MusicNL New Music Friday 2023

Best of 2023: Country

Watermelon Moonshine

KALEIDOSCOPE: the new album by Canadian composer BILL Brennan is a collection of original music written for mallet instruments, primarily the marimba and vibraphone. Brennan’s compositions draw from his musical life as a performer of contemporary new music and jazz, and from his experiences with the music of other cultures. In his liner notes Brennan writes: “I want to acknowledge the music of Ghana, Brazil, Indonesia and India. I have been fortunate to have great teachers and mentors from these countries, and my musical life has been immensely enriched because of them and their music.” In its appreciation for layers of space and patterns, Brennan’s work also harkens to his own province of Newfoundland and Labrador, woven together to create fine fabrics of sonic tapestries. The sound microcosms that Brennan creates are established within a landscape of rhythmic complexity, bold melodic language, flexibility of musical style, and harmonic elegance. The composition Shadows, for example, is like a musical mobile, turning and spinning with slight but constant changes in colour. In Kaleidoscope Brennan explores subtle changes of chordal textures, with influences of Brazilian samba music and Stravinsky’s The Firebird. Other pieces, such as Au revoir Les Enfants and Belo Horizonte, are inspired by space and place, reminiscent of Paris and the joyous reflection of early morning sounds in the central park of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The captivating, virtuoso performances by Brennan and his musical collaborators ROB POWER and ETIENNE GENDRON are rich with a beauty, sensitivity and integrity that is singular to this album.

Acclaimed as “a central figure in this country’s music” (Toronto Star) BILL BRENNAN is a pianist, percussionist, composer and producer who can be heard on over 120 albums to date.  His album I’ll be seeing you with Andrea Koziol won the 2019 MusicNL Jazz and Blues Award. His album Solo Piano 2 won the MusicNL Instrumental album of the year in 2008. His album of 2006 Solo Piano received nominations for MusicNL and ECMA Instrumental Album of the Year. Brennan has recorded with the Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan, Andy Stochansky, Kevin Breit, Oliver Schroer, Tafelmusik, and has his own albums out on the Avalon and Reflections labels. Over the past three decades, Brennan has been involved with some of the best-known organizations in Canadian culture. He has performed with the National Ballet, New Music Concerts, Continuum, and Canadian Opera Company. He has been composer for CBC’s The Nature of Things and musical director for The Vinyl Café, and for countless stage productions including Chicago, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Evita. Always in demand as a folk and jazz pianist, Brennan performs regularly with his own projects. He has performed across North America and around the world: Indonesia, Austria, Germany, France, Japan, Norway, the Czech Republic, England, Scotland, Portugal and Switzerland. More than 35 years of relentless experience have garnered Brennan a solid reputation as a player, composer and arranger of contemporary classical, jazz, folk and world music — always exploring, always open to new ideas.

Kaleidoscope

Time

Trouble

The Master

3 Songs At A Time Sampler

Last Night

After The Tone

Jay Heart - After The Tone

Gettin' Old

Fast Car

White Horse

06 Waiting on a Train

Since launching his career in early 2020, Justin Fancy, who hails from Conception Bay South, Newfoundland, has quickly become one to watch on the Canadian Country Music scene. Justin is the reigning ECMA Entertainer of the Year and MusicNL Entertainer of The Year for 2022.

After releasing two stand-alone singles in early 2020, Justin released his debut album, Sure Beats a Good Time, which became the catalyst for Justin winning Music Newfoundland’s 2020 Country Artist of the Year and Rising Star of the Year. It was the first time in the history of the awards that the same artist has won both categories in the same year.

His most recent release “Lie”, in collaboration with LA heavyweight Greg Wells, has received raving reviews from both streaming services and radio securing the cover on Amazon Music Canada’s “Just North of Nashville” playlist. Justin has also been picked by Acadia Broadcasting as the Breakout Artist for the months of July and August 2023 which will feature heavy radio play in the Atlantic provinces. The song has also been added to SiriusXM’s Top of The Country station in heavy rotation. 

With over 4.5 million global streams to date, Justin is well under way to a sustainable career in the Canadian country music scene and he is regarded as one of the brightest emerging stars in Canada.