Benny Goodman Centennial Orchestra

• Gene DiNovi, piano
• James Campbell, clarinet
• Dave Young, bass
• Ernesto Cervini, drums & clarinet
• Tara Davidson, alto saxophone & flute
• Graham Campbell, guitar
• Bryden Baird, trumpet
• RJ Satchithananthan, trombone
• David French, tenor saxophone

Benny Goodman was a jazz clarinetist and band leader famous for the songs "Sing, Sing, Sing" and "One O'Clock Jump." A prodigy on the clarinet, Goodman joined the professional musician's union when he was just 13 years old and made his first recording as a soloist four years later. In the 1920s he played in orchestras, on the radio and for stage shows, and made several recordings as a sideman (including for Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday). In the early 1930s Goodman formed his own orchestra and the Swing Era began. He became a world famous bandleader, appeared regularly on the radio and in the movies and is often credited with introducing jazz to mainstream audiences. By the end of his career he'd had well over 100 hit songs, including "Let's Dance," "Blue Moon, and "Six Appeal."

Benny Goodman is considered the first bandleader to perform in public with a racially integrated orchestra.

Days after the 1959 Broadway debut of “The Sound of Music” with the help of Fred Karlin, Benny Goodman arranged the entire musical score for jazz orchestra, featuring all the hit songs. Nearly 50 years ago, Benny Goodman and a stellar group of musicians, including Gene DiNovi, recorded this arrangement at the famous Jazz Club in New York called “Basin Street East”. Songs included favourites such as “Do Re Mi”, “Favourite Things” and “So Long Farewell”, in addition to Goodman classics such as “Sunny Side of the Street”, “Moon Glow” and “Sing, Sing, Sing”.

Pianist and composer Gene DiNovi, who is one of the great icons of Canadian and American jazz, together with Order of Canada-winning musicians James Campbell (clarinet) and Dave Young (Bass), will be performing with and passing on a legacy to the next generation of premier jazz musicians who make up the rest of the Benny Goodman Centennial Orchestra This top talent includes: Bryden Baird (trumpet), Graham Campbell (guitar), Ernesto Cervini (drums and clarinet), Tara Davidson (alto saxophone and flute), David French (tenor saxophone), and RJ Satchithananthan (trombone).

Gene DiNovi, piano

Gene DiNovi wrote his first important song, “Have a Heart”, with the great Johnny Mercer. Percy Faith, Nancy Wilson, Doris Day and Dinah Shore have all recorded his songs. Maurice Chevalier's last TV Special features a song DiNovi wrote with his lyricist Bill Comstock, 'Tout va bien'. He has recorded innumerable CDs, both in North America and abroad, and all have been well received, including a brilliant re-issue of his "The Scandinavian Suite", indisputably a DiNovi masterwork. 
DiNovi's easy-going style and engaging warmth made him a great favourite with audiences on CBC radio and television and on TV Ontario where his last program The Music Room explored the music and lives of the great American songwriters. With the award-winning classical clarinetist James Campbell, he created the popular "Jazz in a Classical Key".

Throughout the 1960s DiNovi was in Hollywood where, through mutual friends, he met producer Louis Eldeman (who had produced James Cagney's White Heat, among other memorable films) by whose agency DiNovi was soon involved in television production as an arranger/composer. He worked principally on the Sheldon Leonard-Danny Thomas shows, all of which were produced by Desi-Lu studios. It was at Desi-Lu that DiNovi met producer-arranger-composer Harry Ruby, who sponsored him into ASCAP, The American Society of Composers and Publishers. Gene began his musical life as a jazz pianist on 52nd Street - New York 's legendary "Swing Street" - in 1945. It was a remarkable and life-changing journey for the fifteen-year-old DiNovi from hanging around outside the clubs, listening raptly to the music of Art Tatem, Lester Young and Billie Holiday, to his being invited to sit in with them. Among the first to recognize DiNovi's musical potential was the great Dizzy Gillespie who gave the youthful pianist his Be-Bop baptism. "Come up here and play", Gillespie said to him one night - and the rest, as they say, is history. To make it a genuine baptism of fire, Charlie Parker sauntered around the corner of the bandstand - already playing - and sat in as well! It wasn't long after this fantasy-like beginning to his jazz career that DiNovi was playing and recording with Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Buddy Rich, Chubby Jackson and Boyd Raeburn. Though self-taught in his beginning period, he went on to study music with Mario Castelnuovo Tedesco and Mario di Bonaventura as well as piano study with Jacob Gimpel.

DiNovi's love for and understanding of the popular song became strongly evident during the 1950s. His playing during these years attracted the attention of singers such as Peggy Lee, Tony Bennett and Lena Horne. 
In fact, DiNovi was in demand by just about every great singer of that era, each of them wanting his backing as a musical director. It was through these stellar performances that DiNovi came to know and work with the finest songwriters such as: Harold Arlen, Jimmy Van Husen and Harry Warren. DiNovi's interest in writing songs was kindled during this period. 
Two recent musical events are a tribute to the richness and variation of Gene DiNovi's musical career. In the winter of 1997, The Smithsonian Institute conducted a life-history interview with Gene for two long days. DiNovi does concerts, seminars and classes at many universities (e.g., Indiana University, Texas A&M, and the Orford Art Centre). Mr. DiNovi has recently completed the score (with Gary Michael Dault) for Alice in the Orchestra, a musical entertainment for actors and symphony orchestra currently in production with a number of major musical organizations throughout North America. You can also visit www.aliceintheorchestra.com to see and hear the chamber orchestra version of this new work. 
September 25, 2005 marked the date for the symphonic world premier by the Winnipeg Symphony 
Orchestra with DiNovi conducting. Gene DiNovi has two daughters living in Los Angeles; Denise DiNovi Taylor and Michelle DiNovi Sawelson. He has three grandsons; McNeil Christian Taylor, Nicholas Eugene Taylor and Alex Patrick Sawelson. Gene resides in Toronto, Canada with his wife Deirdre and son William Desmond DiNovi.

James Campbell, Clarinet

James Campbell has followed his muse to five television specials, more than 40 recordings, over 30 works commissioned, a Juno Award for Stolen Gems [Marquis Records], a Roy Thomson Hall Award, Canada's Artist of the Year and the Order of Canada. Most recently, Campbell received The Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal. This was given on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the accession of Her Majesty the Queen to the throne.

Called by the Toronto Star "Canada's pre-eminent clarinetist and wind soloist", James Campbell has performed in most of the world's major concert halls and with over 50 orchestras, including the London Symphony, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and the Russian Philharmonic. During the 2003–2004 season he performed with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops in the premiere of Dreaming of the Masters, a jazz concerto by Allan Gilliland, commissioned by the Edmonton Symphony and written for James Campbell.

Campbell has collaborated and performed with many of the world's great musicians, including Aaron Copland and the late Glenn Gould; as well as chamber music tours with over 30 string quartets, including the legendary Amadeus String Quartet, the Guarneri, Vermeer, New Zealand, St Lawrence, Fine Arts, and Allegri String Quartets.

Currently, Mr. Campbell tours with Trio Mosaique (clarinet, viola and piano), the New Zealand Quartet, and with jazz pianist Gene DiNovi.

Of Campbell's extensive discography many releases have won international acclaim. Most recent include Brahms’s Clarinet Quintet with the Allegri Quartet, voted "Top Choice" by BBC Radio 3, the world premiere recording of Brahms’s Sonata op. 120, no. 1 (orchestrated by Luciano Berio), with the London Symphony Orchestra (both on Cala Records), and the Sony Classical re-release of Debussy’s Première Rhapsodie, with Glenn Gould.

Campbell has been the subject of numerous features and cover stories in Clarinet Magazine (United States), Clarinet and Sax (UK), Piper Magazine (Japan), Gramophone, and in the book Clarinet Virtuosi of Today, by British author and clarinet authority Pamela Weston. In 1984, James Campbell was named artistic director of the summer chamber music festival, The Festival of the Sound in Parry Sound, Ontario. As artistic director, Mr. Campbell has taken the festival to England on three occasions and it has been the subject of documentaries by BBC Television, CBC Television and TV Ontario. In 2003 Festival of the Sound opened its very own 500-seat concert hall, the Charles W. Stockey Festival Performance Hall.

Since 1989, James Campbell has made Bloomington, Indiana, his base during the academic year as Professor of Music at the prestigious music school of Indiana University.

Dave Young, Bass

Official Website: www.daveyoung.ca

To my way of thinking, Dave Young is one of the most talented bassists on the jazz scene. His harmonic sympatico and unerring sense of time have kept him in the foreground of the jazz picture. --Dr. Oscar Peterson

...Flawless time, big buoyant tone and bold solo ideas...keen instincts and depth of musicality. The results of (his playing) are a testament to his ability to listen and adapt his concept of time from player to player. --Bill Milkowski, JAZZ TIMES

Toronto-based and Winnipeg-born multiple award-winning bassist and composer Dave Young, is, without a doubt, one of Canada‘s most valuable and beloved musical exports. Whether he‘s performing as part of a classical symphony, or as an integral member of an iconic jazz trio (with the likes of the late Oscar Peterson), or leading any of his dynamic ensembles, Dave remains a total musician, with artistic soul in abundance. He first began studying the guitar and violin at age ten, but a turn of events at his first gig (a University dance band) compelled him to pick up the bass. Equally comfortable in the worlds of orchestral classical music and jazz, Dave is a multiple threat. As a classical musician, he has been a member of The Edmonton Symphony, The Winnipeg Symphony and The Hamilton Philharmonic. As a jazz artist, he is a chameleon-like bassist, who often shines brightest in collaborative efforts with other musicians. Because of his technical skill, few bassists (jazz or otherwise) are able to dig in, swing hard and still render a lyrical arco solo as Dave can.

One of Dave Young‘s most beloved gigs was a five year stint (1961-66) as a member of iconic jazz guitarist Lenny Breau ‘s quartet. Recently, Randy Bachman ‘s Guitar Archives label has released Bourbon Street a LIVE recording of Dave and Lenny in duo format, digitally restored and originally recorded on a primitive reel to reel at Toronto ‘s late, lamented jazz venue. The list of musicians with whom Dave has shared the stage is a virtual Who‘s Who of international jazz...including the late Oscar Peterson (with whom Dave had a thirty-five year musical relationship), Clark Terry, Harry Sweets Edison, Zoot Simms, Joe Williams, Oliver Jones, Kenny Burrell, Cedar Walton, Hank Jones, Nat Adderly, Peter Appleyard, Gary Burton, Barney Kessell, Ed Bickert, Ranee Lee, Marcus Belgrave, Don Thompson, Kenny Burrell and James Moody.

In recent years, Dave Young has released a number of excellent CDs as leader: the JUNO winning Fables and Dreams with co-leader Phil Dwyer (Justin Time Records); We Three with Phil Dwyer and Michele Lambert (torontosound.com) and Two by Two Ð Volumes 1 & 2 (1995 & 96) which featured Dave in duet performances with jazz legends Oscar Peterson, Cedar Walton, John Hicks, Mulgrew Miller, Tommy Flanagan, Ellis Marsalis, Barry Harris, Kenny Barron, Renee Rosnes, Cyrus Chestnut and Oliver Jones and the hit recordings Tale of the Fingers with Special Guest Cedar Walton (Justin Time), and the excellent quintet album, Mainly Mingus (Justin Time), which features Dave ‘s re-imaginings of the music of Charles Mingus and Horace Silver.

In addition to club appearances, touring, recording and concert/festival performance work, Dave is also a dedicated jazz educator, having taught at numerous music seminars and jazz clinics, as well as being an ongoing member of the Faculty of Music at The University of Toronto. In the classical milieu, Dave regularly tours with clarinettist James Campbell and pianist Gene Di Novi in a successful programme of Classical Fusion. He also stretches both his classical and jazz chops at the annual Festival of the Sound in Perry Sound, Ontario, where he has been an integral part of this two-week eclectic musical event for some years.

Dave Young was recently named as a member to The Order of Canada Ð our country‘s highest and most prestigious civilian honour. He was installed for his huge international contribution to the music world and to Canada. Dave Young is also the winner (several times over) of the prestigious National Jazz Award ÒBassist of the Year. Dave is currently performing as part of the 17-piece orchestra accompanying award-winning choreographer Twyla Tharp‘s latest Broadway-bound dance extravaganza: Come Fly With Me - The Music of Frank Sinatra. The orchestra (led by drummer/arranger Dennis Mackrel) is performing LIVE to vocal tracks drawn from Sinatra‘s long, distinguished recording career. Vocalist Dee Daniels (also LIVE) adds her unique voice to the performance. The show has already received rave reviews, and will be touring major U.S. and Canadian cities prior to what promises to be a long run on The Great White Way.

Ernesto Cervini, Drums & Clarinet

Official Website: www.ernestocervini.com

Drummer Ernesto Cervini has quickly become in demand as a sideman but also as a bandleader in New York City because of his unique and deep musicality. Ernesto released his debut CD as a leader, Here, in November 2006 to critical acclaim: Here is a wonderful debut that showcases Cervinis monster chops and compositional abilities. Budd Kopman, All About Jazz. Geoff Chapman of the Toronto Star says: Cervini is propulsively active, creating textural and rhythmic tension at will, yet he dons a calm, subtly sophisticated hat for the album's three ballads.

Ernesto has, at the young age of 27, had the opportunity to share the stage with many legendary jazz musicians; Joe Lovano, Clark Terry, Cleo Laine, Pat LaBarbera, Dick Oatts, Buddy DeFranco, Eddie Daniels, Henry Cuesta, Scott Robinson, Jim McNeely, Phil Nimmons, Peter Appleyard, Ranee Lee and many others. He has opened for musicians such as Herbie Hancock, Kenny Garrett, Roy Hargrove, Dave Holland, Roy Haynes and Poncho Sanchez. Ernesto is currently the drummer for the ACQ, MEM3, The Tara Davidson Quintet well as Monday Off, a 4-part vocal group. Ernesto has recorded albums with all of these groups and Code Breaking by the Tara Davidson Quintet was recently nominated for a Juno award.

Ernesto's diversity as a musician (he is also an excellent pianist and clarinetist) has allowed him to travel throughout the United States and Canada performing in some of the worlds greatest concert halls and jazz clubs. Ernesto has been featured as a leader and sideman at the legendary Birdland, Sweet Rhythm, The Jazz Standard, The Montreal Bistro, The Top Of the Senator, The Rex Jazz and Blues Club and has also been fortunate enough to perform in Concert Halls such as Massey Hall, The Glen Gould Theatre, The St. Lawrence Center for the Arts and the Rose Theatre.

Ernesto received his Bachelors degree from the University of Toronto, and a Masters degree from the Manhattan School of Music. Ernesto is continuing to push musical boundaries with his innovative compositions, as well as his imaginative and explosive drumming. He will be a constant in the global jazz scene for decades to come, through his love for musical performance and education.

Tara Davidson, Alto saxophone & Flute

"…a fine player with a fertile imagination who most definitely bears watching…" - AllAboutJazz.com

Toronto-born saxophonist, composer, and bandleader Tara Davidson is earning a reputation for herself as one of the leading lights in the next generation of Canadian jazz musicians. Davidson has performed in over a dozen countries at such prestigious venues as New York City’s Carnegie Hall and The Sony Center in Pori, Finland. She has earned a Bachelor’s degree for Jazz Performance, been a “Sister In Jazz”, received an “Emerging Artist Award”, produced two recordings as leader, two as a co-leader, received a Juno nomination, and performed on over ten recordings as a side person.

Davidson has produced two recordings as a leader. Her sophomore CD, Code Breaking, was released in the fall of 2006. Featuring all-new compositions and special guest, Juno award winning saxophonist, Mike Murley, Code Breaking demonstrates an evolution in Davidson’s sound and composing. The 2008 Juno Awards nominated Code Breaking for “Traditional Jazz Album of the Year”.

Davidson toured nationally as a special guest with the Murley/Braid Quartet in fall 2006. Following the success of the tour, Davidson officially joined the group as a co-leader with Murley and pianist David Braid to form the Davidson/Murley/Braid Quintet (DMBQ). The group released their debut CD, DMBQ Live, in January 2008 and toured officially as DMBQ in the summer and fall of 2008 to rave reviews. The group has been billed as “the best contemporary mainstream jazz group in the country” and was nominated for best “Acoustic Band of The Year” by Canada’s 2009 National Jazz Awards.

The European Broadcasting Union singled Davidson out to represent Canada as the lead alto/soprano saxophonist in the European Youth Jazz Orchestra’s 3-week 2008 European tour. The group spent three weeks traveling and performing across Denmark, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. Over the course of the three weeks, the band recorded several times for the legendary WDR and an official recording will be released in 2009.

The European Broadcasting Union singled Davidson out to represent Canada as the lead alto/soprano saxophonist in the European Youth Jazz Orchestra’s 3-week 2008 European tour. The group spent three weeks traveling and performing across Denmark, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. Over the course of the three weeks, the band recorded several times for the legendary WDR and an official recording will be released in 2009.

In May 2008, Davidson once again represented Canada as one of five North American finalists selected for the Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival’s Women In Jazz Saxophone Competition.

Davidson’s most significant musical influence has been saxophonist Mike Murley with whom she studied for five years. She is a graduate of the prestigious University of Toronto Jazz Performance Program where she studied with other prominent Canadian musicians such as Phil Nimmons, Paul Read, Alex Dean, and Kirk MacDonald.

Tara is currently performing nationally with her own group, the DMBQ, the Mike Murley Septet, the Paul Read Orchestra (PRO), the Andy Ballantyne Large Ensemble (A.B.L.E.), the Michael McClennan Octet, the Duncan Hopkins Quintet, and the Chris Hunt Tentet.

Graham Campbell, Guitar

Graham Campbell is a versatile guitarist who earned his Degree in Music at Toronto's Humber College after studying with jazz great David Baker in his hometown of Bloomington, Indiana. He has performed throughout North America and toured Nunavut and Chile. He has been a featured performer at The Festival of The Sound (Parry Sound, Ontario), The Bay Chamber Summer Festival (Rockport, Maine) The Edmonton Recital Society, The Montreal Chamber Music Festival, The Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, and the Calgary Reggae Festival. Graham's composition "Tune for Andy" was featured in the DVD release of a Robert Altman film, California Split. He currently resides and performs frequently in Toronto with such groups as Words around the Waist (rock/pop), Friendliness And The Human Rights (reggae), The Thing Is (Balkan influenced jazz), former Benny Goodman pianist Gene DiNovi, and clarinetist/father James Campbell.

Bryden Baird, Trumpet

Bryden currently tours the world with the indie-pop chanteuse Feist and has a busy studio career in Toronto, Canada. He studied jazz trumpet at Humber College, University of Toronto, Banff Centre for the Arts with Kenny Wheeler, and privately with Laurie Frink in NYC. Television appearances have included The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Last Call with Carson Daly, and BBC and CBC radio. He has performed with Michael Buble, the Temptations, Kris Kristofferson, Louie Bellson, Blue Rodeo, the Toronto Symphony, Esthero, Sean Lennon, Merl Saunders, Ron Sexsmith, the Band of the Ceremonial Guard (changing of the guard in Canada), Garden Bros. Circus, and Spoon to name a few.

Bryden hopes to save his back muscles and fly with as many horns as possible as carry-on with a PB301VAX wheelie case. Such a smart product!

RJ Satchithananthan, trombone

I am a 24 year old trombonist living in Toronto. I graduated from the University of Toronto's Jazz studies program in 2005. I've been gigging around town for the last little while playing with a few groups... most regularly I've been working as a sideman with: KC Roberts and The Raw Blue (Funk) Jason Wilson and Tabarruk (Reggae) The Jonah Cristall Clarke Nonet (Jazz) Sophia Perlman and the Vipers (Classic Jazz) The Ryan Oliver Sextet ("Blue Note" era Jazz) The Toronto Jazz Orchestra (Big Band) I am also busy as a session musician in a variety of settings, I've been fortunate enough to have recorded with The Pocket Dwellers, Pilate, the Golden Dogs and the Quartertones just to name a few... Lately I've also been involved in a couple of original projects as well...

First off there is the Trevor Giancola Quartet with Fabio Ragnelli, Trevor Giancola and Devon Henderson. I'll try and have some clips up in a couple of weeks. I'm also really excited about a new R&B project I've started with some friends called "MINT". This band features Mark Pellizzer, Maxwell Roach (not that one!), Anthony Lavdanski, Jared Greeve and the one and only MAYA Chilton on Vocals. We are also going to have a myspace page up ASAP. Anyways, check out the tunes and drop me a line!

David French, Tenor Saxophone

"Dave is a no-holds-barred player with every note pushing into unexplored territory. Good stuff!" - Richard Bourcier, www.jazzreview.com

French has played with Reg Schwager, Don Thompson, Dave Young, Steve Wallace, Emilie-Claire Barlow, Gene DiNovi, Barry Romberg, Harley Card, Jordan O’Connor, Nick Fraser, Brodie West, Caitlin Smith, Jenn Ryan, Dione Taylor, and in the groups Tenor Madness, the Montuno Police, Phil Dwyer's Sax Summit, and One Step Beyond, among others. He leads his own quartet with bassist Andrew Downing, drummer Nick Fraser, and guitarist Reg Schwager, and he co-leads the 1301 Quartet with bassist Jon Maharaj.

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