Taylor Donaldson: Promoting and Preserving Canadian Jazz
Trombonist, composer and arranger Taylor Donaldson (MMus 2011) has been actively involved in the Montreal music scene for almost a decade, performing in jazz ensembles of all sizes, with symphony orchestras, chamber ensembles, choirs and more.
As of a few months ago, Taylor’s new initiatives are set to make an impact on the community in a different way. Whitewater Music Publications is his new independent print music publishing company, which is set up to offer to offer high-quality editions of Canadian jazz compositions and arrangements for jazz ensembles that are available for purchase through an online store.
We spoke to Taylor about what motivated him to start the business, the landscape of music publishing today and more in a recent email exchange.
What inspired you to set up Whitewater Music Publications? What do you think is special about Canadian composers and arrangers that should be recognized more?
The idea behind Whitewater Music was to launch an independent publishing house for professional charts for big bands and jazz ensembles, with a focus on music written here in Québec and all across Canada. In addition to the music itself, each chart has a preface with notes along with some background and biographical information in both English and French.
Jazz has always been full of important contributions by Canadians from people like Oscar Peterson, Gil Evans and Rob McConnell who had successes south of the border, and from numerous respected musicians making their living here in Canada. Many wonderful composing and arranging talents have developed here, along with several "schools" of large ensemble writing. For example, the distinctive "Toronto Sound," with its rich harmony and tightly scored ensemble passages, was formed over years by arrangers working in the thriving studio scene and jazz clubs of T.O., and anybody that's ever heard the Vic Vogel Band knows that there sure as heck is a Montreal sound!
That said, in the past most big band charts weren't commercially available (let alone the Canadian ones) unless you were in these circles directly. As a result, I think that there are great and uniquely Canadian treasures to promote, and there's piles of first-rate music being written all the time, in a variety of styles. Part of the idea is to try to promote it, help get it out there in print, have it be recognized by new audiences, and to try to preserve the tunes in published form for the future.
How you do feel an independent business like this fits into the music landscape today?
While the music business today has its share of problems (paltry revenues from music streaming, venues becoming scarce, and so forth), there have also been some developments that can be a big help to independent artists. Unlike publishing in years past, which required an arsenal of expensive printing equipment, warehouse space for inventory, and access to an established network of distributors and retailers to have any hope of reaching prospective customers, the advent of notation software and desktop publishing applications has made the production of sheet music easier than ever. Print-on-demand and digital download capabilities mean that costly print runs (hundreds or thousands of copies at a time) are no longer essential, and the internet has made it possible to reach and market to people directly, so that those who are interested can browse, preview and listen to the music, and purchase online at the click of a button. So it's actually kind of an exciting time to get into this kind of thing!
What are some of your favourite charts that you've put out so far?
We've started off with compositions and arrangements from four people: Christine Jensen, Joe Sullivan, Greg Runions, and myself. Christine and Joe are both professors at Schulich, and Greg is a vibraphonist and composer based in my home town of Kingston, Ontario. Among this first batch of charts is Joe's three-movement October Suite (The Prelude, Off-Kilter and Let's Go), which is dedicated to the great American composer/trombonist Slide Hampton, and two of Christine's pieces, exactly as performed on her Juno-winning jazz orchestra recordings Treelines and Habitat.
I think I'd actually say that my favourite thing so far has been reading the composers' notes, which are included in the accompanying preface of each chart. I say that because even after working closely with the music and studying it while preparing the scores and parts for publication, I've still learned a number of new and thought-provoking things by getting to hear directly from the composer about their own music. Having this guidance can be really valuable for any ensemble that's learning and performing someone's chart.
Are there any plans in the works currently to feature more composers? What's next?
There are a couple more of Christine's pieces that are nearly ready and will be out soon, and a number of future plans on the go! We've set up an editorial board for music selection and curation that will be making decisions on submissions and helping to frame and achieve artistic mandates. The hope is to have music from a broad range of composers and arrangers from all across Canada, suitable for a variety of ability levels, for various sized ensembles from combos to big band. Also, we aim to eventually offer a selection of books on related subjects as well –
I've also got some ideas for a set of "how-to" videos and some free resources and guides on music preparation and jazz education topics. So, more to come!
View the full range of music available from Whitewater Music here.
Photo by Evan Shay.
