Biography
MICHELLE GRÉGOIRE QUINTET:
Jazz pianist and composer Michelle Gregoire has emerged as one of Canada's most significant jazz talents. She is surrounded by a veteran cast off all-star Canadian musicians creating a sound described as "exciting, beautiful, inspired and new while building on the tradition called Jazz." Her music has additionally been described as “ingenious”, “elegant”, “balanced”, “original with great depth and imagination”, and “approachable, but in a way that doesn’t sacrifice invention, interplay, and understated strength”. Her music is performed by her solid and interactive ensemble, the Michelle Grégoire Quintet, comprised of top Canadian jazz musicians, namely Juno winner, saxophonist Kirk MacDonald, National Jazz Awards trumpeter of the year Kevin Turcotte, and top call Toronto based rhythm section featuring Jim Vivian on bass and Ted Warren on drums. In June 2009 the quintet recorded a second CD Diversity supported by the Canada Council for the Arts and Manitoba Film and Music, featuring original compositions by Grégoire commissioned by CBC Radio and the Manitoba Arts Council. The CD is scheduled to be released in the Spring of 2010 on the Effendi label.
MICHELLE GRÉGOIRE – PIANIST/COMPOSER:
"Her ingenious creations are all of interest". -Toronto Star
"One of the more significant jazz talents in Canada right now." -Daryl Angier, CODA
"You have some good music inside!!" -Bob Brookmeyer (March 2003)
"her playing style is all about elegance, subtlety, and understatement. No sharp edges mar her approach, and she builds her solos gradually and with great care" - All about jazz
"Grégoire is quickly making a name for herself both for her tastefully elegant playing chops as well as her burgeoning career as a jazz composer.” –Holly Harris, Winnipeg Free Press, March 2007.
"this lady is very original with great depth and imagination, remarkably proficient on piano and dynamically sensitive". -Still Another Jazz Show - Sacramento, CA
A talented composer and versatile pianist, Michelle Grégoire holds an undergraduate jazz degree from St. Francis Xavier University and a Master of Music degree in Jazz Studies from the Florida State University. She attended the Hugh Fraser Jazz Orchestra Residency in Banff where she worked with Maria Schneider in 2002 and Kenny Wheeler in 2004. Grégoire has also studied privately with world-renowned composer Bob Brookmeyer. Recently, Grégoire spent four months at the Banff Centre where she spent focused time composing and working with some of the world's most brilliant musicians, composers and conductors. These included Joel Smirnoff, Rodney Sharman, Mark Applebaum, and John Halle. A performance at the Banff Centre with Kenny Wheeler was described as a "gorgeous duet by two astounding professionals, one in the twilight of his career and the other just emerging into the full light of day." –Rocky Mountain Outlook.
An active freelance musician in Winnipeg since 1984, Michelle Grégoire maintains a solid reputation as a sideperson and band leader and has worked with the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra since its inception in 1997 where she appeared with artists like Bill Watrous, Phil Nimmons, Guido Basso, Byron Stripling and many others. She has appeared with artists such as Stefan Bauer, Martha Brooks, Brian Hughes, Liberty Silver, Walle Larsson, Peter Appleyard, VEJI (Vancouver Ensemble of Jazz Improvisation), Frederic Alarie and Jon Geary to name a few. She has been a frequent guest with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and was recently featured with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra as part of a concert that was recorded by CBC Radio and aired nationally on various CBC Radio programs. The concert featured a world premiere of her new composition, Gratitude Suite for String Orchestra and Jazz Trio, a 15-minute work commissioned by CBC Radio. Grégoire is a respected composer/arranger and has been commissioned by the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra, The Manitoba Arts Council and CBC Radio. Her work has been performed and recorded by various ensembles including the WJO and the Banff Jazz Orchestra.
Grégoire was the winner of the Project COOL 2004 jazz competition which awarded her a $15 000 recording grant to use towards the production and marketing of her debut CD Reaching. Her quintet features the crème of Canadian Jazz and has completed a Canadian Tour in February 2006 thanks to funding from the Canada Council for the Arts and Manitoba Film and Sound. The group was also featured in some major jazz festivals in 2006 such as the Jazz Winnipeg Festival, The Festival International de Jazz de Montréal and the All Canadian Jazz Festival. The quintet was nominated for the Grand Prix de Jazz and Galaxie Étoile competitions at the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal in 2006 and was recorded by CBC for national broadcasts on Espace Musique, After Hours and other programs. Reaching earned a nomination as Outstanding Jazz Recording at the Western Canadian Music Awards and the CD enjoys continued airplay making the top ten lists on jazz radio programs throughout North America. Grégoire and her quintet received numerous grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Manitoba Arts Council, the Winnipeg Arts Council and Manitoba Film and Sound.
A devoted clinician and educator, Grégoire is currently on Faculty at the Manitoba Conservatory of Music and Arts teaching jazz piano, jazz theory and ear training. She has been a clinician in various university jazz programs across the country and currently participates in the IAJE’s Jazz Mobile project offering improvisation clinics in Winnipeg schools. A respected contractor and administrator, Grégoire is responsible for the creation and production of an exciting concert series in Winnipeg featuring touring jazz artists (The Canadian Jazz Concerts). She has been a board member for the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra and is currently on the board for MARIA (Manitoba Audio Recording Industry Association).
KEVIN TURCOTTE – TRUMPET:
Jazz trumpeter Kevin Turcotte is regarded as a virtuoso and one of Canada's top trumpeters. Born in Ottawa, the Canadian musician grew up in Sudbury and eventually studied music at the Banff School of Fine Arts and at the University of Toronto, where he joined the faculty in the '90s. Turcotte has been named Jazz Trumpeter of the Year multiple times by Jazz Report magazine; has performed on over 50 recordings; and has toured not only in North America, but also in South America (with Time Warp), Italy (with Don Byron), and Russia (with Dave McMurdo Jazz Orchestra). Turcotte has been a member of such groups as the Jean Martin Trio, Hemispheres New Music Ensemble, Andrew Downing's Great Uncles of the Revolution, the Barry Elmes Quintet, and more. Other artists that the musician and educator has worked with include Kenny Wheeler, Tito Puente, Dave Holland, Kenny Kirkwood, Pat LaBarbera, Shirley Eikhard, Bill Grove, and Rob McConnell and the Boss Brass.
KIRK MACDONALD – SAXOPHONES:
Saxophonist Kirk MacDonald has worked with some of the finest musicians in jazz music today. Upon moving to Toronto from his native Nova Scotia, he received his start playing in bands led by drummer Claude Ranger and bassist Dave Young. Kirk has had long associations with guitarist Lorne Lofsky and trumpeter Sam Noto. He has also worked with Sonny Greenwich, Bob Mover, Pat LaBarbera, Bernie Senensky, and visiting artists Ron McClure, Harold Mabern, and Walter Bishop Jr.. Kirk has performed on more than 25 CDs, including appearances along side jazz luminaries Phil Woods, Eddie Henderson and Kenny Wheeler. In addition, over 35 of Kirk’s compositions appear on CD. His recording New Beginnings received nominations for a 2001 Juno Award, as well as a Canadian Indie Award. Kirk’s previous release The Atlantic Sessions won both the 1999 Juno Award for Best Mainstream Jazz Recording, and the 1999 Jazz Report Award for Album of the Year. Kirk also picked up the 1999 Jazz Report Award for Tenor Saxophonist of the Year.
TED WARREN – DRUMS:
A native of Regina, Saskatchewan, Ted completed St. Francis Xavier University’s Jazz Studies program. Ted also spent several years at McGill in Montreal, Quebec, pursuing his musical studies, teaching and performing. He has worked with Slide Hampton, Don Thompson, Fraser MacPherson, Mike Murley, Chuck Mangione, Sonny Greenwich, Jeff Healey, Norma Winstone, Howard Johnson, James Morrison, Nick Brignola, Kenny Wheeler and Gerry Bergonzi. He has toured with the Mike Murley Quartet, the Mike Downes Quartet, the Roy Patterson Quartet, and The Boss Brass. In 1998, Ted also toured with the Banff Alumni All Stars and traveled to Brazil with the Boss Brass. In 1999 he returned to Brazil as a member of John Stech’s trio and in 2000 performed at Carnegie Hall with harpist Joanna Jordon. In addition to his other recorded work, you can hear Ted on Mike Murley’s CDs Time and Tide, Departure, and the Jazz Report’s Album of the Year recipient, Conversation Piece. Ted is an active member of Canada’s jazz scene and was voted the Jazz Report’s Drummer of the Year for 1996.
JIM VIVIAN – BASS:
Jim appears on over 70 records and CD’s and has recorded with such internationally renowned artists as John Abercrombie, Jerry Bergonzi, Mick Goodrick, Sonny Greenwich, Tim Hagans, Joe Labarbara, David Leibman, Bob Moses, Adam Nussbaum, John Taylor, Don Thompson, Kenny Wheeler, and Norma Winstone, as well as Canadian artists such as Stefan Bauer, Brian Dickinson, Jeff Johnston, Oliver Jones, Rob McConnell, and Roy Patterson. He has been on faculty at both Humber College and the Banff Centre, and presently teaches at the University of Toronto Faculty of Music Jazz Program.
Instrumentation
MICHELLE GRÉGOIRE QUINTET:
Michelle Grégoire - pianist/composer, Kirk MacDonald - saxophones, Kevin Turcotte - trumpet, Jim Vivian - bass, Ted Warren - drums.
Discography
MICHELLE GRÉGOIRE -
DIVERSITY (to be released in 2010)
MICHELLE GRÉGOIRE - REACHING:
Nominee, "Outstanding Jazz Recording" Western Canadian Music Awards 2005. Reaching made the 2005 jazzenvoy.com list of top 50 jazz recordings in Canada, and the CBC After Hours list of best jazz recordings released in 2004. Release on the Boat House Records label (Hugh Fraser's label), distributed by CMC/Fusion III.
Links
| http://www.michellegregoire.com |