
Composer Spotlight

Jesse Canterbury
Vertigo
Wed., Dec. 8 @ 7:30pm
Jack Straw Productions
4261 Roosevelt Way NE Seattle
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Jesse Canterbury will discuss the process of composing and recording music for his latest Jack Straw-supported album (recorded through his 2009 Jack Straw artist residency), Vertigo, which features the talents of Joanne de Mars (cello), Chris Stover (trombone), and Tom Baker (guitar). The discussion will touch on the subjects of the album’s unique instrumentation as well as the challenge of crafting a coherent and cohesive CD’s worth of music. Recorded musical examples, both from the finished album and from outtakes, will be played to illustrate the process.
Clarinetist Jesse Canterbury has worked in new music spanning modern classical music, improvisation, and avant-jazz. He has performed some of the masterworks of the modern literature, such as the Quartet for the End of Time and Pierrot lunaire, and has participated in many premieres of new works by Pacific Northwest composers. He has recorded a critically acclaimed album of music for two clarinetists in collaboration with William O. Smith, titled collage/décollage, which features several world-premiere recordings of Smith’s music, as well as commissions from Tom Baker and Canadian composer and clarinetist François Houle.
Additionally, he is a member of several “avant-jazz” ensembles, most notably the Tom Baker Quartet, the Tom Varner Tentet, and Andrew Boscardin's Zubatto Syndicate. His most recent work can be heard on the album Vertigo, released in October 2010 on Present Sounds Records. Canterbury is currently working on music for a new project, called Crosstalk. He can be heard on Present Sounds, Capstone, Omnitone, and New World Records.
Supporters
Jack Straw Productions gratefully acknowledges The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, City of Seattle’s Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, 4Culture King County Lodging Tax Fund, Washington State Arts Commission, National Endowment for the Arts, PONCHO, ArtsFund, Seattle Foundation, and individual contributors for their support of Jack Straw Artist Programs.