>>PREVIEW
JOHNNY SUMMERS
Monday, December 5
Rose & Crown
Jazzman Johnny Summers is a busy man. On the one hand, he’s a talented trumpet player, arranger and composer. On the other, he owns his own record production company, and if that isn’t enough, he actively supports Calgary’s charitable organizations.
Take for example the recent disaster in New Orleans. Now, everyone knows about the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina but you likely don’t know that a number of Calgary jazz musicians organized relief funding for those hurricane survivors. Johnny Summers and other musicians found a unique way of performing on Stephen Avenue and raising more than $1,000 for the relief efforts.
"I spent some time in New Orleans," says Summers. "I’d lived in one of the poor areas of New Orleans when I was there and I was very saddened by the lack of response and just what happened around then. I’m not pointing blame, it really saddened me the amount of people that died, just everything that happened, it was completely avoidable. So we did a New Orleans second line thing and a bunch of musicians got together – me, Tim Tamashiro, my old trumpet teacher Al Muirhead and the Polyjesters, a lot of guys that are great players. We marched up Stephen Avenue and did a second line thing to raise money for Music Cares."
This is typical of Summers’ role in Calgary’s music community. His list of commitments reads like a who’s who of events extending back to Children’s Cottage fundraisers, and the Rat Pack event staged by Summers with Tim Tamashiro and Rob Young a few years ago. Summers is following that tradition with an upcoming fundraising gig on December 5, marking the 50th anniversary of the Epilepsy Association of Calgary.
"I think there’s a point where you always have to give back to the community," says Summers. "It’s always important especially because there are so many people that don’t, or aren’t interested."
Charitable acts aside, Summers is one of the most active jazz musicians in Calgary – with all these commitments, you have to wonder how he finds a balance. He doesn’t seem to mind the juggle, though. In fact, he laughs and says at least part of the answer is practice, practice, practice.
"I think Rachmaninoff said it best," says Summers. " If you don’t practice for a day, you notice it. If you don’t practice for two days your friends notice. If you don’t practice for three days, the audience notices. It’s interesting to hear him say that as a piano player," continues Summers, "but boy, that’s totally the way I feel as a brass player – the muscles have to be in shape all the time. Of course, being a singer it’s the same thing, and as an arranger it’s the same, keeping your mind fresh, and as a composer it’s the same."
Summers sees all these things – practice, creativity, energy, charity – as connected, and the rest of the recipe for balance is straightforward. "I think it’s a continual struggle," says Johnny, "but I’ve really found for myself, that it’s easy to say, but eat right and exercise and I have to be extremely disciplined in a day."
No doubt. In Summers’ case, that daily schedule not only keeps him in practice, but it ensures he never loses sight of the community and the social environment he lives in. |
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