Ottawa (Monday, June 15, 2015) — Most festivals by their very nature must cater to broad audiences, but the TD Ottawa Jazz Festival takes great pride in programming with true jazz aficionados in mind. The Studio Series is the connoisseur’s festival within the Festival, anchored by stars like The Stanley Clarke Band and the KennyWerner Trio; the just announced Antonio Sánchez, composer/drummer behind the Academy Award-winning film Birdman’s innovative score; “The King of South African Jazz” Abdullah Ibrahim; two performances by acclaimed Canadian pianist Renee Rosnes; ferocious Norwegian free jazz big band Paal Nilssen-Love Large Unit, and many more. In terms of acoustics the National Arts Centre’s Studio offers perhaps the best performance space in the city, making it an ideal venue for those who wish to experience the genre’s most respected performers the way they should be heard. A brief biography of bassist Stanley Clarke’s career is virtually a tour of the evolution of jazz since the ‘70s. After honing his skills through stints with bandleaders such as Art Blakey, Dave Brubeck and Pharaoh Sanders, at age 20 he became a founding member of the seminal jazz fusion band Return to Forever. He also released a series of ground-breaking solo LPs, such as School Days (1976), and his recent The Stanley Clarke Band LP took home a 2010 Grammy. Noted for “his dazzling, rapid patterns and a highly influential slapping technique” (AllMusic), Stanley Clarke is among a handful of definitive jazz bassists of his era. Pianist Kenny Werner is one of the most respected musicians, composers and music educators of his generation. His 1996 masterwork, Effortless Mastery: Liberating the Master Musician Within, is widely viewed as a ground-breaking guide to improvisation, composition and performance. In 2010, Werner received a Guggenheim Fellowship for another major work, No Beginning, No End, which explores tragedy, loss, death and transition. His Trio, together since 2000, have that uncanny air of being one mind in three bodies, presenting a graceful fusion of the improvisational freshness of jazz with the elegance and complexity of the classical repertoire. This year’s TD Ottawa Jazz Festival runs from June 18 – July 1st in a variety of venues throughout Ottawa’s downtown core. All Studio Series shows can be accessed with a Festival Pass, and tickets to individual shows can be purchased online.
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