Geoff Chapman - Jazz
June 9, 2005

Bruce Cassidy has been around.
Born in Fredericton and schooled in Nova Scotia, he made the leap into jazz in the late 1950s, getting his start in the company of trumpeters Herbie Spanier and Guido Basso and pianist Joe Sealy.

A trumpeter himself, he was soon performing at Toronto's main jazz venues and in studios, appearing on the first seven albums released by Rob McConnell's Boss Brass, for example.

Yet he always had an ear for what he calls "the rockish and the poppish" and this led to extended playing and touring with Dr. Music (Doug Riley), Lighthouse and, later, the raucous Blood, Sweat and Tears.

He has also played in concert with Duke Ellington, Dionne Warwick, Marvin Gaye, Chucho Valdez, Bob Hope and the Toronto Symphony.

He's spent most of the past 25 years in South Africa, but will lead his Hotfoot Orchestra on Saturday afternoon at The Rex.

This is a strong 10-piece band that includes the Promane brothers (alto saxist Mark and trombonist Terry), trumpeter Kevin Turcotte, tenor saxist Michael Stuart, Doug Gibson on tuba and a rhythm foursome chaired by pianist Tom Szczesniak with guitarist Jake Langley, bass Mike Pellarin and drummer Ben Riley.

Cassidy conducts, plays trumpet and flugelhorn and what he calls his instrument of choice, the Electronic Valve Instrument (EVI), essentially a synthesizer for a trumpeter. (Jazz ace Michael Brecker plays a version of this designed for saxophone.)

In an interview, Cassidy explains how a musical tour to South Africa with Blood Sweat and Tears in 1981 led to much other work.

"I composed for television series, produced TV specials, produced albums, led groups, arranged music for orchestras and wrote for feature films in varying styles.
"Yet what matters there is African music, and my large group was unusual and made sophisticated music, not really right for there, though I believe it incorporates raw, natural elements that I hope to keep exploiting. On Saturday there'll be an African tune or two."

Cassidy returned to Canada in 2003, noting that the AIDS crisis and rampant crime gives South Africa "the feel of a Wild, Wild West" and felt his daughter would get a better education here.

"I love writing and performing, doing songs that are familiar and unfamiliar. My major influence is Gil Evans and I like to give my players an immense sense of freedom, with spontaneous composition playing a key role.

"Jazz musicans here play with emotion and they even come to rehearsals. They're virtuosi who have too much fun and they make up a band that's very interesting and very energetic."

Since his return, Cassidy has completed with a Los Angeles partner the first jazz play-along book for French horn, arranged a performance of Joe Zawinul's classic "Birdland" for 16 French horns, composed and produced an opera, The Clay Flute, and created charts for Rick Morrison's Carnival of Souls.

Current projects include arrangements for pianist Andrew Burashko's pioneering Art of Time Ensemble, forming a new band for Blood, Sweat and Tears vocalist David Clayton-Thomas, working in free-form trios with players like Rob Piltch and Shelly Berger and performing what he calls "healing music."

Cassidy is also working in a new combo with pianist Sealy, starting a duo with Sudanese expatriate multi-instrumentalist Waleed Abdulhakim and appearing at next month's jazz and blues festival in Burlington.

Cassidy had to turn down two offers to play gigs at this month's Downtown Jazz Festival, since he'd already committed to conducting an international jazz band at an arts festival in Grahamstown, South Africa.