Making music for the soul

October 19, 2007

If music is food for the soul, there are a lot of undernourished people in the world, according to one of Canada’s most accomplished jazz pianists.

After an impromptu noon-hour jazz concert in Quance Theatre on Oct. 15, Jon Ballantyne spoke to On Campus News about his passion for the “nutritious” music for which he is renowned. It’s a passion he shares with Dean McNeill, and a passion that has brought the two of them together to record a CD in Convocation Hall.

McNeill, a trumpeter, composer, conductor and head of the Department of Music, and Saskatoon-born Ballantyne who won the 2007 Juno for Best Traditional Jazz Album of the Year, have known each other for some years, talked about this recording for some months and have finally found time to make it happen. They spent several nights in mid-October recording in the quiet of the College Building and although he had never played with McNeill before this, Ballantyne said he was sure it would be an interesting experience.

“Dean sent me the music and there were enough musical things flying around in the air that I knew it would be fun.”

The CD they are producing, which should be released in the spring, is part of a sabbatical project, explained McNeill. It is music for piano and trumpet and includes classical trumpet concerti, some jazz standards and original and improvisational works. The linking element in the music, he said, is it is all by western Canadian composers.

Also featured on the CD will be pianist Bonnie Nicholson, a sessional lecturer in the Music Department and a much-sought-after teacher, performer and adjudicator.

McNeill and Ballantyne, who now lives in New York City, first met when they were both at McGill University, McNeill as an undergraduate and Ballantyne as an instructor. Both attended the University of North Texas: they were there at different times but share several musical mentors.

Ballantyne said he was delighted to have received his second Juno in April at a ceremony in the city where he grew up, and is equally pleased to be back to see McNeill’s recording project come to fruition. The world of jazz, and its audience, is quite small, he said, but they are well nourished.