FERN
LINDZON
FEATURING
COLLEEN ALLEN - ETHAN ARDELLI
GEORGE KOLLER
PRESENTS
"PEER
TO PEER"
During the 1930s, Edward
Kennedy "Duke" Ellington became intrigued with
the possibilities
of composing jazz within classical forms. Not unlike a few of his contemporaries
from the 1920s and on - George Gershwin being the most notable - Ellington and
his collaborator, Billy Strayhorn, explored composing and orchestrating large-scale
works that challenged his own muse and the talents of the members of his orchestra.
His musical suite Black, Brown and Beige (1943), a portrayal of African-American
history, was the first in a series of suites he composed, usually consisting of
pieces linked by subject matter. It was followed by, among others, Liberian
Suite (1947); A Drum Is a Woman (1956), created for a television production;
Such Sweet Thunder (1957), impressions of William Shakespeare’s
scenes and
characters at the Stratford Festival in Ontario; a re-composed,
re-orchestrated
version of The Nutcracker Suite (1960; after Peter
Tchaikovsky); and similarily the The Peer Gynt Suites Nos. 1 and 2 (1960,
after Edvard Greig); Night Creature, included on The Symphonic Ellington
recording (1963); Far East Suite (1964); Togo Brava Suite (1971)
and Afro-Eurasian Eclipse (1971) which is widely regarded as a late-period
masterpiece. Ellington’s symphonic A Rhapsody of Negro Life was the
basis for the film short Symphony in Black (1935), which also features the voice
of Billie Holiday (uncredited). Ellington wrote motion-picture scores for
The Asphalt Jungle (1950) and Anatomy of a Murder (1959) and composed for the
ballet and theatre - including, at the height of the Civil Rights Movement,
the show My People (1964), a celebration of African-American life. In his last
decade he composed
three pieces of sacred music: In the Beginning God
(1965), Second Sacred
Concert (1968), and Third Sacred Concert (1973).
The
engaging and vivacious Fern Lindzon and her quartet perform two
Ellington
/ Strayhorn suites
which have been re-scaled for small ensemble.
A post-performance talk-back
with the artists is encouraged.
_____________
FERN
LINDZON
"An excellent
singer and pianist based in Toronto ...."
The Jazz Singers: the Ultimate
Guide - Scott Yanow
"Fern Lindzon
is an engaging pianist and singer who brings an unassuming
authority, an inquiring
spirit and a natural grace to contemporary jazz."
Mark Miller - Jazz
Writer and Critic
Fern Lindzon studied music
history at the University of Toronto where she received a Bachelor of Music degree.
She pursued her studies in jazz with such notable educators as Frank Falco, Elaine
Overholt, Don Thomson, Fred Hersch and the legendary Barry Harris. A regular performer
in the music scene in Southern Ontario, Lindzon also has three critically acclaimed
recordings to her credit.
"Moments Like
These" received major radio airplay and
was in the Top 10 of
HMV's Jazz chart for several months.
Her JUNO-nominated recording, "Two
Kites", has received
high praise and was supported in its debut by the
TD Downtown Toronto Jazz Festival.
Lindzon's
most recent opus, "Like a Circle in a Spiral", has
been praised
by Shelley Gummeson in !earshot, where she suggested that Fern “personifies
a woman who lives confidently with her own instincts and artistry”, and lauded
her interpretations as “smart and smouldering” and “sublimely elegant.”
Musical
collaborator and brilliant bassist, George Koller, in commenting
on working
and performing with Lindzon, has said, "Fern is gifted with a delightful,
inquisitive and persistent imagination, the fruits of which manifest as highly
original impressionistic arrangements and compositions."
_____________
