Tara Davidson Group March 3rd 2011

Tara Davidson Group
Petro-Canada Hall, 8pm
Admission: Regular $23, Student $15
Buy Tickets (on sale online until 4pm March 3rd. Tickets will be available at the door)

Wreckhouse Jazz & Blues is proud to present Tara Davidson Group at Petro-Canada Hall on March 3rd. JUNO Nominated Tara Davidson is releasing her highly anticipated new album ‘View’ and embarks on a cross country tour beginning here in St. John’s.

The Tour

In March 2011 alto and soprano saxophonist, Tara Davidson, begins a 10-day, cross-Canada tour with her quartet to promote her new CD, “View”.  “View” is Davidson’s third CD as a leader and is her follow-up recording to her 2008 Juno-nominated CD, “Code Breaking”.  Recorded in August 2010 and funded by the Ontario Arts Council, “View” includes all original compositions by Davidson and a new, dynamic band featuring Jamie Reynolds (piano), Jon Maharaj (bass), Fabio Ragnelli (drums), and special guest (on CD only) Trevor Hogg (tenor saxophone).  The spring tour, also funded through the generous support of the Ontario Arts Council, will feature performances and clinics at some of Canada’s finest live music venues and universities as well as a CBC Radio live recording.

Tara’s Bio

Tara Davidson has performed in over a dozen countries at such prestigious venues as New York City’s Carnegie Hall, the acclaimed North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands, the International Jazz Festival in Lima, Peru, and The Kennedy Center, in Washington, D.C.  A graduate of U of T’s Jazz Performance program, Davidson has been a “Sister In Jazz”, received an “Emerging Artist Award”, produced three recordings as leader, two as a co-leader, received a Juno  nomination, and performed on over a dozen recordings as a side person.

Davidson’s sophomore CD, Code Breaking, was released in the fall of 2006 and featured Juno award winners, Mike Murley and David Braid.  The 2008 Juno Awards nominated Code Breaking for “Traditional Jazz Album of the Year”. In February 2011, Davidson released her third disc, “View”.  “View” demonstrates the evolution in Davidson’s composing and playing and features new, vibrant personnel.

Davidson toured nationally as a special guest with the Murley/Braid Quartet in fall 2006.  Following the success of the tour, Davidson officially joined the group as a co-leader with Murley and pianist David Braid to form the Davidson/Murley/Braid Quintet (DMBQ). The group released their debut CD, DMBQ Live, in January 2008 and toured officially as DMBQ in the summer and fall of 2008 to rave reviews.  The group has been billed as “the best contemporary mainstream jazz group in the country” and was nominated for best “Acoustic Band of The Year” by Canada’s 2009 National Jazz Awards.

The European Broadcasting Union singled Davidson out in April 2008 to represent Canada as the lead alto/soprano saxophonist in the European Jazz Orchestra’s 3-week 2008 European tour.  The group spent three weeks traveling and performing across Denmark, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.  Over the course of the three-week tour, the band recorded several times for the legendary WDR and an official recording was released in mid-2009.

In May 2008, Davidson once again represented Canada as one of five North American finalists selected for the Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival’s Women In Jazz Saxophone Competition.

Davidson’s most significant musical influence has been saxophonist Mike Murley with whom she studied for five years. She is a graduate of the prestigious University of Toronto Jazz Performance Program where she studied with other prominent Canadian musicians such as Phil Nimmons, Paul Read, Alex Dean, and Kirk MacDonald.

In Fall 2010 Davidson became a member of the faculty at York University in Toronto, ON.