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GERRY HEBERT
Sunday, November 30
Mount Royal College
You could say jazz saxophonist Gerry Hebert is driven. How else would you describe someone who, after breaking his right arm, hacked off a part of his cast so he could play in the Calgary jazz festival?
"My wife has always been happy to tell the story of how I had the cast for three days and then I took a knife to it and cut it all to pieces so I could get my fingers to work ," he says laughing, "I had to learn a few new approaches to the horn, to the keys I couldn’t use."
That accident some years ago may have challenged Hebert to play and think differently about his music but that attitude has been a trademark of his for a long time. It started with Gerry’s early classical training, numerous Banff Centre residencies and a career that has taken him across Canada, the United States and Europe. Hebert is also one of the founding members of the Swinging Bovines, a group that propelled him into improvisation and shaped his jazz future.
"You just don’t like to do it (improvising) half way, so I started to study the technique of improvising and I’m still very much in that process," he says. "I feel like I’ve developed a style I’m comfortable with and I want to continue to push and offer something different."
There’s no doubt that Hebert continues to push and he remains one of the strongest voices in Calgary’s jazz community. Set to release his first solo CD, he and fellow musicians Ralf Buschmeyer, Kodi Hutchinson, Eric Boseman and guests Johnny Summers and Dave Reid, have created a unique musical experience. The Beat Niq Sessions Vol. 1: 6th Ave. & 2a.m. is what it suggests – one of a series that Gerry envisions.
"You can sort of get the idea that volume one implies more," laughs Hebert, "and I’m not just being optimistic. (During) the recording session that we did in July we recorded another 30 minutes of almost finished material that would be ready for the next project."
The music for the CD was created and recorded over four days in the Beat Niq jazz club. You may not think that’s unusual, but given that the Piq Niq restaurant upstairs was under renovation at the time, it’s extraordinary. It’s another example of Hebert’s willingness to meet challenges.
"We took over the place for four days," he says, "and during that time there were a lot of challenges to recording in that space, but I wanted to be there and I made that part of my requirements, against the wishes of a lot of other people who said ‘why would you do that?’"
Hebert attributes the success of the final product to sound engineer Peter Bacsalmasi and his ability to make things work during the recording.
" I think when you listen to it you’ll hear how each tune contrasts and there’s a lot of freshness from tune to tune," says Hebert.
Hebert had a hand in every step of this project and true to form he worked on it from composition to production. Interestingly, his reaction to the composing surprised him. "I didn’t really know I had an opinion about it," says Hebert, "until I started doing it and was going ‘no, no, no, no you gotta do this here and you gotta do this here.’" |
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