Saxophonist Julia Nolan joins The Four Jays—Live! for a celebration of International Women’s Day
Vetta Chamber Music concert features a quartet that also includes violinist Joan Blackman, bassist Jodi Proznick, and pianist Jane Hayes
Julia Nolan.
Vetta Chamber Music presents The Four Jays—Live! at West Point Grey United Church on March 7, Kay Meek Arts Centre on March 8, Pyatt Hall on March 9, and ArtSpring on Salt Spring Island on March 10
VANCOUVER SAXOPHONIST JULIA Nolan grew up in Montreal surrounded by music: her mom was a pianist and her sax-playing father led the church choir.
An early love of song led Nolan to pick up the flute in school. She switched to the saxophone in her late teens and admits she didn’t like the instrument at first: “It was so different from the light and lovely flute!” she tells Stir.
“But I soon found benefits to playing both and finally continued through college and university as a saxophonist,” Nolan says. “I think what drew me to the instrument was the lower tones, the lush, very mezzo-voice quality to the instrument. That, and playing in jazz bands—oddly different soundscapes [compared to classical music], but I love both.”
The saxophone continues to challenge her, she says, mostly in terms of being sure she has blend and balance when performing with other artists, as Vancouver audiences can experience for themselves when she next appears in concert at Vetta Chamber Music’s The Four Jays—Live!. She’ll join Joan Blackman on violin, Jodi Proznick on bass, and Jane Hayes on piano.
The quartet will perform a mixed program featuring Impressionist, 20th-century, jazz, and tango music. Among the compositions on the program are Claude Debussy’s Sonata for violin and piano, Jean-Luc Defontaine’s Couleurs d’un Rêve, Astor Piazzolla’s Primavera Porteña and Concert d’aujourd’hui (arranged by Fred Stride), Proznick’s own Sun Song Suite, Jimuel Dave Dagta’s Objects in the Mirror, and more.
“We all share a passion for exploration and collaboration in bending musical genres,” says Nolan, who has performed and recorded with Alan Matheson’s jazz groups and played with the Dal Richards jazz orchestra as well as with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Turning Point Ensemble, and Vancouver New Music. “We move from classical to contemporary and add a flavour of jazz into the mix for compelling music that is a joy to present in concert.”
The Four Jays—Live! takes place in conjunction with International Women’s Day. One of the pieces on the program, Eileen Padgett’s Resilience, was written for the four artists in celebration of March 8. “It is contemporary, dreamy, and defiant,” says Nolan.
The musician currently teaches saxophone at the University of British Columbia, and the Vancouver Symphony School of Music. While women remain outnumbered when it comes to saxophone players in the jazz scene and the classical and contemporary realms, Nolan is inspired by so many up-and-coming musicians. “These days there are a number of young women shaking things up in those worlds,” she says.
“Performing in conjunction with International Women’s Day is of great significance to the Jays,” Nolan adds. “We enjoy each other’s company, we work and play well together, we are all mothers. We bring all of these experiences to our music making.”
Of the pieces on the Four Jays’s program, Nolan describes Couleurs d’un Rêve as evocative of Debussy “but written in 2000, so contemporary and impressionistic too. We perform a few arrangements of Astor Piazzolla’s music—always good and lively, when it’s not full of melancholy! UBC student Dave Dagta wrote Objects in the Mirror for saxophone and piano; I think I suggested he expand it for the Four Jays. It has contemporary moments but definitely a jazz influence. Jodi Proznick’s arrangements from Sun Songs meld lush melodies with some good jazz beats and improvisation passing through the group. All of the music has a nuanced flair and toe-tapping appeal.” 
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