Rob Teehan - Toronto tuba player and Juno-nominated composer

End of summer update

I just sent out the following as a newsletter to my mailing list (see link on right-hand sidebar) since I haven't been making any updates lately.  It's been a busy summer, here's what I've been up to lately:

The Heavyweights Brass Band played the Toronto TD Jazz Fest main stage, the Beaches Jazz Fest, the Brampton Global Jazz and Blues Festival, Havana Cultura Festival, and the Harbourfront Centre Hot and Spicy Food Festival.  We also released our debut CD, “Don’t Bring Me Down” and have been getting good press, including full-page feature articles in the Toronto Star and Toronto Sun, and reviews/mentions in The Globe and Mail, Exclaim!, NOW Magazine, Winnipeg Examiner and others (see “Press” page on our website).  We’ve also been getting extensive airplay on JazzFM 91.1 and CBC Radio as well as campus radio stations across the country - in fact the album is now number one on the national campus radio jazz charts!   We have some upcoming gigs around town including opening for Trombone Shorty at the Opera House in November, and we’re looking forward to doing a national tour of jazz festivals next summer. 

Saidah Baba Talibah won the inaugural Soundclash Award, a $5000 prize for emerging artists, presented by Harbourfront Centre.  Her debut album “(s)Cream” was officially released on Last Gang/Universal earlier this summer; the album was NOW Magazine’s Disc of the Week and received a 4/5 rating.  The band just shot a music video for the song “So Cool” last week, and we’ll be embarking on a tour of England and France in December of 2011. http://www.sbtmusic.com

The Boxcar Boys released our debut album “Don’t Be Blue” in June and received a 3.5/4 star rating from the Toronto Star.  We played the Beaches Jazz Festival mainstage and were well received.  We spent the summer busking around town and roaming Ontario Place, where we booked about a dozen full-day gigs over the summer.  We also played Scotiabank Buskerfest to thousands of people over the course of a weekend.  The album is now getting airplay on Jazz FM 91.1.  We have a big show coming up at Hugh’s Room on September 22nd, and in October we will travel to Niagara Falls for the Ontario Conference of Folk Festivals, where we have been selected as official alternate showcasers. 

Nick Teehan and the band had a busy summer preparing for Nick’s first full-length album project, which we finished tracking about a week ago.  In addition to playing sousaphone throughout, I created some string arrangements for two of the tracks and assisted with horn arrangements; the album will be finished later this year and I’m very excited and proud to be watching my little brother take his music to the next level.  We also played around town in the summer, sharing bills with the Lemon Bucket Orkestra and with Freeman Dre and the Kitchen Party.  

The Lemon Bucket Orkestra, as always, could be found wherever there was a party, often in Trinity Bellwoods Park, Kensington Market, or our home base of La Palette (the little cafe on Queen Street), spilling out in to the street to continue the party until the early morning.  We played at many community events including Artspin, the Trash Art Festival, and the 5th anniversary Blackout Party. As I write this I am on a train to Montreal where we are playing the Montreal Ukrainian Festival; we’re playing the Toronto Ukrainian Festival next weekend.  We’ll also be shooting a short film next week showcasing our bandleader Mark Ihnatowycz’s poetry about busking. 

Aside from all these “official” events, there were many wedding receptions, private parties, impromptu patio jams, and general good times. I played on boats, on rooftops, on parking garages, in buses, standing on tables, parading around parks, on the street.   It was a fun summer!

On the composition front:

My first film project - Tulip, Texas, and Us, directed by Lee Filipovski - premiered a few months ago at the Ryerson University Film Festival.  I worked with sound designer Ranno Tisklar on the score, contributing original music, some of which was performed by members of the Lemon Bucket Orkestra.  Lee is currently shopping the film to various film festivals around the world.

I’m currently hard at work on a documentary short film where I’m taking sole responsibility for a film score for the first time.  It’s called The Sugar Bowl, and it’s a portrait of the Phillipines as it continues to grapple with the crash of its sugar industry some 30 years ago.   The directors, Rich Williamson and Shasha Nakhai, have assembled beautiful and haunting footage that has plenty of room for expressive and powerful music.  I’m really excited about this project.  The film will premiere at the Toronto REEL Asian Film Festival in November. 

The Vancouver Chamber Choir will premiere my choral work “I Died for Beauty” on October 21st in Vancouver, and may perform it on their tour east coast in spring of next year.  They recently premiered a commissioned work of mine, “There Will Come Soft Rains”, in May of this year. 

The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra will perform my JUNO-nominated orchestral work, “Dreams of Flying”, on October 6th in Edmonton.  

 I’ll be commencing my duties as Composer-in-Residence with Sinfonia Toronto, a professional string orchestra based in Toronto.  The group will perform the Toronto premiere of my piece “Zephyr” on November 18th, and I’ll be writing a new piece to be performed in the spring.  Where possible, I’ll attend their other Toronto concerts and be speaking about the other new works on the program.  

I’m continuing my position as Composer-in-Residence at the Church of the Redeemer; I wrote two choral pieces for the church over the summer, and am at work on a third.  I continue to sing in the choir at redeemer as well.  I’ll be keeping up my “side” career as a choral singer around town, albeit a bit more sporadically this year, but I do expect to sing on a handful of concerts with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir again this season.

On the personal front - I had to move from my beloved home in Kensington Market due to the landlords’ deciding to sell the house we were renting.  But on the plus side, I’ve moved into my own place for the first time in my life - a basement apartment in the Bloor/Dovercourt area - and I’m loving it.  My landlord, who lives upstairs, is an amateur musician and built the apartment specially for recording; it’s got soundproofed walls and audio cabling running through the ceiling.  Plus he loves it when I bring my bands over to make noise.  Pretty sweet! 

Juno what I'm talking about?

"Congratulations, you win!"  That's basically what my roommate Brian said to me over the phone, though not in so many words.  In this case, he was telling me that he was hiring the horn section for Down With Webster's performance at the Juno awards, and wanted me to join the fun.  It's always nice to get a call like this, when an amazing opportunity drops from the sky and you feel like you've won the lottery.  That's what's great about the music business - all you have to do is position yourself, and the universe provides.

Even better, my younger brother Nick was on the gig too.  We realized that this was the first time we had ever been hired on a gig together, which seems amazing until you consider how different our educational backgrounds are - myself classical, Nick jazz.  Of course we play together in Nick's band - but that's different, it's Nick's project and we both put a lot of work into putting it together; for this gig, though, we were both hired guns, which meant we had lots of time to hang out and enjoy the experience.

The Junos are pretty amazing.  I of course got to experience the circus last year in St. John's and blogged extensively about it.  This year I got to see it from behind the scenes.  It's simply staggering how many people are involved, how much gear they have running all over the backstage area, how much money the whole thing must cost.   (My favourite were these guys in the swooping camera cranes way above the floor.  Do they get danger pay?)

I've played with Down With Webster before, too; as I mentioned the horn section for this band fulfils a mainly visual element.  I'm ok with this - I have plenty of projects where my musical skills are appreciated - and to be honest it was fun to do some high energy horn choreography.  Brian, the trumpet player who hired us, came up with all the dance moves.  Here's a youtube video of our number  (once again we are in masks.  I am on the far left, and Nick is right beside me):

There is a higher-quality version available on CTV's website at this link; our bit starts at 3:45.  I have to hand it to the boys from Down With Webster - they have a killer live show, high energy, and polished to a T.  It was really fun to be a part of it.  It's amazing what a difference lighting makes too - look how they timed the blast of white light with every "whoa", where the horn section freezes.   

It was a nice treat to play such a professional gig, where you're taken care of (we shared a nice dressing room with the band, which was always well-stocked with food and drink, and had two people assigned to go get whatever we needed).  A few of my friends were there, too - Saidah was performing in Johnny Reid's band, as usual, and my friend Alex - who also plays cello in Saidah's band - was playing with Arcade Fire.  Nick and I watched the latter from the main floor of the ACC; we had nice "Artist" passes that gave us all access.  

Check out the set, too, nice "Toronto" vibe with the echo of the City Hall building.  That's Broken Social Scene on stage.

After the show, all 5 of us horns were on our way out when we saw Drake chatting with a small group of fans.  We decided to try and grab a photo with him, and had just said hello, when a VIP swooped in to drag him off to some private photo op - but he promised to come back for a photo in a moment, and kept his word.  Class act - and it didn't even occur to us that he might have been in a really foul mood after losing on all five Juno nominations.

All told it was really cool to be a part of the biggest event in Canada's music industry.  When you walk around and famous people are everywhere, you start to realize they're just normal folks that have hustled and stuck it out, and that our country is big enough that there's room for everyone.  Some day, I remember thinking, Nick and I will play this stage again - but from the front, not the back, and without masks.

2010 in review

2010 was a pretty awesome year! I had some great adventures, met some amazing new friends and achieved some career milestones that I'm very proud of.  Here are a few highlights:

January

• I rang in the New Year at Foxwood's casino in Connecticut with Saidah Baba Talibah.  So far the best-paying gig of my career, and the first time that band has travelled together. 

• I attended the premiere of "Wistful Thinking" by the Silver Birch String Quartet with Alexander Sevastien, accordion, in Sudbury; my old high school friend Christian Robinson is their first violinist.

February

• The Heavyweights Brass Band rang in Mardi Gras at Grossman's Tavern, our first gig in 2010 and only second ever as a band.   In 2010 I would go on to create about 6 or 7 arrangements or original tunes for this band.

• I watched the final half hour of Canada's gold medal hockey game in a small room at Beth Tzedec Synagogue, where I had been hired to sing backup vocals in a musical celebrating the Jewish holiday of Purim, and we were between the matinee and evening show.

March

• I learned that I'd been nominated for a Juno award for Classical Composition of the Year - without a doubt the highlight of my career so far, and likely to stay that way for some time. 

• I launched this newly-designed website/blog.

• I sang in Choir 21's inaugural concert.  It's the best choir I've ever sung in, and I look forward to more concerts to come.

• The Vancouver Chamber Choir took one of my choral pieces, "Hear My Prayer, O Lord", on the road on their tour of Western Canada.

April

• I attended the Juno awards in St. John's.  I didn't win, but I had the time of my life, and most importantly got a shot of confidence that has turbo-charged my career.  I was really happy to be able to share the experience with my parents too.  Here's me and my mom on the red carpet:

• I moved into my new home near Kensington Market, a big house that I share with four friends, all professional musicians.  The neighbourhood is brimming with creativity; I feel welcomed by the city.

May

• I recorded a string arrangement for my brother Nick's EP.  This is one of the first times we've collaborated on one of his songs, and we were both happy to see that we managed to get along in the process.

 

• After a series of jams and rehearsals with clarinetist John Williams, the Boxcar Boys are born.

• The Church of the Redeemer, where I am Composer-in-Residence, premiered my new work Mass of the Redeemer.  The "Lamb of God" movement, to which I later added a string arrangement, is quite possibly my favourite work out of all that I've written.

June

• Parades, patio gigs, sidewalk gigs, busking, outdoor stages, warm weather.  I'm suddenly conscious of the fact that I'm gigging almost every day on my sousaphone.  How did that happen?

July

• I played 3 gigs at Pride Fesival with Saidah Baba Talibah, including the big stage at Queen's Park before Cyndi Lauper.

• My brother Nick released his debut EP, Sidewalk Friend; I'm proud to be in his band and can't wait to do more shows.

• The Heavyweights Brass Band began our monthly residency at the Painted Lady in hipsterville (Dundas/Ossington); we're still going strong on the second Thursday of every month.

• I played with Down With Webster at an outdoor festival in Kitchener; some 40,000 teenagers in the audience make this the biggest gig I've ever played.

• Spain won the World Cup, and I dragged my sousaphone into the massive street party at College and Bathurst, making fools of every vuvuzela-blower; for a brief shining moment I was the life of the party.

August

• Saidah Baba Talibah's video release show at the Gladstone Hotel marked a turning point for us as a band; a new level was reached.  We finished the night with a parade down Queen Street.  My twin brother Paul was in town from Vancouver to see it, and took this video:

September

• My "Mass of the Redeemer" is performed again, this time with string arrangement.  Someday I will get a professional studio recording of this work! 

• The Boxcar Boys began our weekly Sunday afternoon residency at 3 Speed, a cool little bar on Bloor Street west of Dufferin.  We also take to busking at St. Lawrence Market on Saturday mornings, which makes for a full weekend!

• I audition for a substitute section lead position in the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir  and am unexpectedly offered a job for the full 2010 - 2011 season.  Works for me!

• I perform with Choir 21 in the new Bell Lightbox Theatre; we sing a newly-composed score to an old silent film, The Passion of Joan of Arc.  It's one of the best concerts I've ever been a part of.

October

• Saidah Baba Talibah's debut album, (S)Cream, is finished, and we celebrate with a "Pre-release" party.  I couldn't be more proud of the results, or more excited about the future.

• I am Composer-in-Residence at the Colours of Music Festival in Barrie, ON, and attend world premieres of three new works and performances of two others.  Here's an excerpt of my work for Sinfonia Toronto, "Zephyr".  This work, incidentally, was completed the day that my grandmother, Isobel Teehan, passed away.  It's dedicated to her memory.

• The Heavyweights Brass Band plays the Rex Hotel, Toronto's top jazz club, for the first time; my brother Nick is working the door, so we arrange his tune "Night Bus" so he can join the band onstage.  We are a hit and are invited back on a monthly basis.

November

• I join the Elora Festival Singers, along with a full orchestra, for a concert in Casino Rama with Roger Hodgson of Supertramp.  Two sold-out shows, 5,000 people each night.  Some day I would love to do arrangements or conduct an orchestra for shows like this.

• I attend the premiere of my work "Wildfire", commissioned by the Hannaford Street Silver Band.  Alain Trudel conducted; the second time he's premiered a work of mine ("Dreams of Flying" being the first).

• I hire a pick-up choir, and engineer Frank Lockwood, to record demos of six of my choral compositions at St. Anne's Anglican Church.

• I start playing with the Lemon Bucket Orkestra, a crazy bunch of Gypsy/Ukranian folk musicians who have a tendency to play music all night (or until the police tell them to stop). They are lovely new friends.  Some wild dance party gigs ensue, which cut into my productivity the next day, but it's worth it.

• I celebrate my one-year anniversary of quitting my part-time day job at the National Youth Orchestra of Canada.  I've survived as a freelance musician, and things are only looking to improve.

December

• My position as Composer-in-Resdience at the Church of the Redeemer is renewed, and I plan to write three new works for the spring of 2011; more on this later.
  

• I bought a new bed.  This may not seem like a big deal, but I realized that I was 28 years old and still sleeping on a beat-up old futon that my dad bought for me when I was a university student.  This, therefore, represents a major step towards entering a normal, grown-up life.  I don't plan on taking too many of these steps in the next year.

• I sang my first ever Messiah.  It's a big one - 175 voices, and the full forces of the Toronto Symphony in Sir Andrew Davis' new orchestration.   Five shows.  It was a blast, and my voice is fried, and currently is still fried.

• New Year's Eve, tomorrow, I will play at Dovercourt House for a swing dance party with some of my good friends from the city's traditional New Orleans jazz scene. 

2011:

I have some great projects planned and many others that are still in development.  I will make an announcement soon about what's coming up.

As an aside:

I enjoyed using this blog as a creative outlet.  I've always liked writing (words, as well as music) and didn't really have an outlet for it, so I resolved to make this blog a place where I can polish that craft.  I didn't write nearly as often as I would have liked, but I think I came up with some interesting blog posts along the way.  If you have the time, these are my favourites from the year:

A Moment of Silence for Mr. Tuba
Contrabass Vuvuzela
Blogging the Junos: Far-flung stars and local heroes
Church? Like, CHURCH church?

In conclusion:

I am very lucky to enjoy a life that allows me to make great music, meet great people, and enjoy all that Toronto has to offer.  This year has been a little bit crazy, I've been all over the map trying to make ends meet and make connections.  I plan to streamline my career in coming years.  But it's been a wild ride and I wouldn't trade it for anything.  Looking forward to 2011!

 

 

 

 

Brotherly Love Part II

My brother Nick recently released his debut EP, Sidewalk Friend.  I had posted about this before when we recorded the strings - I did an arrangement on "Stripmall City", and played sousaphone on the other tracks.

I'm really excited about how the final product turned out.  You can check out the whole album for free on Nick's website:  http://www.myspace.com/nickteehan.  Nick is really hitting his stride as a singer/songwriter - I'm so proud!  We have plans to work together on his first full-length album which will be in the works very soon.

There is something special about collaborating with family; there seems to be a deeper level of communication that you can access.  You see it with husband and wife teams all the time, or musical families like the Rankins or the Jackson 5, or siblings like the Coen Brothers, or George and Ira Gershwin.  It's not always easy, because we can both be pretty strong-headed about our own creativity, but Nick and I seem to have something when we work together, and I'm looking forward to seeing what we can accomplish down the road.

As an added bonus, the third Teehan brother - my identical twin Paul - is visiting from Vancouver this week.  We had some good hangout time in Toronto, just the three of us, which is a rare occasion.  Paul is a drummer, so naturally the three of us had an epic jam session in our basement.  I haven't really played music with Paul since we were in high school together.  Paul plays in an indie rock band called Lakefield, who also released a debut album recently.  You can check them out at: http://www.lakefieldmusic.com.

Paul was also able to come to a show I played with Saidah Baba Talibah at the Gladstone Hotel, and took some great videos and photos which I will post later this week.

Brotherly Love

My younger brother Nick studied jazz saxophone at Humber College before he discovered a natural songwriting talent.  I was there at the beginning - we roomed together during my first year back in town after grad school, which was Nick’s final year at Humber, and I witnessed the first song ideas come into being.  That was back in 2008; Nick finished some songs and put together a band a little over a year ago, and I’ve been his bass player (on tuba) from the get-go.

Nick and I were in different worlds musically for a long time, but we’re both happy that his music has provided some common ground where we can finally work together.  I’m really glad to be able to support him and watch him grow as an artist, and we’ve grown a lot closer since; we try to get together for home-cooked meals at least once a week and talk music.

Anyway, our latest project has been Nick’s first EP, which we’ve been recording for the last several months.  I did a string quartet arrangement for his song “Stripmall City”, and today was finally the day to record the strings.  Our friend Scott McCannell has been serving as recording engineer.  I got my friends Tanya, Matthias, Elena and Bryan to cover the string parts. which they executed superbly.  Here’s some photos of the day:

Nick and I had to share a pair of headphones:




This arrangement was one of those rare cases where I knew exactly what I wanted to write before I began.  Feelings, that is, not necessarily notes - those come later.  But I’d heard the song enough times to know what kind of vibe to aim for.  (Plus, I can relate - the song’s about Oshawa, the town Nick and I grew up in.)  I was happy with what I came up with, and more importantly, so was Nick, but it was several months ago that the arrangement was written.  It was very rewarding to finally see and hear the payoff. 

I’ve felt for a long time that arranging is something I’d like to do more of, since it offers a chance to combine my classical and commercial skill-sets which have, until now, been operating independently.  But there’s a part of me that worried I would need to be in control of any artistic product that I touched - that I wouldn’t enjoy arranging because it’s ultimately someone else’s creative vision that I’m executing.  But that didn’t turn out to be the case here.  If you’re able to get your ego out of the way, I’m learning, there’s something special about good collaborations that you can’t get from working alone; they are greater than the sum of their parts.