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Two fantastic musicians here at Bent River Records have two brand new very mystical projects (wink,wink). This week’s blog is dedicated to both Jean-Nicolas Trottier presents The Mystic Mind Suite and Mallory Chipman and the Mystics!

Mallory Chipman & the Mystics is the latest brainchild of Edmonton vocalist/composer, Mallory Chipman. This project fuses Mallory’s improvisational sensibilities with jazz harmony, the unconventionality of progressive rock, and a pinch of psychedelic fairy dust. Their debut album AQUARIAN is set for release in early 2020.

“I wrote all of the tunes at Moose Farm Studio over the past year, and we recorded it at OCL Studios just over a month ago, and I am STOKED, pals!

For those of you who know me, I’m forever a rock and roller at heart, but I also looooove improvisation and chromatic harmony and progressive song forms, so I decided to start a band that plays my original music that fuses all of those whacky and wonderful things.

This record is pretty politically charged, and really, in my opinion, it is a call to action to be engaged with the world around you and the worlds within you. It is a combination of influences that just feels like “me”, and I couldn’t be more excited about it.” 

—Mallory Chipman

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The Mystic Mind Suite, a commissioned work for the Orchestre National de Jazz de Montreal by Jean-Nicolas Trottier, evolves as an unfolding sonic motif, from a single sound into an elaborate orchestral arrangement. It chronicles how an idea becomes a word, and then develops into an image in the mind’s eye, travelling through billions of synapses in the meanders of the river of our consciousness. Searching for a strong dynamic between soloists and the orchestra, he entrusts the virtuosity and thematic evolution to Yannick Rieu, Rafael Zaldivar and Sylvain Provost.

“Mystic Mind est un voyage inspiré et inspirant dans une sorte de métaphysique sonore qui n’a heureusement rien du pelletage de nuages théorique. Trottier s’amuse avec des thèmes et des motifs dont il fait permuter les textures, les reflets et les éclats selon leur passage dans les différentes sections de l’orchestre. Les espaces de liberté octroyés aux trois solistes (exceptionnels) qui sont en vedette, sont importants mais bien intégrés à l’ensemble.”

 —Frédéric Cardin, ICI Musique Radio-Canada

Come one, come all to MacEwan University’s 2019 open house! On Saturday, November 2nd, the school will be bustling with activity as new and prospective students come to campus to get a sense of what MacEwan is all about. Of course, we suggest that you take a trip to Allard Hall to enjoy some musical performances and meet some of our lovely associates!

From 10 a.m. until 3 p.m., Bent River Records will have a booth set up in the main atrium in Allard Hall, and whether you’re an Albertan musician, a prospective student, or you’re already studying or working at MacEwan, we’ll be ready to answer all of your questions about our artists, our competitions, and our place in the university community. And of course, information flows two ways. Tell us about your favourite artist on our roster or provide some feedback about our work in your community! Our associates would love to hear your thoughts and share their knowledge with you, so come on down and say hi!

Finally! We get to introduce the man that all submissions of the 2019 Bent River Records Recording Competition are fighting for the chance to work with:

Russell Broom.

Based out of Calgary, Russell is a fantastic producer, engineer, songwriter and guitar player. He has worked with countless amazing musicians like Jann Arden, Michael Bernard Fitzgerald, and Sam Roberts, just to name a few. He has done work not only within the music industry, but is also a very active writer, performer and engineer in film and TV. He has done work for CMT (Lady Antebellum, Florida Georgia Line, Civil Wars, etc.), Alberta Primetime, Love Lies Bleed (Elton John) and many, many, many more. Besides being a phenomenal producer and engineer, he is also a very well-established guitar player across Canada and has played with the likes of Josh Groban, Robbie Williams and Brett Kissel. We could go on forever.

His hard work and creativity have led to many awards including a JUNO for songwriter of the year, WCMA producer of the year (three times!), WCMA musician of the year, WCMA engineer of the year and WCMA pop album of the year along with an even longer list of nominations.         We cannot wait to see who Russell Broom and his fellow judges choose to be the winner of the Bent River Records 2019 Recording Competition. We’ve had a listen ourselves and it won’t be easy to choose just one winner. There is just so much talent in Alberta!

As of midnight last night, we are now in phase two of our 2019 recording competition! You submitted your music, now we’re going to listen. We will be diving into the hard process of determining finalists this week, sifting through your songs, CV’s, and stories, searching for the artists with a pinch of the ‘X factor’ and a little dash of ‘je ne sais quoi.’ 

This contest has brought us more entries than ever before, and on behalf of the Bent River Records team, thank you for sharing your hard work, creativity, and talent with us. We can’t wait to hear your music and see the competition winner onstage, performing at the Bent River Records Artist Spotlight in April. 

Last but not least, we have Chris Martin joining the rest of our amazing judges.

Chris Martin began his career in the music industry in 1990 as a booking agent.  His company, The Bristol Agency has worked with the likes of Uisce Beathe, Jr. Gone Wild, Bill Bourne and Shannon Johnson, Painting Daisies and Ann Vriend. As a manager and music consultant, Chris has assisted in the development of emerging Canadian artists within Canada and abroad. He has sat on conference panels at the Ontario Council of Folk Festivals, Western Canadian Music Week, Canadian Country Music Week and others. Since 2006 Chris has worked at CBC Edmonton where he is currently the Associate Producer of Saturday Night Blues! He will be an amazing contribution to our panel and we can’t wait for him to see all of your submissions!

Don’t forget that the submission deadline for the Bent River Record 2019 Recording Competition is almost here! Monday, October 15^th will be the last day that we are taking submissions. Don’t miss out on this amazing opportunity!