November 21, 2004 -

Ottawa -- Following the success of the first concert in the ever-popular series, 5 Shades of Geggie, the National Arts Centre’s Fourth Stage is pleased to present a breathtaking evening featuring much-admired double bass player, John Geggie and his guest, internationally acclaimed jazz pianist, Myra Melford.  This concert, deemed by many as the “must-see” event of the fall jazz season, takes place on Saturday, November 27, 2004 at 20:00.

Both Geggie and Melford are at ease in the world of free and avant-garde jazz. They will thrill audiences with their adventurous and organic sense of interplay and invention. They will be performing their own compositions as well as spontaneous free jazz vignettes.

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.

Considered by Francis Davis as “the most gifted pianist/composer to emerge from jazz since Anthony Davis," Myra Melford is a native of Evanston, Illinois; she earned a BA from Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington and completed her studies with Art Lande and Gary Peacock at the Cornish Institute in Seattle, and with Henry Threadgill and Don Pullen in New York City. At the keyboard, Ms. Melford recasts the blues and boogie-woogie of her Chicago hometown with the rangy, percussive avant-garde stylings she cultivated in work with Don Pullen and Henry Threadgill – all enhanced by lush lyricism and organized by an architectural sense of composition she derived from classical training. Her remarkable breadth is ordered by a thoughtful, expressive sensibility, evocatively described by Coda Magazine: "Myra Melford is at once a dancer, a romantic and a savage suckerpuncher at the bench . . . beating all hell out of the piano and making it beautiful.” A prolific recording artist, Ms. Melford’s latest CD, Where the Two Worlds Touch, is available on Arabesque Records.

The line-up of artists for the 5 Shades of Geggie series includes a sultry evening of songs with vocalist Dawn Bishop and pianist Gordon Webster, on January 22; March 12 promises to be a fiery trio featuring New York saxophonist Donny McCaslin (with drummer Jim Doxas). And finally, on May 14, John Geggie will be joined by internationally known Swedish double bass virtuoso, Anders Jormin.

A series package for the four remaining shows is available – only through the NAC Box Office – 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 online information, visit the NAC website at www.nac-cna.ca and click on the Fourth Stage logo.

For further information please contact:
Laïla-Gabrielle Côté
Publicist for 5 Shades of Geggie
(613) 277-6064
laila-gcote@sympatico.ca

Tessa Derksen
Fourth Stage, Marketing
(613) 947-7000 ext.526
tderksen@nac-cna.ca