Group of Seven Suite

Group of Seven Suite: Live in Concert

Group of Seven Suite is an original eight-part jazz work composed and arranged by Toronto guitarist Tony Quarrington. Conceived approximately a decade before it was recorded, the suite translates the moods, colours and landscapes of selected Canadian paintings into music.

Seven of the compositions were inspired by works associated with members of the Group of Seven, while the opening piece, ‘The West Wind’, serves as a prologue inspired by Tom Thomson. Moving through jazz, rock, roots, Latin and other rhythmic influences, the suite evokes both the character of the individual paintings and the Canadian wilderness that inspired them.

The eight compositions and their corresponding paintings are:

1. ‘The West Wind’ – inspired by Tom Thomson’s The West Wind, Art Gallery of Ontario
2. ‘October Gold’ – inspired by Franklin Carmichael’s October Gold, McMichael Canadian Art Collection
3. ‘Mountain Portage’ – inspired by Frederick Varley’s Mountain Portage, McMichael Canadian Art Collection
4. ‘Gray Day in Town’ – inspired by Lawren Harris’s Gray Day in Town, Art Gallery of Hamilton
5. ‘The Tangled Garden’ – inspired by J.E.H. MacDonald’s The Tangled Garden, National Gallery of Canada
6. ‘Patterned Hillside’ – inspired by Frank Johnston’s Patterned Hillside, McMichael Canadian Art Collection
7. ‘Isles of Spruce’ – inspired by Arthur Lismer’s Isles of Spruce, Hart House Collection
8. ‘At the Edge of the Maplewood’ – inspired by A.Y. Jackson’s At the Edge of the Maplewood, National Gallery of Canada

The suite was recorded in July 2001 by a core ensemble featuring Tony Quarrington on guitars, Jane Bunnett on saxophone and flute, John MacLeod on trumpet and flugelhorn, Brian Dickinson on piano, Don Thompson on bass and vibraphone, and Barry Romberg on drums.

They were joined by multi-instrumentalist Jeff Bird of Cowboy Junkies, whose harmonica, mandolin, electric bass, shakuhachi flute, birdcalls, bowed psaltery and other instruments added unusual textures to the music. Tenor saxophonist Kirk MacDonald appeared on two selections, while Jane Siberry performed the suite’s only vocal, ‘Maplewood’.

Nature recordings and sound effects—including wind, rain, birdsong and thunder—were incorporated into the arrangements, creating an additional connection between the music, the paintings and the Canadian landscape. Some of the effects were produced acoustically by Jeff Bird, while others came from field recordings.

The work was first presented live at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, Ontario, in October 2001. Members of the ensemble also recorded a two-song segment for TVOntario’s Studio 2.

CBC Records subsequently acquired the recording for its CBC Jazz label and released Group of Seven Suite in December 2002. The album brought together jazz composition, improvisation, roots instrumentation, environmental sound and Canadian visual art in one of Quarrington’s most ambitious projects.

In May 2004, the complete suite was presented four times at Toronto’s Distillery Jazz Festival. The festival ensemble featured Tony Quarrington on guitar, Michael Stuart on flute and tenor and soprano saxophones, John MacLeod on trumpet and flugelhorn, Brian Dickinson on piano, Neil Swainson on bass, Barry Romberg on drums, and Jeff Bird on mandolin, harmonica and other instruments.

Through its combination of composed themes, open improvisation and atmospheric sound, Group of Seven Suite stands as a musical tribute to Tom Thomson and the Canadian painters Lawren Harris, J.E.H. MacDonald, Arthur Lismer, Frederick Varley, Frank Johnston, Franklin Carmichael and A.Y. Jackson.