AUBREY DAYLE’s musicianship began at the age of 5 when he started to study the accordion and the piano. Gifted in many ways, Aubrey, as a child and now as a man, has had the great good fortune of being much loved. A boon for any artist but especially for this artist who has been led to the brink of the abyss, confronted it, and turned his vision into an over-arching desire to confront life with love. The percussive nature of his art, the drumming that taps into the instinctual nature of our own swirling undercurrents, are ideal for transmitting the simple truth that lives must be lived without fear. Or perhaps, in our time, simply with less fear. In 2012 Aubrey Dayle became gravely ill because of acute kidney failure. Early in 2013 he received a kidney transplant from his wife, Julie. A documentary on their experience with this process, Stay Aubrey! premiered at TIFF in 2014. Surrounded by love from Julie and his kids, Kai and Echo, his wonderful parents Enid and Howard, his sisters Janice, and Charmaine (gone but present), extended family and friends, Aubrey is once again at full strength.
Aubrey continues to work with James ‘Blood’ Ulmer in a trio, The Music Revelation Ensemble, and with his Memphis Blood Blues band that features guitarist Vernon Reid. In ‘Blood’ Ulmer’s own remarks: “I play off his beat, his beat runs up and down my spine.” “My id: Featuring Aubrey Dayle” has included Vernon Reid as a special guest both in this 2004 release and in “My id: Jewel” (2012). “Live Revival: Aubrey Dayle’s My id with Vernon Reid” (2008) features both artists as well as Robi Botos, Rich Brown, and Michael Stuart. His latest work is On Topic (2017).
KIM RATCLIFFE says it all began that afternoon in Edmonton when his buddy George showed up, all excited, with this odd little disc. The two 8 year olds made their way to George’s grandmother’s sewing room, and when the needle landed on the grooves of the ’45 and the first strains of Love Me Do filled the room, molecules were rearranged and something changed. The first transformative musical experience. Later there were the hours in the basement with the acoustic guitar and the records, trying to make it sound like ‘that.’ By his late teens, he was playing six nights a week in bar bands in Victoria, studying classical guitar, and discovering jazz. Dave Keen and Paul Horn helped him out. Then it was on to Toronto, York U. music, years as a journeyman musician trying to keep working, learning, always checking out new things, but also delving deeper into the music which had grabbed him as a young player.
Kim’s thrilled with this new band, 13go, and the new record featuring special guest Vernon Reid on guitar. What a trip! All these things from the past meet in a new place! He’s also in the Come From Away band at the Elgin Theater, an amazing experience. There’s Paul Delong’s One Word, the Walrus Guitar Quartet (chamber music with David Occhipinti, Ted Quinlan and Roddy Elias), and spontaneous improv with Bruce Cassidy.
Kim has also worked with singers Holly Cole, Colm Wilkinson, the genre bending new music ensemble Hemispheres, avant funk band Gotham City, and he studied and performed with composers David Mott and James Tenney. There was work in musicals such as ‘Chicago,’ ‘Hairspray’ in some grand theatres, and teaching in the music departments of Humber and Mohawk College. He’s been very fortunate to follow his bliss. kimratcliffe.com
IAN DE SOUZA was born in Kampala, Uganda into a musical family, Ian has had music as his constant companion his entire life.
Becoming a professional musician 35+ years ago sealed the relationship, and there was no looking back. Since then, Ian has traveled the world as a touring musician, having performed venues and festivals on almost every continent, in as many idioms.
In the early-mid 90’s, during the height of advertising music boom, he joined the fray as a session bass player, adding his distinctive style to over 150 TV and radio ‘jingles’. In the early 00’s Ian honed and added his production and composition skills and brought them to his life long love affair with music. Composing, arranging and producing music for and with amongst others, Toronto-based instrumental band Sisters Euclid (with whom he won a Juno and National Jazz Award) and electronica duo, LAL.
More recently Ian has composed music for film (including the score for Vikram Dasgupta’s internationally acclaimed, multi-award-winning short, Calcutta Taxi). Leaving no creative stone unturned, Ian also produced music for theatre earning him a Dora Mavor Moore nomination for Anita Majumdar’s one-woman play, Misfit. Ian has also composed music for dance, contributing several works for his wife, dancer, Joanna de Souza’s Chhandam Dance Company. In 2017/18 Ian’s compositions for dance will drive the collaboration between Chhandam Dance and Regina’s heralded contemporary dance troupe, Fada Dance. This collaborative work, FINITE, is set to tour India and across Canada in 2017/18
VERNON REID is the producer of domestic tranquility and performs on several tracks including “How Much Longer?” and “Bloodlines.” He has been a friend and significant artistic collaborator in Aubrey’s life since 1993. Aubrey was already a fan of Reid’s “Living Colour” when, at one of his performances with James “Blood” Ulmer Blues Experience, he spotted Reid taking pictures of the band. He confesses to being “a little star-struck” at this but later discovered that they were practically neighbours on Staten Island, New York. They hired each other for several of their own projects and the friendship blossomed as their working together intensified over time. Throughout Aubrey’s illness and the uncertainty during the process of undergoing his kidney transplant, Vernon held his hand and was an unfailing source of support.
Vernon Reid was born in London and emigrated to Brooklyn with his family while he was still a child. He is the founder of Living Colour (1983) and together with journalist Greg Tate, he formed the Black Rock Coalition; the latter continues to work at opening doors and guiding black musicians into more musical possibilities. Reid is celebrated for his eclecticism encompasses everything from hard rock and punk to funk, R&B, and avant-garde jazz, and his anarchic, lightning-fast solos have become something of a hallmark as well. In 1980, he joined drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson’s Decoding Society, a cutting-edge jazz group with whom he appeared on six albums; over the course of the decade, Reid went on to work with a wide variety of experimental musicians — Defunkt, Bill Frisell, John Zorn, Arto Lindsay, and Public Enemy, among others.
One of Living Colour’s big breaks happened when Mick Jagger invited them to perform on his Primitive Cool release, produced a demo and even helped in getting them signed by Epic. Living Colour’s latest recording is Shade (2017).
Follow Me