Imagine discovering 50 lost Beatles recordings, or the manuscript for Beethoven’s tenth symphony, and you’ll understand why jazz lovers are buzzing over composer-arranger Ryan Truesdell’s album Centennial: Newly Discovered Works of Gil Evans.
In celebration of the centennial of Gil Evans’ birth, Humber’s renowned music department is hosting Truesdell as a composer/arranger-in-residence from October 18-19, culminating in a performance at 8:00 pm October 19, in the Lakeshore Auditorium (3199 Lake Shore Blvd. West).
The concert, which will feature the Humber Faculty Jazz Orchestra, will highlight previously unknown works from Centennial as well as more familiar pieces from Evans’ now-iconic albums with Miles Davis, including Miles Ahead, Sketches of Spain, and Porgy and Bess.
The legacy of Toronto-born composer, pianist, and arranger goes far beyond his legendary early collaborations with Miles Davis. From big band to bebop to the cool jazz of the late 1950s and beyond, Evans was a central figure to the evolution of modern jazz throughout his decades-long career up to his death in 1988.
Working with Evans’ family and collaborators, Truesdell discovered almost 50 unpublished, unrecorded sketches, compositions and arrangements, and published a selection of these works on Centennial.
“Gil Evans was one of the most influential jazz arrangers and composers of the 20th century,” says Denny Christianson, director of Humber’s music programs. “His landmark work with Miles Davis is credited with changing the course of jazz, nudging it into an adventurous and abstract beauty which had not been heard before, intriguing both listeners and professional musicians for decades to come.”
For more information, please call 416-675-6622 ex. 3427.
