Virtuoso pianist and musical mash-up artist Ron Davis is holding four of a kind — and we’re playing his winning hand exclusively on Tinnitist #MusicMondays throughout October!
We’ll be showcasing a new live video by the Toronto jazz vet every Monday morning this month to preview UpfRONt, the next instalment in Davis’ SymphRONica series.
Featuring a rotating but equally dazzling cast of world-class musicians from vastly diverse backgrounds, UpfRONt is Davis’ and SymphRONica’s 12th release. “Music, for me, is all about ‘the hang,’” Davis shares. “The musicians I play with have to be people whose energy I enjoy. That’s more important than their technical ability. I’m unconstrained by boundaries — jazz, word, pop, classical… It doesn’t matter. The programs I come up with and the stories I tell are a function of wanting to connect with the audience. I think to myself, ‘how can I shape the arc of the show to give the audience the most pleasurable evening?’ If I do a Bach piece after a Lady Gaga tune, so be it. Sometimes my eclecticism annoys jazz purists, but I ask… ‘Must everything be so easily categorized?’ I’m being true to myself and the audience, and I love hanging with audiences and sharing the music.”
Today, he’s sharing his composition Dodeka Nagata, which finds him joining forces with the raw power of the great Nagata Shachu Japanese drum ensemble in a driving live performance. SymphRONica features Ron Davis (piano/leader), Kevin Barrett (guitar/ Music Director), Ross MacIntyre (bass), Giampaolo Scatozza (drums), Aline Homzy (violin), Jessica Deutsch (violin), Ben Plotnick (viola) and Tess Crowther (cello). Nagata Shachu features Kiyoshi Nagata (Founder/ Artistic Director), Aki Takahashi, Akemi Akachi and Tony Nguyen. The video was produced by Saul Lederman and shot at Toronto’s Lula Lounge.
Davis and SymphRONica’s UpfRONt comes out Oct. 25. That night, they’ll throw a Release Party at 918 Bathurst Cultural Centre.
Come back next week for the next instalment of #MusicMondays With Ron Davis’ SymphRONica exclusively on Tinnitist!
