Virtuoso pianist and musical mash-up artist Ron Davis is revving up the Whirlycurl — and we’re taking you along for the ride exclusively on Tinnitist #MusicMondays!
We’re showcasing a new live video by the Toronto jazz vet every Monday morning this month to preview UpfRONt, the latest instalment in Davis’ SymphRONica series. Today, he’s sharing his composition Whirlycurl, a genre-busting dazzler that hits the sweet spot between bop, bluegrass, Bond and Bernard Herrmann. SymphRONica features Ron Davis (piano/leader), Kevin Barrett (guitar/ Music Director), Mike Downes (bass), Steve Heathcoate (drums), Aline Homzy (violin/string section leader), Andrew Chung (violin), Laurence Schaufele (viola) and Beth Silver (cello). The video was directed and edited by Jerry MacIntosh and shot at Toronto’s Lula Lounge.
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.”
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! And check out the rest of SymphRONica UpfRONt below:
