Guitarist and composer Myk Freedman's little big band, a salon orchestra that's both entertaining and remarkably sophisticated, a playground of styles and ideas.
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Sample The Album:
Wes Cheang-acoustic guitar
Ryan Driver-analog synthesizer
Myk Freedman-lap steel
Tania Gill-piano, melodica
Julia Hambleton-clarinet
Kai Koschmider-alto saxophone
Jake Oelrichs-drums, glockenspiel
Mike Overton-bass
Evan Shaw-alto saxophone
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UPC: 777320149329
Label: Barnyard
Catalog ID: BR0309
Squidco Product Code: 12095
Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2009
Country: Canada
Packaging: Digipack
Recorded July 12, 2008, Canterbury Studio with Jeremy Darby and J. Martin, mixed and mastered by J. Martin at The Farm, Toronto ON Canada.
"St. Dirt Elementary School is a little big band; it's a salon orchestra; it's a cabaret pitband; it's a New School concert band half-remembering old school psychedelics in a district West of Weimar and North of San Antonio. It is both public and private. It can swing like a Kollektief or shamble like a seaside sinfonia. St. Dirt Elementary School plays compositions: rubberband exotica, bouncing like bamboo windchimes dangling from the hood of a springloaded pram."-Barnyard Records
"This disc of instrumental tunes by composer and guitarist Myk Freedman describes a world of charmed invention and serious fun. The nine players (including Freedman on soulful lap steel, and several stars from Toronto's blooming improvised music scene) amble skillfully from the suave and silly title track, to outtakes from a dream of Weimar cabaret life, to episodes of genial beboppery and casually eloquent improvisation. The playground and the clown's red nose are never far off, but there's also a strain of sweet melancholy running through this music, typified by the ambiguously titled My Future's in the Air . This brainy, highly entertaining disc is made for people who like their crackerjack pleasures to contain surprises, and is a good reminder that the verb "play" is jointly owned by children and musicians."-Glen Hall, Destination Out
Artist Biographies
• Show Bio for Tania Gill "Toronto-based pianist and composer Tania Gill has spent over twenty years cultivating a singular but polymorphous musical approach. She has developed a distinctive improvisational language in jazz and improvised music, and has played in ensembles such as the Brodie West Quintet, Rebecca Hennessy's FOG, See Through Trio, and the Titillators. She has also performed and recorded alongside Anthony Braxton, Kenny Wheeler, Joe Morris, Jean Derome, and Nick Fraser. Her own group, the Tania Gill Quartet, comprises leading Canadian musicians Lina Allemano (trumpet), Rob Clutton (bass), and Nico Dann (drums). Their acclaimed disc Bolger Station (2010, Barnyard Records), was nominated for best debut album in the Village Voice jazz critics' poll and was included among the Globe and Mail's top ten albums of the year. The follow-up, Disappearing Curiosities, launches in March 2022. Gill's unconventional versatility keeps her engaged in an eclectic array of styles. She was a member of Deep Dark United and the Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band, and is a regular collaborator to vocalist Fides Krucker, and singer-songwriter Kyp Harness. She has also shared the stage with Steve Reich, Chris Whitely, Man Forever, Gord Downie, Mary Margaret O'Hara, the Weather Station, Hector del Curto, Margaret Atwood, and Charles Spearin's Happiness Project. She is also supportive and dedicated educator and currently teaches at Humber College and University of Toronto, in addition to her roster of private students." ^ Hide Bio for Tania Gill
11/20/2024
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Track Listing:
1. Ice Cream Man Dreams 3:10
2. Clicking with the Clique 4:52
3. My Future's in the Air 4:34
4. He Looks Just Like Her (and she thinks he's beautiful) 3:41
5. Riverbank Manager 3:53
6. Bear Wrestler 4:48
7. Unnameable Dance 2:52
8. Sparrow 2:35
9. My Children's Song 3:51
10. I am Trapped on a Ship that has Already Sunk 5:34
11. To Whistled in the Rainforest 3:33
12. Poppy 4:10
13. Murder Ballad 4:36
14. She's Not my Girlfriend (my girlfriend's normal) 4:29
Improvised Music
Jazz
Toronto Area Improvisation
Canadian Composition & Improvisation
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