John Korsrud
John Korsrud, one of the luminaries of the Vancouver jazz scene, is getting the legit treatment on Sunday January 19th. The Vancouver Symphony conducted by Bramwell Tovey is playing one of John’s compositions, and featuring John as trumpet soloist.
The piece, Come to the Dark Side, has only been performed once before, at Carnegie Hall in 2010. Here are some reviews from that concert:
“In Come to the Dark Side Mr. Korsrud deftly improvised soaring fanfares and racing, spiraling lines on trumpet over the orchestra’s Morse-code chatter and funky grooves.” – NY Times
“The following work was–literally–a breath of fresh air after the hermetic opening. That fresh air came from trumpet-player John Korsrud, playing his own Come to the Dark Side. The captivating title comes from an Andriessen quote to Mr. Korsrud about musical theory, but the trumpet-player/composer transposed it into an eerie–and later blazing–tribute to Oriental mysticism.
The beginning, at least, was ersatz Eastern. Along with a tattoo of gong and bass drum, the strings played a metallic clatter against Mr. Korsrud, playing pentatonic scales, often with bluesy little riffs. The orchestra played without him for awhile, with energetic pulsing rhythms. The trumpeter returned going into the stratosphere, Gillespie style, followed by a strange slow ending. Unlike the other three pieces, Mr. Korsrud composed with an energy, confidence and honestly inventive effects.” – Concerto.net
The concert starts at 8pm at the Orpheum Theatre. More info here.
John is well known to big band followers in Vancouver. He is the leader and principle composer of the 17-piece Hard Rubber Orchestra, a highly active jazz/ new music ensemble that has toured to Europe and across Canada, released two CDs, and is the recipient of Canada’s largest arts prize, The Alcan Arts Award. John himself was honored with the City of Vancouver’s Mayor’s Arts Award for Music for 2012. Impressions has been lucky to have him as a guest director on a few occasions.
Congratulations to John on achieving this recognition, and here’s hoping the VSO concert is a huge success!
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