‘Rebirth of the Cool’ will feature songs by seven Canadian composers, including four who will be in Brandon to take part. The impetus for the project is the 1957 Miles Davis-Gerry Mulligan-Gil Evans collaboration called ‘Birth of the Cool’.

Greg Gatien, BU School of Music

“We hope to record 11 newly composed songs for the CD,” says saxophonist Greg Gatien, professor with BU’s School of Music. “It’s ambitious.”

The all-star band will perform Friday night in BU’s Lorne Watson Recital Hall, an acoustically-superb 200 seat music venue. Admission is free and the show begins at 8 pm. Recording will continue Saturday and Sunday in the Recital Hall.  Gatien says, “We will take the best tracks from the live concert and the studio recordings. Final production will happen this summer and we expect to have the album out by the fall.”

Performers will include Gatien and Winnipeg-based Ken Gold on sax, Dean McNeill from the University of Saskatchewan on trumpet, former New Yorker Jeff Presslaff on trombone, and Brandon University instructors Gilles Fournier and Eric Platz on bass and drums. Renowned recording artist and BU faculty member Michael Cain will produce.

Brandon University, founded in 1899, promotes excellence in teaching, research, creation and scholarship; educating students so that they can make a meaningful difference as engaged citizens and leaders.

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