John Stetch is in town to perform Radical Renovations on Classical Music at the Marcel A Desautels Faculty of Music Friday night. He was our guest Friday morning 8:30.

Classical purists beware, jazz pianist John Stetch is having his way with Bach, Mozart, Chopin and Shostakovich. His first impressions of Classical music came late, having been exposed to Jazz from an early age.  He passed off the Classics as background music to films. However, he changed his mind after hearing Glenn Gould, Bach and studying classical music.  His newest CD, "Off With the Cuffs" is a re-working of some of the great Classical masters.

Working his way across the country on a tour of the new recording, John is a force to be reckoned with.  His playing is always inventive, musical and inspiring. He is a fearless pianist pushing boundaries of the traditional jazz world.  A Steinway Artist, John is all about renovating and re-composing well-known and familiar material; putting his own personal stamp on everything from Mozart to The Love Boat Theme to his native Ukrainian folk music.

Since his late start on the piano at 19 years of age, in Edmonton, Canada, John has played in several continents, and has performed with contemporary jazz greats such as Rufus Reid, Seamus Blake, and Mark Turner, as well as collaborating with classical and world musicians. John has 13 CDs under his own name, half of which contain original compositions, and won the 1998 Prix du Jazz at the Montreal International Jazz Festival. A 6-time Juno Nominee, John is currently based in Harlem, New York City.

John performs tonight (Fri Mar 27) at 8:00 PM at the University of Manitoba's Eve Clare Hall.

The concert is free! More information here

 

Listen to Michael's interview with John here. He started off by asking John how he was introduced to classical music for the first time.

 

 

Watch John Stetch perform Bach from his newest CD on Addo Records: