New Record! The Instrumental Music Liberation Front

Ron Davis' 13th Record: Instrumental Music Liberation Front
The emancipation of Instrumental Music from the shadow of Modern Vocal Music

JUNO award nominated jazz pianist and composer Ron Davis with his ensemble SymphRONica go beyond the confines of musical genre to construct new sonic colors and textures.

  • Together with his ensemble SymphRONica, Jazz pianist, composer and Juno Award Nominee Ron Davis re-establishes instrumental music with his new album Instrumental Music Liberation Front on 15th May 2020
  • Ron is a firm believer that the history of western music is one where the instrumental lived in harmony with the vocal. Whether it’s a Beethoven symphony or a Verdi opera, Billie Holiday’s Strange Fruit or Duke Ellington’s Isfahan, The Beatles’ Let It Be or Herbie Hancock's Watermelon Man, instrumental music historically resided amongst singing cohesively together
  • Ron believes that instrumental music has recently disappeared amongst an ocean of vocals and words. This transgression is one that Ron wants to overturn with his 13th album Instrumental Music Liberation Front

      "Instrumental music must be restored to culture’s apex. We need an Instrumental Music Liberation Front. SymphRONica to the rescue. This record is the opening salvo. […] Let musical freedom ring! Let Instrumental Music be Liberated!" (Ron Davis, 2020)

 With his new album, Ron invites us all on a journey to where jazz meets the entirety of classical music: European, Quebecois, Sephardic and Gypsy music

  • Ron’s artistic philosophy drives him to transcend beyond the confines of genre towards new sonic textures and innovations
  • His mix of jazz and classical music is also tinged with funk, blues as well as world music. Instrumental Music Liberation Front itself pays tribute to the great names of classical, jazz and tango: Bach, Brahms, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, and also Reinhardt and Piazzola
  • Ron’s ensemble SymphRONica joins him on Instrumental Music Liberation Front. SymphRONica matches Ron’s philosophy by fusing together jazz and the symphony orchestra to create a new rich auditory palette for Ron’s original compositions
  • Ron is keen to engage with an increasingly varied audience, with whom he is in constant conversation with throughout his concerts. This has led him to define himself as a Musical Entertainer
  • Having already released 12 critically acclaimed albums, Ron’s latest album, SymphRONica Upfront, has been nominated for a Juno Award in 2020 (Canada's Grammy or BAFTA equivalent) in the ‘Instrumental Album of the Year’ category

You can buy Instrumental Music Liberation Front here.

 Album Details

  1. Slow Down (Kevin Barrett / arr. Kevin Barrett)
  2. Sergei’s Shuffle - after Sergei Prokofiev - (Ron Davis / arr. Jason Nett, adapted for SymphRONica by Louis Simão)
  3. Pin Y Panouche - after Django Reinhardt - (Ron Davis & Aline Homzy / arr. Aline Homzy)
  4. Brahms - after Johannes Brahms - (Ron Davis / arr. Louis Simão)
  5. Bachzy - after J. S. Bach - (Aline Homzy / arr. Aline Homzy)
  6. Torontango - after Astor Piazzola - (Ron Davis / arr. Louis Simão)
  7. Canada’s Passage Hill - after G. F. Handel - (Ron Davis / arr. Louis Simão)
  8. Spatialism (Ron Davis / arr. Louis Simão)
  9. The Climb (Ron Davis)
  10. Dror Yikrah - with a nod to Igor Stravinsky - (Ron Davis / arr. Jason Nett)
  11. Reel du Pointe-au-Pic (trad. / arr. Aline Homzy)
  12. Rhosymedre - with a nod to Ralph Vaughan Williams - (trad. / arr. Louise Bevan)

Ron Davis - Piano
Kevin Barrett - Electric, Acoustic and E-Bow Guitars, Loops
Aline Homzy - Violin
Mike Downes - Bass (tracks 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 - 12)
Louis Simão - Bass (tracks 2, 4, 6, 8)
Steve Heathcoate - Drums and Percussion
Brielle Goheen - Violin
Laurence Schaufele - Viola
Beth Silver - Cello


ALL CONCERTS POSTPONED DUE TO COVID-19

Given the measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and the projection that social distancing may continue for the near future, Ron Davis and Symphronica have postponed all concerts for the next few months.

The impact of these cancellations will be significant. We rely on the revenues from ticket purchases. Without concerts, we’ll be even more reliant upon your support to create and share the music. Please consider donating via the Support Symphronica! here via Paypal.

Stay safe and be well.


2020 JUNO AWARD NOMINATION FOR RON DAVIS AND SYMPHRONICA

RON DAVIS - SYMPHRONICA UPFRONT NOMINATED FOR 2020 JUNO AWARD

This album is one of the best I've heard in the last 13 years…” – WWPV Radio

Ron Davis’ 2019 release SymphRONica UpfRONt has been nominated for a Juno Award as 2020’s Instrumental Album of the Year.

Ron Davis is one of Canada’s greatest jazz visionaries, continues to push musical boundaries and to lead musical trends. Ron’s SymphRONica, captures elements from every known musical genre - original compositions, newly reinvigorated jazz standards and folksong melodies - with energy, pizzazz and groove that explore new musical realms across a journey of enjoyment. It’s rich, it’s substantial and above all it’s entertaining, presented with wit, wisdom and irreverence by the classically trained jazz adventurer Davis.

UpfRONt, produced by two-time Juno-Award winner Mike Downes, is the culmination of years of performing, writing and growing together.  The musical gifts, from the performers, the composers, arrangers, the producer and the mixers are all upfront and create musical magic. Their musical passion, led by Ron Davis and Mike Downes, exemplifies the sum being greater than the whole. UpfRONt is Ron Davis’ style and the entire essence of the SymphRONica project at its peak.

UpfRONt was a Heavy Rotation / Album of the Week in Canada and the US. It garnered widespread praise. Longtime New York jazz pianist and broadcaster Judy Carmichael gushed that “I loved the CD!”. And now the record has been nominated for Canada’s equivalent to the Grammy and BAFTA awards – The Juno Award.

SymphRONica UpfRONt is available on Apple Music, Amazon, CDBaby, Spotify and other online outlets.

SymphRONica UpfRONt

Ron Davis – piano / keyboards
Mike Downes – electric and acoustic bass / Producer
Kevin Barrett – guitars/ mandolin / Music Director
Aline Homzy – violin/ Strings Leader
Steve Heathcoate – drums and percussion
Brielle Goheen – violin
Laurence Schaufele – viola
Raphael Weinroth-Browne – cello
Daniela Nardi – vocal
Dennis Patterson – engineering/ editing/ mixing


Ron Davis acknowledges with gratitude the invaluable support of the Canada Council for the Arts, FACTOR and the Ontario Arts Council in the making of SymphRONica UpfRONt.


Record Release - The Instrumental Music Liberation Front!

Saturday May 23, 2020
918 Bathurst Centre for Culture – 918 Bathurst St, Toronto M5R 3G5
Doors: 7:30 Music: 8:00
TICKETS: $20 advance/ $25 door; students/seniors $10 (All prices HST included.)

Tickets & info: bemusednetwork.com

Ron Davis releases his 13th recording! Celebrating two great institutions of purely instrumental music, Jazz music and Western classical music, Ron and SymphRONica bring them together in new compositions to create a newly jazz-energized, one-of-a-kind musical experience.

Come hear the energy and beauty of the music via SymphRONica's rewiring of jazz, in the words of what one U.K. reviewer "jazz like you’ve never heard it before".

#SymphRONica


SymphRONica at the Legendary Jazz Bistro

Thursday, April 16, 2020 8:00pm - 11:00pm
Jazz Bistro - 251 Victoria St, Toronto, (416) 363-5299 / jazzbistro.ca


Ron and SymphRONica make their début at one of North America's leading venues, The Jazz Bistro in Toronto. Reservations Recommended. Details / info here.

 


Music in the Atrium - Ron Davis Quartet - CANCELLED due to COVID-19!

Ron performs original compositions and jazz standards in a rare quartet performance, returning to the long-running Music in the Atrium series at Toronto's Princess Margaret Hospital.

Free Admission.


SymphRONica and The Music of Louis Simão

Saturday February 15
918 Bathurst Centre for Culture – 918 Bathurst St, Toronto M5R 3G5
Doors: 7:30 Music: 8:00
TICKETS: $20 advance/ $25 door; students/seniors $10 (All prices HST included.)

Tickets & info: bemusednetwork.com

SymphRONica is all about the collaborations between Ron Davis and many great musicians, in Toronto and beyond. One of those musicians is the award-winning, multi-talented, multi-faceted Portuguese-Canadian Louis Simão. Bassist, guitarist, accordionist, composer, arranger, vocalist - it seems as though there's nothing Louis cannot do. And he does them all with profound musicality.

Ron Davis & Louis Simão
Ron Davis & Louis Simão

Louis has been working with SymphRONica for several years. This includes stints on bass, contributions as an arranger, and one stellar contribution as a composer/arranger with his gorgeous tune A Luz (da Partida), which appears on the 2019 release SymphRONica UpfRONt (see video here).

Not only will the show be a celebration of SymphRONica and Louis Simão. The musicians will also be celebrating Ron's JUNO Award nomination for SymphRONica UpfRONt a Instrumental Album of the Year!

Come, join in the energy and beauty of the music and the JUNO vibe via SymphRONica's rewiring of jazz, in the words of what one U.K. reviewer "jazz like you’ve never heard it before".

SPECIAL GUEST MC: JAYMZ BEE!

 

SPECIAL GUEST MC: JAYMZ BEE!
Jaymz Bee

#SymphRONica #JUNOS


Silent Movie Music LIVE: Chaplin's The Circus

Tuesday January 21 8:00pm
The Jazz Bistro
251 Victoria Street, Toronto - (416) 363-5299
Details: jazzbistro.ca

Pianist Ron Davis and percussionist Graham Hargrove combine musical forces to create a live soundtrack for Charlie Chaplin's immortally hilarious "The Circus". One of the funniest films ever. Child-friendly. Full food and drinks menu available.


Mezzetta Wednesday Night Concerts

Wednesday, 27 November 2019 from 21:00-23:00
Mezzetta Restaurant – 81 St Clair Ave W, Toronto, ON M6C 1A7
(416) 658-5687 /mezzettarestaurant.com
$10 cover

Ron Davis and bass wiz Lauren Falls in one of Toronto’s premier jazz series: the Mezzetta Restaurant & Tapas Bar Wednesday Night concerts. An evening of great original jazz, wine and some of the best Mediterranean food you’ll ever have. Reservations recommended. Details here.


Lawyer's Feed the Hungry Annual Christmas Dinner

Wednesday December 18, 2018
Law Society of Ontario

For the 19th year running, Ron and some of Canada's finest musicians are donating their time and talents to bring music and cheer to the less fortunate.