Profs earn Juno nods

Posted on 10. Mar, 2010 by lwilks in A&E

Maegan McGregor
Andrew Sutherland
A&E Reporters

Humber is jazzed over all the nominations it has scored for Canada’s top music award, the Juno.
“It made me smile when I heard of all the Humber faculty nominated,” said Denny Christianson, director of the music program.
Seven jazz artists who teach at Humber – and one program graduate – are among those up for the awards to be handed out on April 17 in St. John’s, Nfld.
Those competing for best contemporary jazz album are: Hilario Durán, Mark Kelso and Roberto Occhipinti for Motion by the Hilario Durán Trio; Kirk MacDonald, Neil Swainson, Barry Romberg and David Virelles for Songbook Vol.1 by the Kirk MacDonald Quartet.
Guitarist Rik Emmett is vying for instrumental album of the year, for Trifecta.

In addition, “almost 30 other faculty members are nominated for their involvement in various albums for things like production,” said Christianson.
Durán, a Cuban-born pianist and composer, has previously won two Junos and been nominated three more times. But this is the first nod for the trio that was formed nearly a decade ago.
“We have been playing together for years, travelling all over the world,” he said. “We’re a great team.”
This is the third nomination for MacDonald, a saxophonist whose 1999 album, The Atlantic Sessions, won a Juno for best mainstream jazz album.
“It feels fantastic to be nominated for a Juno, especially because jazz music doesn’t have a visible Canadian industry,” said MacDonald, a woodwind professor at Humber.
His pianist, Virelles, came to Canada from Cuba when he was 15 and was awarded the first Oscar Peterson prize in the jazz program at Humber.
“The faculty at Humber is amazing and it is a great environment for young musicians,” said Virelles, who graduated in 2003 and now lives in New York.

Humber musicians have won at least 25 Junos from roughly 120 nominations, Christianson said.
“We have one of the most extraordinary faculties in the country,” he said. “We have almost an unfair advantage. Humber should be very proud.”