In the classroom. The writing on the blackboard references a celebrated Ethiopian jazz musician. Photo: Donald Lee.
In 2003, composer and sax player Chet Doxas was back at The Banff Centre for the second time. He had been a musician in the jazz workshop in 2001, taking a break from undergrad studies at McGill to explore a program he’d heard about from many of the young musicians he knew in Montreal. Returning to the program in 2003, Doxas was asked to join workshop director Dave Douglas and his quintet on stage to play music from Douglas’ album, The Infinite. “That was a big moment for me,” Doxas says. “It was a big confidence booster.” The two musicians have stayed in touch, and this year Doxas was back in Banff as a faculty artist, mentoring a new generation of jazz musicians.
Dave Douglas doing what he does best. Photo: Donald Lee.
This is typical for Douglas – creating a community of musicians, and music, that continues to come full circle. This year was his tenth and last year as director of the Banff International Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music, and he finished on the same high note he started on, with an open forum for young musicians to mix with invited artists (including pianist Vijay Iyer, who will take over as director of the program in 2013), build their own ensembles, and play in an intense schedule of concerts and late-night club shows.
Building on a foundation laid by previous directors, including Oscar Peterson and Phil Nimmons, Dave Holland, and Kenny Werner, Douglas has established something great and lasting at Banff. “I don’t think the Banff workshop has ever been more popular than it is now,” Doxas says. “Dave has evolved it. There are a lot of musicians who could have come in once and done well, but Dave stuck around for ten years and developed it to what it is now. He’s doing his absolute best work.”
To mark those ten great years, Inspired caught up with Dave Douglas as he was wrapping up his latest European tour and preparing for his final weeks as director.
What did you know about The Banff Centre before you came here?
Not much! I first came in the summer of 1992 to do a recording project with George Schuller and Orange Then Blue. We were on a tour across Canada and stopped at the Centre for a week in the recording studio. In my enthusiasm for the natural beauty, I was running alone on the Hoodoo Trail every morning. Only at the end of the week did we receive a proper orientation about the potential for unlucky encounters with wildlife. I guess I was lucky!
Had you come up as faculty before becoming director of the program?
When Kenny Werner was directing the program in the late 90s he started inviting me to come as a visiting artist. I had never taught or talked about my music before. I agreed to come but was terrified about having to talk about process with such a bright group of participants. For my first class I prepared way too much material — just in case I ran out of ideas, I wanted to be prepared. Within ten minutes, the questions started flowing and I’d say I made it through about 10 per cent of my program. That kind of open give-and-take was an eye-opener for me, and it is a hallmark of the program and The Banff Centre in general.
Douglas in an early Banff Centre performance, 2001. Photo: Donald Lee.
Why do you think this type of creative / improvisational jazz thrives at Banff?
I really think nature has a lot to do with the power of jazz and improvisation at Banff. Sharing the mountains and the quiet with each other we get to a level of focus that is often elusive in more urban environments. In addition, the facilities at The Banff Centre are such that anything one needs is always nearby. Because of that, musicians tend to go from musical project to musical project all day, immersing themselves in a diverse array of musical environments. For me, it’s the early mornings. I go to my hut with my instrument and my ideas, my head and my heart. Those hours of meditative presence are divine.
Tell us about a particular project you’ve conceived of or finished here.
Mountain Passages was a piece commissioned by the mountain music festival called I Suoni delle Dolomiti, in Trentino, Italy. All of their concerts are performed at mountain refuges, and the audience and the players alike have to hike to the “venue.” I composed the suite for them at Banff in 2003. It’s for trumpet, clarinet, cello, tuba, and percussion. We did carry the instruments up the mountains, thankfully with some assistance from alpine guides.
Is there a “Banff community” of musicians out there in the wider world of jazz?
There is a constantly expanding community of Banff jazz program alumni. I see them everywhere I tour. Many of the participants end up in international groups together, making annual tours in each other’s countries. Also, the program has been going long enough now that alumni are coming back as faculty — many of them are musical leaders in their communities now. This year I’m thrilled to bring back Chet Doxas and Linda Oh, who were students in the program early in my time leading it. That kind of continuity is very satisfying to see. And now that I’m moving on from the program, I’m excited by the future that Vijay Iyer will bring to this extraordinary international musical resource.
What are a few of the things or experiences you’ll take away with you after ten years?
After ten years, the most important thing I’ll take away is the people. There have been so many wonderful people at Banff. Isobel and Tom Rolston. Janet Amy. Jorie Adams. Lynne Huras. Martin Finnerty. Mark Wold. Theresa Leonard. The McKinnon Family. There are too many to name. This is a wonderful community and I will miss my annual visits. Plus all of the people who have come to help facilitate the jazz program in many seasons: Mark Micklethwaite, Michael Bates, Pat Reid, Angela Morris.
Most memorable moment?
There have been so many extreme moments! Here are a few short memories:
Miguel Zenon, when asked what one should practice, calmly opens his practice journal and explains what he will be working on for the next ten years. Bill Frisell describes himself as “not much of a talker,” and then plays his guitar more clearly than words ever could express. Jason Moran, when asked what a musician should include in their press kit, thinks for a long moment and says, “You really should just work on the music.” I‘ve learned from every visiting artist I have brought to campus. That’s really the gift of the program, that we all learn from each other
