59 King Street North
Waterloo, ON N2J
Canada
Motivic composition and soloing
Motivic manipulation is an essential tool for any improvising musician. Join baritone saxophonist and educator Shirantha Beddage as he uses his own compositions to demonstrate this technique. Bring your instrument and play along!
We will be looking at these pieces at the workshop:
This Saturday afternoon workshop will include a lecture/demo component geared to complement the evening show. In addition to the insights and examples of technique, participants have an opportunity to play along with the visiting professionals leading the workshops! The grand finale is a raffle for a one-hour Skype lesson with the leader of the workshop valued at $100!
About our featured clinician:
JUNO-nominated and Galaxie award-winning musician Shirantha Beddage is a saxophonist, composer and educator from Toronto, Canada. Drawing inspiration from jazz greats such as John Coltrane, Pepper Adams and Thelonious Monk, he is being hailed by critics as a fresh and powerful voice on the baritone saxophone.
His new CD, Identity (Addo Records, 2012) was nominated for Traditional Jazz Album of the Year at the 2013 JUNO Awards. Shirantha also earned the 2013 Galaxie Rising Star Award at the Montreal Jazz Festival for his compositions “Baker’s Dozen” and “Winds of Change”, both from Identity. The album features musicians from Toronto and New York, including Dave Restivo (piano), Nathan Eklund (trumpet), Mike Downes (bass), Mark Kelso and Larnell Lewis (drums). Shirantha’s debut album,Roots and Branches, was released internationally by Jazz Excursion Records in 2007. In addition to his own groups, Shirantha currently performs and records with the Nancy Walker Quintet, the Mike Downes “In The Current” Ensemble and Bruce Cassidy’s Hotfoot Orchestra. He is also the Director of Theory and Harmony at Toronto’s Humber College music program, where he teaches Music Theory, Pedagogy and Big Band.
Shirantha is a Yamaha saxophone artist and performs on the YBS-62.
