Wray of sunshine illuminates the world of jazz
Wray Downes (left) in conversation with guest performer Oliver Jones. Professor Charles Ellison in the background.
photos Andrew Dobrowolskyj
Jazz teacher Wray Downes was the guest of honour at a musical evening Oct. 20 at the Oscar Peterson Concert Hall. It came complete with a tribute from and a performance by pianist Oliver Jones that had the audience leaping to their feet with approval.
The evening was a belated 75th birthday party for Downes, who has played with the best of them.
Downes was born in Toronto. He was the first Canadian to receive the British Empire (Overseas) Scholarship to London’s Trinity College of Music.
After studying classical piano in London and then at the Paris Conservatory, he turned to jazz, working under Sacha Distel, Bill Coleman, Sidney Bichet and inventor of bebop Dizzy Gillespie. Returning to Toronto, he attended Oscar Peterson’s Advanced School of Contemporary Music in Toronto, and was mentored in New York by Mary Lou Williams, a noted jazz pianist.
He forged a career as a composer, arranger, conductor and performer, playing in the 1950s and ’60s with such musicians as Lester Young and Clark Terry, and frequently played on the CBC. In the 1970s and ’80s, he played at the Montreal International Jazz Festival, in Los Angeles, in clubs, on many NBC shows, and before heads of state, including Nelson Mandela.
His record label, Justin Time, web site says he played an important role in the recording of Bones Blues, with Pete Magadini, Dave Young and Don Menza. The recording won a Juno Award.
Professor Andrew Homzy puts the Big Band through their paces as they play several Homzy arrangements and an original composition
At the tribute concert, the performers included ensembles of faculty members from the Music Department, a great six-piece student ensemble, and a big band of professionals who gave up paying gigs to play for Wray.
His life partner and mother of his twin boys, vocalist Madeleine Thériault, told the audience how she met Downes about 15 years ago at Concordia, and said they used to go to the Guadagni Lounge to chat about music.
Two recent students, Michael Litresits and Chris Tauchner, talked about how Downes affected them. He passed on the jazz tradition through inspiration, Tauchner said. “He told me, ‘You’ve got the light. I’m just providing the switch.’”
About 40 musicians and speakers took part in the tribute, which stretched over almost three hours.
Prominent among them were faculty members Charles Ellison and Andrew Homzy, former dean Chris Jackson and current dean Catherine Wild, president Claude Lajeunesse and Maria Peluso, president of the part-time faculty union, which sponsored the evening.