ONSOUND IV: what is jazz?|Greg Bruce, Lina Allemano Four

Night two of ONSOUND IV: what is jazz? brings the experimental saxophone and electronics of local visionary Greg Bruce, and Lina Allemano Four’s triumphant return to St. John’s, performing the original compositions of trumpeter Lina Allemano (with Nick Fraser, drums; Andrew Downing, bass; Brodie West, saxophone). 

 

For a complete list of events including late-night shows, free workshops, and more, please visit www.soundsymposium.com

 

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Hailing from St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, GREG BRUCE is a Doctor of Musical Arts who has spent over 20 years in the music industry as a side-musician, soloist, composer/arranger, and band leader. During this time, Greg has drawn on his training in classical and jazz to record, tour, and perform in every setting imaginable: from conferences in the US, to street parties in Canada, to palaces in Russia.

 

Greg earned his DMA from the University of Toronto, where he designed a microphone-augmented saxophone capable of producing controlled, dynamic, acoustic feedback tones that act independently of its conventional sound. He carried out this innovative research under a two-year Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Doctoral Fellowship.

 

In the music industry, Greg is perhaps best known for leading the award-winning “folk-funk-jazz” sax and drums group, Ouroboros. Through Greg’s leadership, the band has released two full-length recordings as well as a play along book. They have performed in festivals in Canada, the US, and the UK, and have earned two MusicNL awards, an ECMA award, and other various award nominations.

 

Greg has composed for solo saxophone, done extensive horn-section arranging, and composed for chamber ensembles using graphic scores. His is a winner of multiple Arts and Letters Awards, and his music can be heard on radio stations across Canada and in numerous independent films. In 2017, Greg was commissioned by the Newfoundland Symphony Youth Orchestra to write “Spear and Sand.”

 

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Adventurous chamber-jazz quartet LINA ALLEMANO FOUR - based in Toronto & Berlin - plays trumpeter Lina Allemano’s striking original music. Allemano is recognized as one of the leading innovative trumpeters/composers on the scene today. The band is known for their trailblazing originality, their telepathic group interaction, seamless improvisations and evocative sonic explorations. The quartet has been touring extensively across Europe, USA and Canada since 2005 and recorded 7 internationally-acclaimed albums. They were nominated for 2022 JUNO Awards Jazz Album of the Year (Group) and the band was included 3 years in a row 2022, 2023 & 2024 in DownBeat Magazine Annual Critics Poll for 'Rising Star Jazz Group’. Their latest album Pipe Dream was called "One of the year’s most significant jazz recordings" (Stuart Broomer, The WholeNote). Andreas Fellinger, Freistil Magazin (Austria) writes, "Allemano creates chamber music like no other, with jazz-like compositions and concise improvisation”. Troy Dostert, All About Jazz (USA) writes, "Fearless trumpeter [Allemano] finds pathways toward illumination and wonder, assisted by the talented members of her quartet”. The band is celebrating their 20th anniversary this year in 2025.