October 04, 2004 -

Ottawa, Canada -- In response to the immense success and growing popularity of the past three seasons, the National Arts Centre’s Fourth Stage is pleased to present a new series of concerts – 5 Shades of Geggie, featuring critically acclaimed double bass player, John Geggie.  The series kicks off on Saturday, October 9, 2004 at 20:00 when Geggie is joined by his guests, two of Quebec's more unique improvisational jazz sensations, saxophonist Yannick Rieu and keyboardist Daniel Thouin.

"Each year, we have endeavoured to engage a challenging and entertaining collection of creative guests and I am confident that this season is going to impress and surprise the listener,” enthused Geggie. "Yannick and Daniel are very special players, well known on the Montreal music scene and I am delighted that they have agreed to take part in the opening concert."

No stranger to the creative music world, John Geggie is excited to be returning to the Fourth Stage.  Geggie is extremely active in the Canadian music scene as a freelance double bass player and teacher. His association with the award-winning jazz group Chelsea Bridge and the Juno-nominated D. D. Jackson Trio is well known.  This past summer and for the fifth consecutive year, John hosted the immensely popular late-night jam sessions at the Ottawa International Jazz Festival.  During that time, he also appeared with such international artists as John Schofield, Courtney Pine, Wynton Marsalis, Ravi Coltrane and Joe Lovano.  In July, he performed a highly-acclaimed concert with world-renowned pianist Marilyn Crispell that was recorded for broadcast by Radio-Canada.  His concert credits also include performances with such jazz luminaries as Gene Lees, Henry Mancini, David Murray, Andrew Cyrille and Billy Hart.  In addition to his jazz commitments, Geggie maintains a busy schedule of concerts with the National Arts Centre Orchestra and the Thirteen Strings Chamber Orchestra.

Cited by Down Beat magazine as one of the 20 most promising saxophonists, Montreal-based Yannick Rieu has toured and performed throughout Canada, France, Portugal, Germany and Italy. He has recorded prolifically and has collaborated with such jazz musicians as Paul Bley, Dizzy Gillespie, Toots Thielemans and Jon Hendricks.

Daniel Thouin started pursuing his love of music by playing electric guitar and switched to keyboards at 17. Since 1992, he has been playing with numerous jazz figures from the Montreal jazz scene such as Michel Donato, Pierre Tanguay, Rémi Bolduc and Karen Young. Daniel Thouin has released five albums including one with Seamus Blake. In 2000, he won an award from the Montreal International Jazz Festival for the best composition and remains very active on the Montreal music scene.

The line-up of artists for the 5 Shades of Geggie series includes a duo with California-based improvising pianist Myra Melford, on November 27; an evening of songs with vocalist Dawn Bishop and pianist Gordon Webster, on January 22; on March 12, a fiery trio featuring New York saxophonist Donny McCaslin (with drummer Jim Doxas); and finally on May 14, a duo with internationally known Swedish double bass virtuoso, Anders Jormin.

A series subscription for all five concerts is $72 before October 9, 2004 available only at the NAC Box Office. After October 9, a series package of the four remaining shows will be available for $54. Individual tickets are $20 and are available at the NAC Box Office (in person) and through Ticketmaster (with surcharges) at 755-1111.  Ticketmaster can also be accessed through the NAC’s website at www.nac-cna.ca.

For additional information, visit the NAC website at www.nac-cna.ca and click on “Community Programming.”