Popular Canadian music gets a makeover when it’s in the hands of a new Calgary jazz ensemble.
MAPL Quintet, performing at the Rotary Performing Arts Centre (RPAC) in Okotoks on Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. has made it its business to adapt hits from the great Canadian songbook.
Traditionally jazz acts have leaned heavily on songs composed by the likes of George Gershwin and Cole Porter from the first half of the 20th century. MAPL Quintet front man and saxophone player Frank Rackow said his group decided to follow a different path.
“We had a kind of a golden period of songwriting in Canada that started with the Can-Con regulations in 1968 or 1969,” he said. “So we’re doing songs by people like Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell, K.D. Lang, Bruce Cockburn and Neil Young. Right now it’s mostly stuff from the 70’s and 80’s though some of the songs are more recent.”
The quintet has played a handful of well-received live shows since it’s formation in March of this year. The MAPL part of the name comes from the four individual designations (music, artist, performance and lyrics) the CRTC uses to decide whether a song is Canadian content or not.
If at least two of those four song categories can be assigned to a citizen of this country, or in the case of performance a location in Canada, the tune qualifies as Canadian content. It makes it not only eligible for increased radio airplay in this nation, but it also makes it potential fodder for the MAPL Quintet.
“These are great songs and they just lend themselves nicely to new interpretations,” Rackow said of the hits the band plays. “That’s what we’re trying to do. We’re not just covering them. We’re reworking them. People will certainly recognize them. We’re respectful of the song, but sometimes we’ll give it a different beat or different feel. We’ll change the harmony up a bit. We’ll throw something new into the mix and create some room for improvisation because we are jazz players and we like to improvise.”
MAPL Quintet also features Stefano Valdo on acoustic bass, drummer Robin Tufts, Nynne Collins as it’s lead singer and Andréa Petrity on piano.
Petrity admitted to having a favourite in the band’s current song catalogue.
“We have this K.D. Lang tune ‘Constant Craving,’” she said. “It’s probably one of our most different sounding ones. It’s also one of our favourite ones. I think all of us equally enjoy playing it.”
The jazz keyboardist revealed there’s much interest within the group in seeing how far they can take the band.
“We’re always adding more material,” Petrity said. “Like every time we perform we add some more tunes. We’d really like to put together a CD and just be a little bit more known and maybe get on the music festival circuit.”
The audience to the group’s On With the Show concert series performance Saturday night in Okotoks will learn choice of material is not the only area where the group differs from other jazz acts.
“Unlike a traditional jazz group we’re very much about having fun and entertaining the audience,” Rackow said. “One of the problems in jazz is you go to a great concert and the artist never smiles. We have fun. We smile. We dance. We even get the audience to participate.”
Tickets are available for the Oct. 1 MAPL Quintet show by calling 403-938-3204.
