Renowned Canadian jazz musicians Paul Novotny and Robi Botos will be performing from their upcoming record Look Ahead at a special concert at Showplace Performance Centre (290 George St. N., Peterborough, 705-742-7469) on Thursday, November 5th — along with a guest appearance by local roots musician Rick Fines.
The concert will be preceded by an afternoon clinic with Novotny, Botos, and Fines on the business of creativity, sponsored by Showplace and the Peterborough Integrated Arts Program at Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School (TASS).
A Peterborough native and graduate of TASS, Novotny is a JUNO-award winning bassist, producer, and composer based out of Toronto. Formerly bassist for The Brian Browne Trio and the Dave McMurdo Jazz Orchestra, he’s worked with other great Canadian jazz artists including Joe Sealy, Cedar Walton, Junior Mance, Tommy Banks, and many more.
In addition to performing, Novotny has composed music for several documentaries and feature films, CBC’s The National and The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos, as well as for commercials for leading companies and products.
Born into a musical Roma family in Hungary in 1978, Botos began his musical career when he was a child in Budapest, playing drums and percussion and taking up piano when he was just seven years old. In 1998, he immigrated to Canada as a refugee and has been a fixture of the Toronto jazz scene ever since.
Mentored by his friend the late Oscar Peterson, Botos has since received many accolades including a 2007 National Jazz Award for “Keyboardist of the Year”, First Place Prizes at the 2008 Montreux Jazz Festival Solo Piano Competition and 2008 Great American Jazz Piano Competition and, most recently, the TD Grand Jazz Award at The Montreal International Jazz Festival in 2012.
The musical colloboration between Novotny and Botos is mirrored in the tune “Budapest” on Look Ahead. The Botos composition pays tribute to his Hungarian birthplace, which he fled along with his brother Frank (a drummer) and their families to escape the persecution of the Roma people.
When they relocated to Canada, members of the jazz community in Toronto embarked a letter-writing to support the family. One of those most active in the campaign was Novotny, whose own family settled in Canada after fleeing Prague in the late 1940s (following the Communist takeover of what was then Czechoslovakia).
Look Ahead also features a number of standards including “My Favorite Things” and “A Nightingale Sang in Berkley Square,” as well as original tracks by both Novotny and Botos.
“My Favorite Things” – arranged and performed by Paul Novotny and Robi Botos
“Working with Robi was so natural and produced an embarrassment of riches,” says Novotny. “So many albums need editing to fix problems. This one required editing to present the jewels of the three days of recording.”
To support the upcoming fall release of Look Ahead, Novotny and Botos are embarking on a cross-Canada concert tour, with the inaugral concert happening in Peterborough. What makes the tour so unique is that each concert will be accompanied by an associated music clinic called “Look Ahead – The Business of Creativity”.
“The clinic is intended to enlighten young high school students who are interested in the arts as a way to make a living on a full-time or part-time basis from their creativity,” explains Novotny. “Part of our discussion will be based on the contention that domestic cultural policy as an infrastructure must be balanced for creators and consumers of creative products and that it should protect our domestic market from being a dumping ground for ubiquitous and inexpensive American cultural products that kill our own creators and producers.”
“Emphasis will be placed on the significance of the arts and creativity in the community,” adds Cydnee Hosker, co-ordinator of the Peterborough Integrated Arts Program. “It is my hope students will come away with a new found understanding of the possibilities they may create for themselves in the future.”
As well as performing at the evening concert, Fines will be joining Novotny and Botos at the free clinic, which takes place from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m..
“I have invited Rick to join us in Peterborough as he lives in the city and is a great example of a local artist who built a nationwide career for himself,” Novotny says. “Rick has a wonderful educational program called Blues in the Schools that he has been taking across the country for several years.”
While the afternoon clinic is oriented towards high school students (around 150 students are attending) , it is open to the public.
The evening concert begins at 7:30 p.m. and general admission tickets are $30, available at the Showplace Box Office or online at www.showplace.org.
