New Record! The Instrumental Music Liberation Front

Ron Davis' 13th Record: Instrumental Music Liberation Front –
The emancipation of Instrumental Music from the shadow of Modern Vocal Music

JUNO award nominated jazz pianist and composer Ron Davis with his ensemble SymphRONica go beyond the confines of musical genre to construct new sonic colors and textures.

• Together with his ensemble SymphRONica, Jazz pianist, composer and Juno Award Nominee Ron Davis re-establishes instrumental music with his new album Instrumental Music Liberation Front on 15^th May 2020
• Ron is a firm believer that the history of western music is one where the instrumental lived in harmony with the vocal. Whether it’s a Beethoven symphony or a Verdi opera, Billie Holiday’s Strange Fruit or Duke Ellington’s Isfahan, The Beatles’ Let It Be or Herbie Hancock's Watermelon Man, instrumental music historically resided amongst singing cohesively together
• Ron believes that instrumental music has recently disappeared amongst an ocean of vocals and words. This transgression is one that Ron wants to overturn with his 13^th album Instrumental Music Liberation Front
  

  "Instrumental music must be restored to culture’s apex. We need an Instrumental Music Liberation Front. SymphRONica to the rescue. This record is the opening salvo. […] Let musical freedom ring! Let Instrumental Music be Liberated!" (Ron Davis, 2020)

 With his new album, Ron invites us all on a journey to where jazz meets the entirety of classical music: European, Quebecois, Sephardic and Gypsy music

• Ron’s artistic philosophy drives him to transcend beyond the confines of genre towards new sonic textures and innovations
• His mix of jazz and classical music is also tinged with funk, blues as well as world music. Instrumental Music Liberation Front itself pays tribute to the great names of classical, jazz and tango: Bach, Brahms, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, and also Reinhardt and Piazzola
• Ron’s ensemble SymphRONica joins him on Instrumental Music Liberation Front. SymphRONica matches Ron’s philosophy by fusing together jazz and the symphony orchestra to create a new rich auditory palette for Ron’s original compositions
• Ron is keen to engage with an increasingly varied audience, with whom he is in constant conversation with throughout his concerts. This has led him to define himself as a Musical Entertainer
• Having already released 12 critically acclaimed albums, Ron’s latest album, SymphRONica Upfront, has been nominated for a Juno Award in 2020 (Canada's Grammy or BAFTA equivalent) in the ‘Instrumental Album of the Year’ category

You can buy Instrumental Music Liberation Front here.

 Album Details

1. Slow Down (Kevin Barrett / arr. Kevin Barrett)
2. Sergei’s Shuffle - after Sergei Prokofiev - (Ron Davis / arr. Jason Nett, adapted for SymphRONica by Louis Simão)
3. Pin Y Panouche - after Django Reinhardt - (Ron Davis & Aline Homzy / arr. Aline Homzy)
4. Brahms - after Johannes Brahms - (Ron Davis / arr. Louis Simão)
5. Bachzy - after J. S. Bach - (Aline Homzy / arr. Aline Homzy)
6. Torontango - after Astor Piazzola - (Ron Davis / arr. Louis Simão)
7. Canada’s Passage Hill - after G. F. Handel - (Ron Davis / arr. Louis Simão)
8. Spatialism (Ron Davis / arr. Louis Simão)
9. The Climb (Ron Davis)
10. Dror Yikrah - with a nod to Igor Stravinsky - (Ron Davis / arr. Jason Nett)
11. Reel du Pointe-au-Pic (trad. / arr. Aline Homzy)
12. Rhosymedre - with a nod to Ralph Vaughan Williams - (trad. / arr. Louise Bevan)

Ron Davis - Piano
Kevin Barrett - Electric, Acoustic and E-Bow Guitars, Loops
Aline Homzy - Violin
Mike Downes - Bass (tracks 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 - 12)
Louis Simão - Bass (tracks 2, 4, 6, 8)
Steve Heathcoate - Drums and Percussion
Brielle Goheen - Violin
Laurence Schaufele - Viola
Beth Silver - Cello

by Ron Davis

2020 JUNO AWARD NOMINATION FOR RON DAVIS AND SYMPHRONICA

RON DAVIS - SYMPHRONICA UPFRONT NOMINATED FOR 2020 JUNO AWARD

“This album is one of the best I've heard in the last 13 years…” – WWPV Radio

Ron Davis’ 2019 release SymphRONica UpfRONt has been nominated for a Juno Award as 2020’s Instrumental Album of the Year.

Ron Davis is one of Canada’s greatest jazz visionaries, continues to push musical boundaries and to lead musical trends. Ron’s SymphRONica, captures elements from every known musical genre - original compositions, newly reinvigorated jazz standards and folksong melodies - with energy, pizzazz and groove that explore new musical realms across a journey of enjoyment. It’s rich, it’s substantial and above all it’s entertaining, presented with wit, wisdom and irreverence by the classically trained jazz adventurer Davis.

UpfRONt, produced by two-time Juno-Award winner Mike Downes, is the culmination of years of performing, writing and growing together.  The musical gifts, from the performers, the composers, arrangers, the producer and the mixers are all upfront and create musical magic. Their musical passion, led by Ron Davis and Mike Downes, exemplifies the sum being greater than the whole. UpfRONt is Ron Davis’ style and the entire essence of the SymphRONica project at its peak.

UpfRONt was a Heavy Rotation / Album of the Week in Canada and the US. It garnered widespread praise. Longtime New York jazz pianist and broadcaster Judy Carmichael gushed that “I loved the CD!”. And now the record has been nominated for Canada’s equivalent to the Grammy and BAFTA awards – The Juno Award.

SymphRONica UpfRONt is available on Apple Music, Amazon, CDBaby, Spotify and other online outlets.

SymphRONica UpfRONt

Ron Davis – piano / keyboards
Mike Downes – electric and acoustic bass / Producer
Kevin Barrett – guitars/ mandolin / Music Director
Aline Homzy – violin/ Strings Leader
Steve Heathcoate – drums and percussion
Brielle Goheen – violin
Laurence Schaufele – viola
Raphael Weinroth-Browne – cello
Daniela Nardi – vocal
Dennis Patterson – engineering/ editing/ mixing

Ron Davis acknowledges with gratitude the invaluable support of the Canada Council for the Arts, FACTOR and the Ontario Arts Council in the making of SymphRONica UpfRONt.

by Ron Davis

The Instrumental Liberation Front: A Manifesto by Ron Davis

The Instrumental Liberation Front: A Manifesto

By Ron Davis (Instrumental Musician)

Instrumental music has gone missing. I’m not sure if it’s been abducted, suppressed or shrouded in a dark veil of neglect, but it’s become nearly invisible. Or rather, inaudible.

On the radio (with the rare exception of such mainstays as JazzFM). On the Internet. Certainly on television, where it used to have a constant presence. In old media. In new. It’s gone. Instrumental music is gone, or just about. Words and music, yes. Music alone, no. Text plus music, check. Music sans text, negative.

Instrumental music needs to be liberated. It needs to restored. Restored to its rightful place on culture’s stages.

We who love music need to make this happen. We must help carve a path of return for the many great instrumentalists alive today. For the jazzers. The classical musicians. The fingerpickers. The bluegrass guys. The composers. The arrangers. For them whose voice is a collection of notes. For all the musicians in all styles of instrumental music.

We need to liberate instrumental music. We need an Instrumental Liberation Front.

The history of western music is the history of the instrumental coexisting in harmony (ahem) with the vocal. A Beethoven symphony, a Verdi opera. A Scott Joplin rag, a Stephen Foster tune. Billie Holiday Strange Fruit, Duke Ellington Isfahan. The Beatles’ Let It Be, Herbie Hancock's Watermelon Man.

This instrumental-vocal coexistence ran right up until the 1980's. Before then, you could rely on finding instrumental tunes on the charts: Wipeout, Baby Elephant Walk, The Homecoming, even the much maligned Popcorn.

But then… commercial, Top 40, focus group-based, metric driven Command-and-Control McMusic started squeezing out instrumental music. There was more marketing juice in personalities than in notes. The musician was subordinated to the person (although we all know the artist is not the person). The music was subordinated to the text.

Consequence: popular music is now all vocal. No more instrumental. Scan the top playlists and charts: nada instrumentala.

What have we lost? Whole swaths of music styles and stylists. Deeply talented musicians who cannot make a living. Great players who have mastered their craft, but have no means to sustain themselves. Yesterday’s brilliant pianist is today’s divorce lawyer.

Not that there’s anything wrong with being a divorce lawyer. But, for crikey’s sake, if the world can expend so much energy in saving the Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis), can it not step up for the instrumental musician (Melodious problematicus)?

Now, I’m not a disinterested advocate. I have skin in the game. I’m a jazz pianist. I don’t sing. I don’t write lyrics. If I want to wax lyrical, it’s via the notes on the keyboard.

But when I talk to colleagues who were active in the 60s and 70s, I am stunned by how much the level of engagement with jazz has diminished. Those guys were working all the time. My colleagues and I today are lucky to work a few times a week.

And it’s not that the music is any less great. In some ways, it’s never been better. Thanks to devoted operations like JazzFM, you can hear the stuff out there. It’s fabulous. Mike Downes, Tania Gill, Robi Botos, Lina Alemano… superb instrumentalists and composers, all.

Jazz players and fans do have to take some of the responsibility for the reduced attention we are getting. Jazz may have become too hermetic. Too specialized. Too heady.

But that’s not the root cause of current neglect. Classical, bluegrass, percussion and other instrumental forms are experiencing the same cricket-noises.

No. The musicians and the music do not bear the greater part of the blame. The music industry does. It has succeeded in marginalizing instrumental music. It has made no room for the new Charlie Parkers, David Sanborns, Ida Haendels, and Glenn Goulds.

This must change. Instrumental music must be allowed to graze again in the open minds of the public’s ears. We need to free instrumental music.

We need the Instrumental Music Liberation Front.

by Ron Davis

"A quantum leap": SymphRONica UpfRONt Record Release & 2018/19 Concert Season Launch!

SymphRONica UpfRONt has arrived! Buy it now on CDBaby here (soon on iTunes, Google Play Music, Spotify and other major outlets).

Ron Davis. Piano player, composer, band leader, Edinburgh can i buy ambien in mexico over the counter? Festival Fringe favourite, BBC Radio 3 repeat guest, solo artist, critics choice. Ron Davis is many things to many people, and audiences love his shows. Ron and his band of award-winning musicians have kept people listening, loving and coming back for more.

Ron Davis is a Canadian jazz visionary. His music blends genres and pushes boundaries, building on his jazz and classical training, influenced by world music (klezmer, Hungarian, Italian, Brazilian, Latin, Québecois). He seeks new textures, new forms, new compositions, new formations and new ways of presenting his signature sound without losing a connection to audiences. The music is diverse in a characteristically Canadian way.

Ron is the founder of SymphRONica – a creative project that combines jazz, world, groove, pop, classical music and a stellar group of Canadian musicians into a mix that can be found nowhere else. Ron and his musical collaborators have spent years working together, and it shows on stage and in the studio. In Ron’s words “We’ve become good friends over the years, and from that we’ve become attuned to each other’s playing. Just as Toronto is a city composed of many people from many places, SymphRONica is composed of a group of musicians from diverse backgrounds, and every one of them plays with intense passion and pleasure together.” SymphRONica is genre-defying – no one else is combining a jazz ensemble with full symphony orchestras or string quartets.

Ron and SymphRONica’s experiences include performances on BBC Radio 3, and in London (including Trafalgar Square for Canada 150 celebrations), and repeat invitations to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The positive reception and successes reached with their previous 3 albums have shown that SymphRONica is a true example of the height and skill of Canadian instrumental groups.

SymphRONica UpfRONt is Ron’s 12th and SymphRONica’s 3rd collection of his unique, and world renowned sound. UpfRONt, is a quantum leap from his previous works, representing the greater cross--cultural and cross-stylistic diversity of the players and contributors, including Juno Award winner Mike Downes (who also acted as producer). UpfRONt showcases the great Canadian talent that has coalesced in and around SymphRONica. UpfRONt is pure Ron Davis and the entire essence of the SymphRONica project at its peak.

October 25th, 2018 will be the inaugural show of SymphRONica’s 2018/2019 season at 918 Bathurst Centre for Culture, Arts, Media and Education. It will be a celebration of SymphRONica’s 6 years working together and coming together to form a unique jazz ensemble unlike any other in Canada or probably the world, and will include a presentation of some of the music from UpfRONt. You can purchase SymphRONica UpfRONt on CDBaby (here) right now! Soon available on iTunes, Google Play Music, Spotify and other major outlets.

On December 13th, Ron and SymphRONica will be reuniting with artists from the Tap Dance Centre for a third year of unique, vibrant and striking music and dance.

SymphRONica will finish their season with a May 23rd performance celebrating jazz and Western classical music, bringing them together to create The Instrumental Liberation Front – The Jazz of Classical Sound. This promises to be a one-of-a-kind musical experience.

Ron Davis acknowledges with gratitude the invaluable support of the Canada Council for the Arts, FACTOR and the Ontario Arts Council in the making of SymphRONica UpfRONt.

by Ron Davis

SymphRONica named "One of the best music shows" at Edinburgh Festival Fringe!

One of the top arts magazines, The List, has named SymphRONica as "One of the best music shows ... in week one of the festival"! at Edinburgh Festival Fringe on its prestigious #HitList.

This is huge. Edinburgh Fringe is the largest arts festival in the world. It hosts buy ambien cr without prescription thousands of acts each year. This distinction awarded to Ron and SymphRONica puts them in the ranks of the top jazz acts anywhere.

Read the full piece on The List here.

by Ron Davis

SYMPHRONICA RETURNS FOR AN INCREDIBLE 2017/18 SEASON!

SUBSCRIBE TO 2017/18 SEASON –  3 SHOWS – SAVE!  Purchcase discount season tickets here!

Ron Davis and Symphronica are back from an brilliant summer in the U.K. Trafalgar Square, BBC Radio 3, Edinburgh Festival Fringe and more - what a smashing run!

Now it's on to a buzzing 2017/18 season of SymphRONica. From a brass quintet to a pre-recording extravaganza to a celebration of SymphRONica's great individual musicians: this is the creative spirit of jazz at another level!

From an enthusiastic SymphRONic return to the 2017 Edinburgh Festival Fringe with record-breaking audiences to performing at the official Canada 150 celebrations in London’s historic Trafalgar Square; from the release of his new solo album RythmaRON to a show at the renowned National Arts Centre, 2017 is the year of Ron Davis, and 2018 will continue the momentum with more shows, more music and more of Ron Davis’ signature style.

Ron Davis’ SymphRONica is all about the sound. They’re always entertaining, always engaging and they’ve dazzled audiences on both sides of the Atlantic, including appearances on BBC Radio 3 and at the Pan Am Games, London’s SouthBank Centre and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. They’ve used
their genre-bending blend of music to wow them in Glasgow and leave them calling for more in London. SymphRONica has dazzled New York City and become Canada’s treasured source of symphRONic entertainment. Now they’re back to lead Toronto down the rhythmic path that Ron Davis and SymphRONica have discovered.

3 AMAZING SHOWS:

• NOV. 30 - SYMPHRONICA MEETS THE BADASS HOGTOWN BRASS - AGAIN! - details / tickets here
• FEB. 1 - SYMPHRONICA - INTO THE STUDIO - details / tickets here
• MAY 24 - SYMPHRONICA SOLO - details / tickets here

SUBSCRIBE TO 2017/18 SEASON –  3 SHOWS – SAVE!  Purchcase discount season tickets here!

by Ron Davis

RON DAVIS RELEASES RhythmaRON - 11th RECORDING / FIRST ALL SOLO PIANO OUTING IN 40 YEARS!

Ron Davis - RhythmaRON
A Trip Back to the Basics

Ron Davis, Toronto’s much-loved jazz pianist, has created a musical style that is simply known as “Ron’s style”. RhythmaRON, Ron Davis’ first solo piano album in his 40-year career, is a trip back to the basics to where it began. It is solo piano in the style of the greats: Earl “Fatha” Hines, Thomas “Fats” Waller, Willie “The Lion” Smith, Thelonious Monk, Oscar Peterson and Art Tatum. These are the works that shaped his world, the ones that he fastidiously studied until he knew every note, every pause and every part. “Handful of Keys”, “Piano Starts Here”, “Tracks”, “Solo Monk” were on his heavy rotation list and he performs them as only Ron Davis can.

As Ron puts it: “Those records got me started. They lit a fire in me. I began practicing as much as I could, so I could sound like my idols. Solo piano was where I wanted to go, and I got there eventually. First in the basement on my own, then in school and finally at my first gigs, all before I was old enough to vote, and all solo. When I started playing piano I played solo, and after 20 years of duos, trios, quartets and shows with my eight musician Pocket SymphRONica, I’m going back to where I began.“

RhythmaRON is Ron Davis’ eleventh album and includes the sounds and styles that informed his musical world from his beginnings as a pianist through to today. Ron Davis loves to share music and to add his creative twist to everything that he performs. This is how he describes the tunes:

1. Rhythmaron (Ron Davis) – Based on George Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm” with a well-known Art Tatum sequence
2. Give Me the Simple Life (R. Bloom & H. Ruby) – First heard performed by Oscar Peterson, which becomes a never-to-be-forgotten musical aha moment.
3. You Can't Do That (J. Lennon & P. McCartney) – The Beatles meet Boogie Woogie
4. A Child Is Born (Thad Jones & Alec Wilder) – A ballad, exploring beauty in music.
5. The Fishin' Hole (E. Sloane, E. Hagen & H. Spencer) – Playing around with the theme song from the old TV classic “Andy of Mayberry”.
6. Moon River (H. Mancini & J. Mercer) – Henry Mancini’s timeless classic, played with a twist influenced by Eric Satie.
7. Jitterbug Waltz (T. Waller, M. Manners & C. Grean) – A swing era classic transposed into a minor key, giving it more ‘jitter’ than the original.
8. Cullibalue (Ron Davis) –The. Blues.
9. Over the Rainbow (H. Arlen & Y. Harburg) – Surely one of the most beautiful songs ever written.
10. Secret Love (S. Fain & P. Webster) – A good old straight-ahead jazz standard.
11. Rockin' in Rhythm (D. Ellington, H. Carney & I. Mills) – A rollicking nod to master pianist, Duke Ellington.
12. You Must Believe in Spring (M. Legrand) – A haunting, gorgeous song made famous by Bill Evans.
13. Swing Street (Ron Davis) – Returning to his roots, Ron plays some klezmer stride that first kindled his musical curiosity and passion.

RhythmaRON was recorded over three days in February 2017 on a Bosendorfer Imperial Grand with longtime producer/engineer colleague and friend Dennis Patterson. Ron Davis is proud of the results. It took him many years to return to solo playing. It was worth the wait.

2017 LIVE PERFORMANCES:
June 20/21 RhythmaRON CD Release – Jazz Bistro
July 1 Trafalgar Square, London UK – Official Canada 150 Celebrations
July 1 Savoy Hotel, London UK – Official Canada 150 Celebrations
July 3 La Belle Angele, Edinburgh, Scotland
August 14 – 19 & 21– 26 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, The Scottish Arts Club
September Stratford, Ontario
November Ron Davis’ Pocket SymphRONica Lula Lounge Series begins

NOTABLE RON DAVIS RECORDINGS:
Pocket SymphRONica
SymphRONica
Mungle Music
Shimmering Rhythm
Subaraashi Live

NOTABLE QUOTES:
“Firmly established as an innovative force within the world of jazz.” - National Post

“One of the most tenacious and engaging musical artists in Canada... an artist at the peak of his creativity and technical facility.” - WholeNote

"Ron Davis is a name that is synonymous with creativity, inventiveness, eclecticism... an unclassifiable pianist, a great virtuoso, a genius composer..." L’Express

rondavismusic.com | symphronica.com

by Ron Davis

RON DAVIS & SYMPHRONICA TAKE OVER LONDON FOR CANADA 150

Saturday July 1, 2017
Trafalgar Square, London, England

Ron Davis and SymphRONica have been invited by Canada’s High Commission in the U.K. to perform in the heart of London- historic Trafalgar Square- on July 1, Canada Day as part of CANADA 150 – the official celebrations of Canada’s 150 birthday.

The past few years have been good to Ron and his team. Their “Pocket SymphRONica” recording topped the charts, and they were honored with being the Critic’s Choice performers at the 2015 Pan Am Games. They finished an impressive 10-show run at the Edinburgh Fringe buy phentermine without prescription Festival 2016– AND became BBC Radio 3 regular performers.

It looks like 2017 is going to be another exciting year for Ron and SymphRONica. After captivating the crowds at the Chamber Music America Conference in New York City- where they were jury-selected performers- they have also been invited back to Edinburgh to perform 12 more shows! BBC Radio 3 is also excited to potentially have them back as guest performers.

Details for their performance in London are being finalized. Stay up to date with all the latest Ron Davis and SymphRONica information here.

by Ron Davis