Bird & Duke

I've got a couple of really exciting gigs coming up this weekend and accordingly, some music to share today.

On Friday night I'll be performing with Canadian Jazz icon and alto saxophonist PJ Perry in Edmonton at Festival Place. The concert is billed as a tribute to the music of Charlie Parker and I expect that PJ will be in his element and firing on all cylinders as per usual.

Here's a rare clip of Bird that I found featuring him on the bebop standard Donna Lee, trading with a tap dancer:



After my hit in Edmonton I'll be heading to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan to perform with the Saskatoon Jazz Orchestra under the direction of trumpeter Professor Dean McNeill. We'll be presenting a lot of music spanning Duke Ellington's career but most notably his epic work "Such Sweet Thunder".

The concert also features Toronto pianist Jeff McLeod and we'll be playing a few of Duke's rare piano trio numbers, including this one:




Now THAT is some seriously groovy music...