LISSA ALEXANDER
reporter@pqbnews.com
A guitarist and composer from Toronto, who was recently nominated for a Juno for Contemporary Jazz Album of the Year, is bringing his quartet to Qualicum Beach March 10.
Alex Goodman graduated from the University of Toronto’s Jazz Performance program in 2010 and was honoured as the first jazz musician to have been awarded the William and Phyllis Waters Graduating Award for the “student deemed to have the greatest potential to make an important contribution to the field of music.”
Goodman said it was a great honour.
“I was kind of surprised coming from the jazz world, it was nice to be recognized with that,” said Goodman from his home in New York.
The Alex Goodman Chamber Quartet will play at the Old School House Sunday March 10 at 2:30 p.m.
Goodman has been the leader for three albums, the latest called Bridges was released in 2011. The Ottawa Citzen included the album in the top 10 Canadian jazz records of the year and featured Goodman in the article, “Who Makes the Cutting Edge for Jazz in Canada?”
Goodman has toured extensively and has performed at venues like the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Massey Hall, and the CBC’s Glenn Gould studio.
It was in Toronto that Goodman met the rest of his distinguished quartet, with Juno award winner Andrew Downing on cello, Michael Davidson on vibraphone and Felicity Williams on vocals.
The group was formed within the last year, Goodman said, and this will mark their debut in the Canadian music scene. He said he’s excited to be playing with such talented musicians.
“I think everybody’s coming from a similar place and it kind of all aligns nicely within this group, because there is some commonalities between the way we all think about music.”
The show is part of the TOSH Music on Sunday series where tickets are $16, $13 for members at TOSH. For more information call 250-752-6133 or visit www.theoldschoolhouse.org.