On January 25th, the arts community lost Tommy Banks – a remarkable man and renowned musician. The team here at Bent River Records is so fortunate to have worked with such a talented and beloved person. A pillar in Edmonton’s music and arts community, The Honourable Tommy Banks supported the work we have been doing at Bent River by attending our label launch concert in 2017, and he even contributed to a few of the albums we have on the label. He was featured on Mallory Chipman’s debut album Nocturnalize, and executively produced her second album, Rags and Feathers: A Tribute to Leonard Cohen. The BRR team sends their love and thoughts out to his family during this difficult time. There will be a memorial for him at the Winspear Centre on Wednesday, February 14 at 7:00pm to celebrate his life and legacy. Doors open at 5:30pm and it is general admission. 

For those of you who did not know Tommy, the following article provides a bit of insight into the impact Tommy Banks had on our community:

http://edmontonjournal.com/news/insight/he-made-his-mark-everywhere-he-went-tommy-banks-helped-push-edmonton-and-its-arts-scene-to-new-heights

Book off January 31 st on your calendar, Maria Schneider and the Edmonton Jazz Orchestra are coming to MacEwan’s Triffo Theatre!

Maria is a big band composer, bandleader, 12-time Grammy nominated, and 5-time Grammy Award winner. She is not only known for unique funding of projects through the company ArtistShare, but she is also notorious for blurring the lines between genres and working with collectives such as The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, collaborating with David Bowie and headlining Jazz at Lincoln Centre. She will be around the university conducting arranging, composition, and music business clinics for students and faculty, as well as a rehearsal with MacEwan’s own big band and an open rehearsal for her Edmonton debut. Take in the magical experience of Maria leading the Edmonton Jazz Orchestra through her Big Band compositions on January 31 st . The doors open at 6:30 and the show will begin at 7:30. Tickets begin at $25 for students, and $35 for general admission.

If you would like to purchase tickets for the show, you can get them here:

https://yeglive.ca/events/maria-schneider/jan-31-2018/triffo-theatre

To learn more about Maria Schneider, check out her website:

http://www.mariaschneider.com/

MacEwan University welcomes award-winning producer and guitarist Russell Broom to the campus this week. Best known for his work with Jann Arden, he has an extensive career in not only producing and performing; but also mixing, engineering, songwriting, and music in film and TV. 

If you want to learn from a real pro in the industry, this would be the week to get involved! Russell Broom has an impressive roster of musicians he has worked with including people like George Canyon, Lindsay Ell, Chantal Kreviazuk, Corb Lund, Josh Groban and the list goes on! How lucky are we to have him right here in our classrooms?! He has won awards such as JUNO songwriter of the year, WCMA producer, musician, engineer, and pop album of the year (and yes – those are all separate awards!) and for the record, there are many other awards he has received. Russell has also spent time working on music in film and television, including shows like CMT, Alberta Primetime, MuchMoreMusic, Inside Hollywood etc. During his three days at MacEwan, he will be doing workshops with the student combos and showcase bands, a recording production masterclass, a guitar masterclass, a songwriting workshop, a workshop on music career management, AND a concert! It will be a busy couple of days here for him, but the BRR team is excited to show him around our new home. If you are interested in learning more about working in the music industry, you should definitely be at one of these workshops! 

For full details on Russell Broom’s visit to MacEwan:

https://www.macewan.ca/wcm/SchoolsFaculties/FFAC/Programs/BachelorofMusicinJazzandContemporaryPopularMusic/NewsEvents//SS_VA_RUSSELL_BROOM_17

If you’d like to browse through Russell Broom’s long list of credits, check that out here:

http://www.russellbroom.com/Russell_Broom/bunch_o_credits.html

Lionel Rault has been a host on CKUA for over two decades. He’s hosted Lionel’s Vinyls, R&B Revue, Nine to noon and The Afternoon Edition. His heart lays in the folk-roots genres and has been active as a singer-songwriter in the genre since 1969. So as you could imagine he’s very well respected in the Edmonton music scene, he is the only active performer to ever be inducted into the Edmonton Blues Hall of Fame.

Lionel has been independently releasing albums since 1980. He has released four albums Killin’ Time in 1980, Been So Long in 1989, No Tell Hotel in 1992, Lionel Rault in 2004 and The Further Adventures of…  in 2007. So I guess you could say Lionel knows a thing or two about a thing or two. Lionel is more than happy to call Alberta home, which is good for us because I feel the progression of music exposure in Edmonton would be vastly different without his influence. He has raised two children who have also followed his footsteps and become musicians in their own right. These days Lionel plays in the Folk-roots-blues band, The Rault Brothers

I couldn’t imagine the creativity it would take to come up with 20 years’ worth of unique content for radio, but if you’re looking for pointers Lionel’s door is definitely the one you should be knocking on. We are thrilled to have Lionel on the panel and as an honorary member of Bent River.

Maud Salvi is the Executive Director of Sled Island. Sled Island host upwards of 250 bands across 30 venues, so as you can imagine it is quite a large under taking. She has been working with Sled Island for the last 5 years and if you ask me has been doing a pretty amazing job. Maud is originally from France but landed in Montreal in 2008 working as the artistic producer for Pop Montreal International Music Festival. Pop Montreal schedules more than 400 bands across 50 venues.

If you think about it, Maud has probably listened to more bands that you will ever listen to in your whole life. I personally cannot think of a better person to judge the submissions to our competition. Maud is one of the most resilient arts managers you will ever meet. Her first year as Executive Director of Sled was 2013, the year of the floods in Calgary. She was not only able to manager a worst-case scenario situation but also have the festival continue to run in 2014 without change and it has been going strong ever since.

Maud has a great ear, I can’t wait to hear her insights on all the submissions. Her experience in producing alternative festivals will be just the insight we will need to find the next Arcade fire. Maud is as hard working as they come but is also laid back and knows how to have fun, the perfect fit for BRR really. We are very excited to have Maud on our panel and as an honorary member of Bent River.