“The true beauty of music is that it connects people.” – Roy Ayers, American funk, soul and jazz composer
United continues to connect music to people by partnering with the Calgary Jazz Orchestra to expand the wide range of music available to residents of the two communities.
The Calgary Jazz Orchestra (CJO) began 14 years ago as the brainchild of jazz musician Johnny Summers. At the time, Calgary was lacking a jazz orchestra, so Johnny brought together two dozen of the best musicians. “These are world-class performers,” said Johnny. “We have all grown throughout the years and we are dedicated to giving Calgary the best musical experience with every concert we give.”
The Orchestra gives six concerts each year at the River Park Church in Marda Loop.
“United is one of our first partners,” said Lacie Marchand, CJO concert manager. “It’s a way to expand our audience and give residents a unique musical experience. I think people see jazz as mainly background music, but watching jazz performed live can be an involving, emotional experience.”
Johnny agrees, adding that attending one of their concerts is like going to an art gallery. “You see how the various artists in the gallery create an emotional attachment to the viewer. It’s the same attending one of our shows. Our musicians create emotion with sound. For the audience, a live performance offers an authentic, real experience that incorporates a range of emotions including humour and just plain fun!”
Johnny often rearranges popular music for the concerts into funk, soul and pop versions. For instance, Disney’s classics are reimagined as jazz pieces, and their annual Christmas show combines traditional Christmas music with a jazzy flare, with popular Frank Sinatra tunes.
“”We’re really looking forward to our partnership with the Calgary Jazz Orchestra,” said United’s music director Jill LaForty. “Music is important to our residents. We offer a wide variety of musical genres both in-house and at various music venues. CJO musicians will perform three concerts this year for United residents. The first will be at our Fish Creek community in September and feature Johnny on trumpet and Egor Ukoloff on piano. Afterwards, our residents will have a chance to mingle and talk one-on-one with the musicians. These types of performances are unique to United’s communities.”
“It really means a lot to me as a musician to play for an audience and watch their reactions,” said Johnny. “I watch their faces – their expressions, the laughter, the smiles. The applause is genuine and the excitement for us and for our audience is genuine. It’s why we do what we do.”
Photos by Calgary Jazz Orchestra
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To learn more about life at United’s Fish Creek community, watch this short video.
83-year-old Sonia Eisler from the Garrison Green community used the 1967 song What a Wonderful World to recall visits to B.C.’s Harrison Hot Springs and the wonderful times her family had there. “I was a little nervous about telling my story but everyone was so encouraging. They made it a lot of fun and I really enjoyed it!” said Sonia. “Music has always been a big part of my life. It was nice to hear the talent and gifts that the students brought to the performances. While I was reluctant at first, this experience has been inspiring and I’m going to become more involved in some of 
Garrison Green’s Lil Tyler and student Amy Gulewicz performed a short play based on the 1936 song It’s a Sin to Tell a Lie. Lil recalled a time when she was eight when an aunt became engaged, but then was heartbroken when the man called off the engagement in a letter, and even asked for the return of the ring. “This project was a terrific idea,” said Lil. “That song was popular at the time so in my mind that event is tied to the song. Later, when Hitler came to power, that song was tied to something much bigger.”
Fish Creek resident Agnes Rewucki used video to recall a trip to India by ship, and while onboard, she became known as an unbeatable ping pong player, which she re-enacted for the appreciative audience.
And Fish Creek resident Ernie Orford and Michael Nimegeers recalled Ernie’s love for the violin, but his family couldn’t afford one so he turned to the harmonica, which Ernie played for the audience. Ernie recalled that he later purchased a violin through the Eaton’s catalogue, and he became a self-taught left-handed violinist performing at small house parties.
An intriguing series of performances that combined music and art concluded at United’s Garrison Green community featuring Rolf Bertsch, piano professor at the Mount Royal University Conservatory and artistic director and conductor of Calgary Civic Symphony, and the residents of Garrison Green.
“The moonlight segment combined two very obvious choices, Beethoven’s “Moonlight” Sonata and Debussy’s Clair de lune with two others – a Johannes Brahms Intermezzo that the composer had originally called “Nocturne” and Robert Schumann’s famous Träumerei (Dreaming).
To introduce each piece, Rolf explained what both he and the composer were thinking, but was careful not to affect the residents’ interpretation of what they heard. “When I make music, I don’t usually think in terms of images. For me it’s more about the colour and character. Therefore, when I introduced each piece, I didn’t want to influence the residents with my own interpretation. As a result, residents produced a wide range of artwork around the general themes.”
Resident Alexis Beddoe was attracted to the program because she likes to try new things. “I found the whole exercise very freeing. I’m not an artist but I felt free to make the effort and not worry about whether I was doing a good job. What mattered to me was the process. I really discovered something new about myself!”
Mark’s first session was on the history of the Brill Building in New York. Haven’t heard of it? You may not have known that Elvis was not the first to record Hound Dog, or that Carole King was a writer before she was a singer. But you have heard some of the hundreds of pop hits its writers and studios created in the sixties with artists like Ray Charles, the Shirelles, the Righteous Brothers and … Carole King.
Not only is Mark discussing the origins of Pop and Jazz with residents in his monthly program, but once in awhile in comes in with his sax and a pianist and performs from the American Songbook, a collection of the most popular and influential Jazz standards from the early 20th century.
Knowing how music affects people guides him when deciding what music to play and what stories to tell the residents. When Peter began playing for older adults, it began with a rough start. But he soon began to understand the effect music had on them to the point now where each of his visits has become a performance with residents arriving early and staying afterwards to discuss what they heard.
To complement his musical interests, Peter has completed the three-year Music Care Certificate program, which is aimed at caregivers to give them the fundamentals of music as it is used in care.
