Virtuoso pianist and musical mash-up artist Ron Davis shines in the live video for A Luz (Da Partida) — and he’s in the spotlight 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 Louis Simao‘s composition A Luz (Da Partida), a gorgeous work that crosses jazz and classical. SymphRONica features Ron Davis (piano/leader), Kevin Barrett (guitar/music director), Emma Smith (bass), Alyn Cosker, (drums), Aline Homzy (violin/string section leader), Aisling O’Dea (violin), Jane Atkins (viola) and Donald Gillen (cello). The video was directed and edited by Lorna Simpson and shot at the Scottish Arts Club during the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
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 Thursday, Oct. 25. That night, they’ll throw a Release Party at 918 Bathurst Cultural Centre.
Come back next week for the final instalment of #MusicMondays With Ron Davis’ SymphRONica exclusively on Tinnitist! And check out the rest of SymphRONica UpfRONt below:
