The Toronto Sun n Friday, September 2, 2011

SHOWBIZ

63

HeavyWeIgHtS BraSS

Jazz gets kick in brass

Heavyweights band puts the fun in funky to connect with fans
of jazz music, but unfortunately it seems to be disappearing through the classicization of the music. The only thing were serious about is musical quality so weve put a lot of thought in our tune selection and arrangement of pop tunes, he continues. Remember, its part of the jazz tradition to interpret the popular music of the day. Butcher feels that putting the fun in funky is helping them connect with jazz fans, and especially with people who dont consider themselves hardcore aficionados. You can hear Butcher, Jon Challoner, Paul Metcalfe, Rob Teehan and Lowell Whitty when they play Harbourfront tonight. Given how few brass bands are blowing their hearts out, especially in these parts, its hard not to lump the Heavyweights in the same group as the Dirty Dozen Brass Band or The last thing jazz needs is another band of suits who take themselves too seriously. Im not faulting folks who are respectful of the jazz tradition and who are familiar with the history of the music. Im referring to those whod make a fetish of the musics past and who criticize any musician who dares to take jazz in a direction they feel corrupts the genre. Heavyweights Brass Band comprises a bunch of heavyweight musicians and, thankfully, theyre not humourless. Look who the funky five cover on their auspicious debut CD, Dont Bring Me Down: Justin Bieber, Michael Jackson, and even Beyonce for crying out loud! Humour is a huge part of the human experience and we throw that into what we do, trombonist Chris Butcher says. To me, humour and having fun is one of the defining elements

Rhythms N Rhymes

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errol

the Rebirth Brass Band. The band take that as a compliment, but theyre not comfy just preserving or reviving what came before them. I believe were growing into a very original and very Torontonian spin-off of that tradition, Butcher says. We have a Cuban sonero/rapper on a track, a blues diva on a dirty shuffle, Justin Bieber, Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga mashups, and jazz improvisation. The way these elements are converging, it could only happen in Toronto, he says. All of us are taking our experiences of playing in an extremely diverse number of settings and throwing them into this mix . Instead of

being a copy of one of those great bands, we have our own voice and its the reflection of our experiences in this city, the Canadian cultural mosaic. Butcher is convinced that something special is happening here, not unlike what happened in New Orleans more than a hundred years ago. People from all over the world are meeting and new blends are being created. Its all around us right now, he says. If theres another factor that sets this lot apart from other horn-heavy outfits, its the inclusion of a sousaphone player. Named after John Philip Sousa, the instrument is a type of tuba that played the role of bass in a marching band. Rob is a highly skilled classical tuba player who made the switch to the sousaphone and is certainly this countrys leading exponent on the instrument, Butcher says.

He has the chops, the musicality and a great feel for playing bass lines. You can imagine how challenging it must be to not only blow bass lines, but to play in a band where everyones playing a lot of the time. This isnt like a symphonic orchestra, where you spend most of your time counting rests, or a small jazz ensemble where you stand around while everyone else takes chorus after chorus, or a salsa band where you dance for half the tune until the mambo comes in, Butcher says. This is music where all the harmonic, rhythmic and m e l o d i c mat e r i a l c o m e s from four horn players, so its very demanding. The Heavyweights is a tongue-in-cheek name, but it speaks to the strength of all the players. NOTE: Heavyweights Brass Band play the West Jet stage at Harbourfront Centre at 9:30 p.m. tonight. Free.

hear thIS!
Errols cant miss list

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Hip-Hop Karaoke at Yonge-Dundas Square tonight should be a riot. 8 p.m. Free. k-os and Reema Major rock the CNE Bandshell tonight. Free with admission to the CNE. Danny Marks, Alex Pangman, Terra Hazelton and Hotcha! are just some of the folks playing the sixth annual Patsy Cline Birthday Show at Lula Lounge Thursday. 8:30 p.m. $15.