[Halifax] Ranging from spiritual to jazz, to hip-hop and soul, Nova Scotia has a rich heritage of African-Nova Scotian music. This year, TD Halifax Jazz Festival celebrates this musical legacy, presenting a variety of FREE Jazz Labs events that draw inspiration from the unique experience of the African-Nova Scotian community. Presented throughout the month of February - African Heritage Month - this exciting series of Jazz Labs includes a concert with JR Smith Quartet, film screening of Chasing Trane, and music workshop with Youth Art Connections and musicians Owen Lee and Shawn Downey, for youth who are interested in hip-hop, spoken-word and other forms of open lyricism
The TD Halifax Jazz Festival celebration of African Heritage Month begins February 1st, 2018 with the JR Smith Quartet, performing from 7 to 8pm at Halifax North Memorial Library, 2285 Gottingen Street. The JR Smith Quartet is JR Smith- Drums, Luke Arsenault- Guitar, Silvio Pupo- Keyboard, Matt Maclennan- Bass. Rising from the deep African-Nova Scotian tradition of musical excellence, JR Smith hails from the historic community of North Preston. He is a drummer, composer/multi-instrumentalist who attracts instant attention. The ease in which he plays, coupled with his shy demeanor, belies his youth and disguises his dangerously smooth arsenal of creativity. Smith has opened for Aretha Franklin, Anderson .Paak, Robert Glasper, Alex Cuba, and Lisa Fischer -- meeting audience expectations with performances full of genuine emotion and technical fluency. Enriched with studies at St. Francis Xavier and Humber College, JR Smith is primarily self-made and community built. This highly original freelance musician has returned to his roots to continue playing with local talents Reeny Smith, Carson Downey, Cyndi Cain, Chelsea Amber, Harvey Miller, the Sanctified Brothers, Nova Scotia Mass Choir, Dutch Robinson, Gary Beals, Owen Lee, Augusto Enrique, Jeff Goodspeed, Jorge Chicoy, The Lee Boys, Mike Cowie, David Myles, Silvio Pupo, Saint Thomas Baptist Church, and many more. On Saturday, February 10th, 2018 at 2pm, at the Halifax Central Library, Spring Garden Road, Halifax Jazz Festival Jazz Lab will present a screening of the documentary film, Chasing Trane. Chasing Trane is the definitive documentary film about John Coltrane, an outside-the-box thinker with extraordinary talent whose boundary-shattering music continues to impact and influence people around the world. This smart, passionate, thought-provoking and uplifting documentary is for anyone who appreciates the power of music to entertain, inspire and transform. Set against the social, political and cultural landscape of the times, Chasing Trane brings John Coltrane to life as a fully dimensional being, inviting the audience to engage with Coltrane the man, Coltrane the artist. On February 24th, 2018 from 2 to 4pm, The TD Halifax Jazz Festival & Youth Art Connection present JAZZ//LYRICISM//IMPROV Jazz Lab at The Bridge Collaborative Space: 5553 Bloomfield St, Halifax. Open to youth 15-25. This afternoon workshop, targets youth who are interested in hip-hop, spoken-word and other forms of open lyricism. The goal of this workshop is to introduce attendees to the concept of playing with live instrumentation. Many youth have not had the opportunity to work with a group instrumentalists, instead using pre-produced tracks (an amazing format itself). There is huge amount of interaction and creative freedom that can come from playing with live musicians! The first half of the program will have musician Owen Lee and Shawn Downey working with experienced hip hop and spoken-word youth art from Youth Art Connection going through the building blocks of live performance, while the second hour will be open to workshop attendees to try out their own material with a live band! Jazz Labs are FREE and for the entire family, offering a behind the scenes look at making music that includes artist talks, master classes, and interactive concerts. Jazz Labs are part of Halifax Jazz Festival’s Music Education Program. Beyond sharing the relevance of jazz in today’s world, the Jazz Festival provides opportunities for artistic development and music education. Halifax Jazz Festival’s music education mission includes Jazz Labs, the Creative Music Workshop and Splash! Bang! Boom! on Theodore Tugboat. The centerpiece of the Jazz Festival’s music education program is the Creative Music Workshop (CMW). The "CMW Core Program" offers artists of all disciplines and skill levels, aged 15 years or older, the knowledge and experience required to take their artistic practice to the next level. The program passes on knowledge not only about what it means to be a musician, dancer, etc., but what it means to be a creative person. In addition to learning the fundamentals of the CMW Creative Process, students play with each other for up to eight hours a day and receive intensive instruction from a renowned faculty as well as performance opportunities at the TD Halifax Jazz Festival. For more information visit www.halifaxjazzfestival.ca Support Halifax Jazz Festival’s Music Education Program here: http://www.halifaxjazzfestival.ca/donate/ ABOUT THE HALIFAX JAZZ FESTIVAL: Since 1987 the Halifax Jazz Festival, a non-profit organization, has presented a diverse range of musical and educational activities including the 2018 TD Halifax Jazz Festival, July 11 through 15. Follow Halifax Jazz Festival on Facebook and Twitter @HFXJazzFest
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