Track Listing:
1. Enough to Know 7:53 (Bill Coon) SOCAN
2. Departure 5:55 (Bill Coon) SOCAN
3. Chorando Baixinho 6:55 (Abel Ferreria) Todamerica Edicoes LTDA
4. Sunday Morning 5:26 (Bill Coon) SOCAN
5. Careful 6:04 (James S. Hall) MJQ Music Inc.
6. Heart Space (a.k.a. Fred’s Bossa) 7:28 (Bill Coon) SOCAN
7. What is This Thing Called Love 4:30 (Cole Porter) Warner-Chappell Music
8. Yago 4:23 (Bill Coon) SOCAN
9. Zattitude 4:29 (Bill Coon) SOCAN
10. Big Heart 3:53 (Bill Coon) SOCAN
All tracks arranged by Bill Coon.
Executive Producer: Cory Weeds
Produced by: Bill Coon and Chris Gestrin
Recorded at Public Alley 421 Coquitlam, BC, Canada in 2017
Engineered by Chris Gestrin
Mixed and mastered by Chris Gestrin
All photos by Laura Dunfield
Design and layout by Ian Hendrickson-Smith
Special thanks to Iris Page, Neil Chotem, Rick Wilkins, and the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Thank you to Cory Weeds for encouraging the project early on and to Chris Gestrin who makes all instruments sound so good! A special thanks to my wife Jill Townsend for always believing in me.
BC Double Quartet - Departure
Featuring Bill Coon on arch-top and nylon string guitars, Brad Turner on trumpet and flugelhorn, Paul Rushka on acoustic bass, Bernie Arai on drums, Cam Wilson on lead violin, Yuel Yawney on violin, Henry Lee on viola, Finn Manniche on cello.
LINER NOTES for BC DOUBLE QUARTET “DEPARTURE”
When I lived in Montreal in the early nineties, vocalist Denzal Sinclaire asked me to write string orchestra arrangements for a Radio Canada concert. When we found ourselves on the West Coast a few years later, Denzal and I paired down the larger string section to a ten-piece group, and this is when I realized that writing for string quartet could be both practical and magical.
The two quartets each have their own huge universe of possibilities and the gleeful rush for me is to explore the potential of these intersecting universes. Classical players spend much of their lives interpreting the written notes of a score, while jazz players spend a large part of their creative energies using the written notes as a jumping off point, a place of departure.
This double quartet recording is a departure of sorts for me, and I think that’s why it feels so right to (finally!) record the music that’s been running through my head for the last decade. Thanks to all the wonderful players who made it happen and the listeners and friends who have believed in and loved the concept from the beginning.
Some thoughts about the songs:
Enough to Know was inspired by a line from the best poet you’ll never read: David Altic
Departure was composed at the Banff Centre, a place of support and inspiration for so many artists for so many years.
Guitarist Ray Piper showed me Chorando Baixinho and turned me on to the amazing Brazilian music called Choro.
Sunday Morning was composed quite literally one quiet Sunday morning.
Heart Space is a tribute to Fred Valentine’s wonderful architecture at the Banff Centre’s Leighton Artists’ Colony.
What is This Thing Called Love is simply a great standard from the simply great Cole Porter.
Yago is a thinly disguised anagram that conveys my love for Yoga.
I’ve recorded Zattitude before but never with pizzicato strings!
Big Heart is dedicated to a high school buddy of mine, Sean McAllister, who left us too soon. The world would be a better place if our hearts were all as big as Sean’s.