WJO CD DETAILS

A COMMON PLACE FANFARE  builds on the middle notes of the opening phrase of O Canada and represents a wish and an audacious hope that our country will continue to work towards finding a common place of mutual respect and understanding. - Dean McNeill (Saskatoon)
​FROM FAR AND WIDE  takes melodic elements from Oh Canada to create a new song dedicated to the transformative vitality of Canada's various communities. - Richard Gillis (Winnipeg)
WENEN (WHO)  is an Indigenous perspective of this very ancient land. The idea is of a very young country and the ancient voice of this land trying to recognize each other. - Andrew Balfour (Winnipeg)
WAVES  The overriding image of living on the west coast is water:
Vancouver = water = waves = jazz. - Fred Stride (Vancouver)
ONTARIO'S MEMORIES  is an expression of Canada's great multicultural heritage and the Afro-Cuban and Latin Jazz art forms.
- Hilario Duran (Toronto) ​

Suite 150 - A Big Band Portrait
​- WJO

In commemoration of Canada’s 150th anniversary, the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra commissioned eleven Canadian big band jazz composers to write music reflecting some aspect of Canada or being Canadian.
The completed eleven-movement suite was recorded at the premiere by the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra at the Winnipeg Art Gallery on November 19, 2017.
HERE: 49 52' 34" N 97 8' 42" W  is a musical calendar that tracks the lengthening days from winter solstice to summer solstice and back again; each beat is a day; each month has
​a different tonal centre; each week is marked by a rhythmic accent. - Jeff Presslaff (Winnipeg)
THE MORE YOU KNOW  is all about the prairies. The melody moves back and forth between various sections of the big band much like the way wheat moves back and forth in the wind. - Ron Paley (Winnipeg)
IN PARADISUM  honours those who have given their lives serving Canada and helping people throughout the world. The rhythmic feel of the music acknowledges the infantry regiment known as 'The Winnipeg Grenadiers', active from 1908-1965. - David Braid (Toronto)
CIRRUS  on the prairies, with no buildings or trees blocking the view, one is struck by the immensity of the blue sky we all share, and how disproportionately small we are beneath it. - Earl MacDonald (Connecticut)
MAPLE  is a symbol of our mosaic of cultural diversity,
with colours moving forward through the seasons.
- Christine Jensen (Montreal)
LA NOUVELLE NATION  is dedicated to Louis Riel and the Metis people who were committed to preserving their unique way of life. - Michelle Gregoire (Calgary)