, Other Foot First, Remnants Trio, My Misshapen Ear, Mars People, and the Imaginary Percussion Ensemble. He is equally comfortable playing jazz, free improvised music, indie rock, and chamber music; but is most at home when playing them all at the same time.
Sorbara is a long-time student of master drummer Jim Blackley. He holds an Honours Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music from York University in Toronto and a Master’s degree in English from the University of Guelph where his work focused on critical improvisation studies, literary and cultural theory, and pedagogy. Joe has worked extensively as a workshop facilitator and guest lecturer and began teaching in the Music Department at the University of Guelph in 2007.
ovalwindowmusic.org/joesorbara
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