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Final Grade

by RJ Satchithananthan

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1.
Flat Top 06:45
2.
3.
Osoyoos 07:28
4.
Honey Badger 06:09
5.
6.
7.

about

About This Recording:

When it came time for me to take on my final recording project to complete my masters degree at the University of Toronto I realized that I faced some problems. The music I had written and performed earlier in my degree was too complex in scope and orchestration for me to able to record it with the limited funds and time I had available. More importantly, if I was going to take the time to make an album I wanted it to be something that represented the music I wanted to make free of any academic impositions. That meant going back to the recordings that inspired me to play and write jazz in the first place. One of the most influential jazz albums from my teenage years was Fingerpainting: The Music of Herbie Hancock by Nicholas Payton, Mark Whitfield and Christian McBride. Apart from the inventive re-imagining of Hancock's repertoire and the great playing the most important thing that I took from this album was my love of the “drumless” trio format. Over the years this has become my favorite type of band to play jazz in for the simple fact that the absence of the drums leaves a brass player with much more dynamic and tonal space to work with. When it came time to write for this new band I took my lead from this record and based 4 of the 7 compositions on the arrangements from it. “Flat Top” is based on the bluesy swing of “Driftin'”, “Osoyoos” on the feel and form of “Speak Like a Child”, “Honey Badger” on the deconstructed funk of “Chameleon” and “November Spring” on the ballad “The Kiss”. The remaining tunes were all arranged with the trio in mind. “Last Minute Waltz” as a feature for Harley on Guitar and as a counterpoint to all of the 4/4 going on! “Everything to You” as a Lennie Tristano type head on the standard “You're My Everything” allowing the band to stretch out on a faster tempo. Finally the Scottish traditional song “Wild Mountain Thyme” is included to represent the musical education I received from touring with ledgendary folk singer-songwriter Dick Gaughan in the weeks before this recording was made. All in all, it was a pleasure making this album and it wouldn't have been possible without the talent and hard work of everyone involved. Dan Fortin for “driving the bus” and keeping the band moving forward without the help of a drummer, Harley Card for being able to make a trio sound like a quintet through his orchestral use of the guitar and Patric McGroarty for making everything sound fantastic in very short time!

- RJ Satchithananthan, September 2011

credits

released September 15, 2011

RJ Satchithananthan - Trombone
Dan Fortin - Bass
Harley Card - Guitar

Recorded Mixed and Produced by Patric McGroarty
All compositions by RJ Satchithananthan except for Track 7 (Traditional)

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RJ Satchithananthan Toronto, Ontario

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