Introducing Aretha Tillotson
ARETHA TILLOTSON
BRR-202305CD
Track Listing
- Backwards Crossovers (6:14)
- Tesla (5:35)
- Versus (6:59)
- Next Time (6:03)
- Push Start (7:07)
- Sphere (6:59)
- Flare (7:36)
- Eighth Street (6:31)
The concept of this album was written around the experiences of women at post secondary institutions. I conducted interviews with Kiona Calihoo-Lightvoet, Audrey Ochoa, Laura Swankey, Jacqueline Teh, and Alexa Belgrave as part of my thesis at Berklee’s Global Jazz Masters program. In these interviews, I asked each woman about experiences within arts institutions and art scenes. I then wrote a piece based on these experiences.
Versus is written about an Indigenous artist forced to remove a cultural article off of her person in order to cross the stage at a graduation ceremony.
Push Start is written about the tokenism faced by women working in art scenes.
Flare is written about the immune response of a person reacting to an extremely stressful or traumatic situation
Eighth Street is written around the answer to a question I asked one of the interviewees around improving representation; unquestionable female excellence at our craft, so there is no other option but to hire us.
Backwards Crossovers
Composed by Aretha Tillotson | Bass – Aretha Tillotson | Drums – Joel Jeschke | Guitar – Brett Hansen | Piano – Brendan McGrath | Tenor Sax – Jacob Do
Tesla
Composed by Aretha Tillotson | Bass – Aretha Tillotson | Drums – Joel Jeschke | Guitar – Brett Hansen | Piano – Brendan McGrath | Alto Sax – Allison Au
Versus
Bass – Aretha Tillotson | Drums – Joel Jeschke | Guitar – Brett Hansen | Piano – Brendan McGrath | Alto Sax – Allison Au | Tenor Sax – Jacob Do
Next Time
Bass – Aretha Tillotson | Drums – Joel Jeschke | Guitar – Brett Hansen | Tenor Sax – Jacob Do
Push Start
Composed by Aretha Tillotson | Bass – Aretha Tillotson | Drums – Joel Jeschke | Piano – Brendan McGrath | Alto Sax – Allison Au
Sphere
Composed by Aretha Tillotson | Bass – Aretha Tillotson | Drums – Joel Jeschke | Piano – Brendan McGrath | Alto Sax – Allison Au
Flare
Composed by Aretha Tillotson | Bass – Aretha Tillotson | Drums – Joel Jeschke | Piano – Brendan McGrath | Alto Sax – Allison Au | Tenor Sax – Jacob Do
Eighth Street
Composed by Aretha Tillotson | Bass – Aretha Tillotson | Trombone – Audrey Ochoa
Aretha thanks: my husband Jacob, the wonderful musicians who have brought my music to life, and my family. I couldn’t have completed this work without your support.
This project is supported by the Edmonton Arts Council and the City of Edmonton.
Album Credits
Aretha Tillotson – bass | Joel Jeschke – drums | Brendan McGrath – piano | Brett Hansen – guitar | Jacob Do – tenor saxophone | Allison Au – alto saxophone | Audrey Ochoa – trombone
All Songs Composed by Aretha Tillotson
Produced by Aretha Tillotson & Padraig Buttner-Schnirer | Recorded at MacEwan University, Studio A | Recorded & Mixed by Padraig Buttner-Schnirer | Assistant Engineer Natalie Smadis | Mastered by Reuben Ghose
Album Design by Kristjan Buckingham | Illustrations by Kiona Calihoo- Lightvoet | Photography by Uryelle Lopez