In
the words of Nick Ali of Cruzao...
"Oh my god. We won. *holding head*
I think
we're all still in total shock. Actually it might be the sleep deprivation...
hard to tell. I'm pretty sure that all of you knew that we - Nick Ali
and CRUZAO - had been nominated for the 2001 General Motors Grand Prix
de Jazz award at the Montreal Jazz Festival. For anyone that might not
have heard - out of the the 500 something bands in the festival they
nominate TEN (Canadian) bands. CRUZAO won. I still can't believe it.
Getting a gig on one of the big Montreal stages was fantastic... getting
nominated was wonderous... but winning? That was unthinkable. *shaking
head* Still can't believe it... I really didn't think a latin-jazz group
would win as most of the past winners have been very traditional kinds
of units... and especially not one like mine that incorporates funk
elements too.
*bouncing*
The award itself consists of a bunch of things including:
- Bursuries from both GM ($5000) and Galaxie ($3000) to be put towards
the
forwarding of the band's future (hookers and crack)
- 50 hours of studio time at one of the top studios in Montreal
- a
licencing agreement to produce and distribute an album with Justin Time
records
- invitations to play at both the 2002 Montreal Jazz festival and the
2002 Festi-Jazz International de Rimouski,
- and my personal favourite - a reeeeeeally big cardboard cheque (we
all had to stand there at the press conference holding the damn thing
while they snapped photo after photo), and all five of us got actual
award trophies!
GM took a bunch of REAL Besson pocket-trumpets, gave'em to an artist
and said "Make them look kind of 'automotive'. Try to combine cars
and music". So they turned the valve casing into an engine block
and the valves into cylinders and piston heads. Very cool. My brother
keeps saying that we're gonna have to move now 'cause it's just WAAAAAAY
too nice for our basement apartments. It looks so out of place on top
of my tv. Are mantlepieces expensive?
We played our scheduled set on Friday night from 9pm to 10pm to a crowd
of about 10,000 people. The crowd response was insane. We were the last-nominated
band to play as the other nine played over the course of the week and
the decision was made shortly after we finished our set and just after
11pm I got the call telling us we'd won. Much revelry then ensued. I'll
have to tell you guys the full story another time 'cause frankly I'm
EXHAUSTED... (we had to leave at 5am on Sunday so we could get back
to play the Toronto Street Festival at 1pm, and another gig at 6pm.
*pant*.) I'll just say that walking out onto the GIGANTIC GM main stage
the next night in front of an
estimated 20,000-25,000 person crowd to receive the awards and play
another set was... well... There is no word. "Spectacular"
comes close, but doesn't capture the gut-wrenching joy of seeing that
many people cheering as your own band plays your compositions. Nutty.
Lastly, I think it's important to note a few things - the players...
without whom, there would be nothing but notes on a page :
----------------------------------------
Nick Ali & CRUZAO is :
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Nick "The Brownman" Ali - trumpet / flugelhorn / effects
(Trinidad)
Marcus Ali - alto sax / flute / effects (Trinidad)
Luisito Orbegoso - congas (Peru)
Chendy Leon - drum set & timbales (Cuba)
Paco Luviano - 6-string electric bass (Mexico)
----------------------------------------
Luisito had a family emergency just hours after our win was announced
and had to leave... Chendy drove him... so we consequently did the press
conference and played the main stage the next day with a conga and drum
sub, both of whom did an admirable job... the drummer never having played
with us before!
----------------------------------------
Ruben "Bennie" Esguerra - congas (subbing for Luisito) (Columbia)
Joaquin Nuñez - drum set & timbales (subbing for Chendy)
(Cuba)
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Two ultra special thank-you's to (1) Jon "Linus" Kay who acted
as our road manager, driver, videographer, photographer, stand assembler,
keeper of good spirits and drinker of beer. So glad to have had him
there.
And to (2) Caroline Johnson at the Montreal Jazz festival who stayed
smiling in the face of all adversity... while the world threated to
come crashing down, she continued to act as a professional, solving
problems and supporting CRUZAO at every turn. An amazing woman.
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Two more things should be mentioned - the killer quebec unit THREE OF
A KIND were also one of the last 2 groups in the running (us and them).
The judges in fact wanted to share the award between CRUZAO and them,
but the jazz festival said no - that they HAD to pick a single winner...
2 winners would create to many logistical problems. They put all 6 judges
(from all over the world) in 6 separate rooms and said "pick one".
They all picked CRUZAO... making the honour even greater (this story
was told to me by one of the judges after the awards ceremony).
Andrew Downing's fantastic group DOWNING, TURCOTTE, ZUBOT and DAWSON
were disqualified from the Prix De Jazz due to rain. Andrew's an old
friend (we went to jazz camp together when we were 17!) and it was an
honour to have my band been nominated for this award in the same year
as his band was. It saddens me to know he was bumped out due to
weather. Please take a moment to check him out at
http://andrewdowning.freeyellow.com/
He's one of the premiere young
bass players in this country and deserves the recognition.
----------------------------------------
Still
can't believe it.
Thanks
to all who have given me and my jazz visions support over the
years. I hope to see you all soon. A'ight... I'm out. Peace." -
Brown
"If there's a heaven, they must have one hell of a big band..."
If
you'd like to catch one of their shows,
they will be playing at:
Wed,
July 11, 9:30pm
NICK ALI & CRUZAO @ Now Lounge, 189 Church St.
----------------
Fri, July 13, 9:30pm
NICK ALI & CRUZAO @ Taigh Osda, 2112 Danforth, T.O.
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Wed, July 18
NICK ALI TRIO @ Now Lounge, 189 Queen St., T.O.
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Fri, July 20, 10:00pm
NICK ALI & CRUZAO @ Ottawa Jazz fest at the National Arts Centre!
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Sun, July 28, 3:30pm
NICK ALI & CRUZAO @ The Rex, 194 Queen St. W., T.O.
Official
Montreal Jazz Festival's press release:
http://www.brownman.com/MontrealJazzFest2001/PressRelease.htm
Blurb in the July 8th Toronto Star :
http://www.brownman.com/MontrealJazzFest2001/TorontoStar.htm
CBC news mention:
http://www.brownman.com/MontrealJazzFest2001/CBC.htm
