WJO CD DETAILS
VOICES - A MUSICAL HERITAGEis the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra’s sixth release since their inception in 1997. This album is a collection of commissions from eight jazz composers meant to reflect some of Manitoba’s musical heritage: First Nations, Métis, Ukrainian, Jewish, Chilean, Brazilian, Nigerian and Icelandic.
Beginning with The Parallel Steppes, John Stetch’s creative three-movement suite reimagines Ukrainian folk songs using chorale textures, fugue-like sections and exciting up-tempo swings. Throughout the album, the WJO weaves its way through the imaginations of each composer: an homage to Victor Jara in Rodrigo Muñoz’s Homenaje, an exploration of the ancient pentatonic scale in Jeff Presslaff’s The Living Mind, a celebration of community with Henry Onwuchekwa’s Oriri, sweeping, icy landscapes and folk music in Richard Gillis’s Shadows, Marco Castillo’s plea for protecting our Earth in Choro para Amazônia, the magical northern skies in Andrew Belfour’s Ishpiming, and the driving, relentless pursuit of Michelle Gregoire’s The Bison Hunt.

Voices - Release date: December 9, 2022

  Voices - A Musical Heritage
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The Parallel Steppes / John Stetch
1. Keeyn ………………………….................................................………………...…… 7:27
2. Ochka ……………………………...............................................………..………… 3:00
3. Yaseni ………………………………….................................................…………… 7:30
Homenaje / Rodrigo Muñoz ………………........................…………… 7:44
The Living Mind / Jeff Presslaff …………………...................……… 7:03
Oriri / Henry Onwuchekwa (arr. Richard Gillis) ………… 5:41
Shadows / Richard Gillis ………………………….........................……… 7:33
Choro para Amazônia / Marco Castillo ………….............…… 6:08
 Ishpiming / Andrew Balfour (arr. Richard Gillis) ……… 5:03
The Bison Hunt / Michelle Gregoire ……………....................…… 6:32

SOLOISTS
​The Parallel Steppes: Keeyn (solos: Will Bonness, piano; Larry Roy, guitar; Richard Gillis, flugelhorn);
Yaseni (solos: Will Bonness, piano; Niall Cade, tenor sax)
Homenaje (solos: Larry Roy, guitar)
The Living Mind (solos: Will Bonness, piano; Jeff Presslaff, trombone)
Oriri (solos: Neil Watson, soprano sax; Niall Cade, tenor sax; Will Bonness, piano)
Shadows (solos: Paul Balcain, tenor sax; Joel Green, trombone; Neil Watson, soprano sax; Richard Gillis, flugelhorn)
Choro para Amazônia (solos: Will Bonness, piano; Andrew Littleford, trumpet; Joel Green, trombone)
Ishpiming (solos: Karl Kohut, bass; Andrew Littleford, trumpet; Niall Cade, tenor sax; Joel Green, trombone)
The Bison Hunt (solos: Neil Watson, alto sax)
​ALBUM  PERSONNEL. († SOLOISTS)

Neil Watson / alto saxophone (The Bison Hunt†), soprano saxophone (Oriri,†Shadows†)
Sean Irvine / alto saxophone (The Parallel Steppes, Shadows, Homenaje, The Living Mind)
Connor Derraugh / alto saxophone (The Bison Hunt, Ishpiming, Oriri, Choro)
Paul Balcain / tenor saxophone (The Parallel Steppes, Shadows,† Homenaje, The Living Mind)
Niall Cade / tenor saxophone (Yaseni,†Oriri,† Ishpiming†)
Monica Jones / tenor saxophone (The Bison Hunt, Ishpiming, Oriri, Choro)
Lauren Teterenko / baritone saxophone (The Parallel Steppes, Shadows, Homenaje, The Living Mind)
Kyle Wedlake / baritone saxophone (The Parallel Steppes, The Bison Hunt, Ishpiming, Oriri, Choro)
Shane Hicks / lead trumpet; flugelhorn
Andrew Littleford / trumpet (Choro,† Ishpiming†); flugelhorn
Matthew Walden / trumpet; flugelhorn
Richard Gillis / conductor; trumpet; flugelhorn (Keeyn,† Shadows†)
Joel Green / trombone (Shadows,† Choro,† Ishpiming†)
Francois Godere / trombone
Jeffrey Acosta / trombone (The Bison Hunt, Ishpiming, Oriri, Choro)
Jeff Presslaff / trombone (The Living Mind†)
Isabelle Lavoie / bass trombone
Will Bonness / piano (Keeyn,† Yaseni,† The Living Mind,† Oriri,† Choro†)
Larry Roy / guitar (Keeyn,† Oriri, Homenaje,† Shadows)
Gilles Fournier / bass (The Parallel Steppes, Shadows, Homenaje, The Living Mind)
Karl Kohut / bass (The Bison Hunt, Ishpiming,† Choro)
Fabio Ragnelli / drums
Victoria Sparks / percussion (Shadows)
Marco Castillo / guitar, percussion (Choro); percussion (Oriri)
Henry Onwuchekwa / bass, percussion, guitar (Oriri)
Rodrigo Muñoz / congas, cajón (Homenaje)
​This project was made possible by The Canada Council for the Arts, along with additional support from the SOCAN Foundation, the Shevchenko Foundation, Manitoba Arts Council and Winnipeg Arts Council.
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We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts

Reviews:

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February 8th , 2023

No matter where in the world one looks, there is musical history worth exploring and celebrating—which is what the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra sets out to affirm on its sixth album, Voices: A Musical Heritage. Winnipeg is the capital of Canada's Manitoba
Province, and Voices pays tribute to the area's rich and expansive musical fabric via a series of eight compositions designed to exemplify some of Manitoba's far-flung heritage: First Nations, Metis, Ukrainian, Jewish, Chilean, Brazilian, Nigerian and
Icelandic.
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As with any album based on enduring themes, it is best to separate purpose from result and appraise the music on it own merits. In that respect, the WJO performs brilliantly, with no nuance or accent overlooked or undervalued. In other words, the ensemble is fully invested in the enterprise from the outset and plays with awareness and passion. Unison passages—even the most demanding—are easily mastered, while soloists are ready and able to add contrast and color when needed. Soloists' names are not given, which is the album's lone miscue.

As for the music, it spans the gamut from singular to swing, always with an impressive discernment of its own. The session opens on a Ukrainian motif with "Keeyn," the first movement of John Stetch's three-part Parallel Steppes suite, based on the Ukrainian folk song "Chorni Ochka Yak Teren," whose contrapuntal and chorale-like formats lead to the enchanting "Ochka," based on a second folk theme, and the dynamic up-tempo "Yaseni" (or Yaseny), whose sax soli, virtuosic piano discourses and hopak and kolomiyka rhythms bring the suite to a close.

Rodrigo Munoz' "Homenaje" which uses delightful Latin rhythms including the Chilean cueca to make its point, was written as an homage to the important Latin American musician and activist Victor Jara, Jeff Presslaff's "The Living Mind" as a paean to the pentatonic scale, developed in ancient civilizations and still used in various musical settings to this day. Henry Onwuchekwa composed and Richard Gillis arranged the colorful and light-hearted "Oriri," which means "party" in Onwuchekwa's hometown
in Nigeria, a marked contrast to the austere landscape painted in Gillis' Icelandic "Shadows," which follows. The orchestra nails each one, as it does Marco Castillo's luminous salute to the Amazon rain forest, "Choro para Amazonia"; Andrew Balfour's tantalizing bow to the Ojibway culture, "Ishpiming"; and Michelle Gregoire's ardent "Bison Hunt," the album's closest
brush with mainstream contemporary jazz. But jazz isn't the essential point here; reverence is. The WJO is honoring Manitoba's vast musical narrative and doing so as tastefully and proficiently as it can. Mission accomplished. And if you'd like to sample
another superb album in the same vein, check out the Saskatchewan All-Star Big Band's Saskatchewan Suite (Chronograph Records 094).

★★★★1/2

Jack Bowers

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