Nexus (percussion ensemble)
Encyclopedia
Nexus is a Toronto
-based percussion ensemble
that performs jazz
, world music
, and western avantgarde music
.
The ensemble is made up of percussionists Bob Becker (mainly on xylophone and marimba), Bill Cahn (mainly xylophone), Robin Engelman, Russell Hartenberger, John Wyre
, and Garry Kvistad. Founding member Michael Craden died of liver cancer in 1982. Wyre died in 2006 and was replaced by long-time professional colleague Garry Kvistad. Engelman resigned from the group in December 2009 because of vision difficulties.
The group formed in 1971 and debuted with a concert of entirely improvised
music. In the mid-1970s the group recorded two albums with New Age music pioneer Paul Horn
: Paul Horn and Nexus (1975) and Altura Do Sol (1976).
Nexus played on the soundtrack of the 1974 film The Man Who Skied Down Everest
, and appeared in the 1975 National Film Board
movie Musicanada.
In 1982 the group released Nexus and Earle Birney, a triple-album collaboration with noted Canadian poet Earle Birney
.
The group recorded an album for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
, Dance of the Octopus, in 1990 with harpist Judy Loman.
In 1990, Japan
ese composer
Toru Takemitsu
wrote a concerto
for percussion ensemble and orchestra
entitled From me flows what you call time for the group. Dozens of other composers have written music specifically for Nexus and for individual members of Nexus, and the group's members are also composers and arrangers, writing for Nexus and, on occasion, for others.
In addition to their regular concerts, the group also gives masterclasses and education
al performances.
Russell Hartenberger is on faculty at the University of Toronto
's Faculty of Music (Dean, Chair of Graduate Education, and Professor, Percussion). Robin Engelman was also a long-time staff member at the University of Toronto, where he mainly taught and conducted the percussion ensemble and the contemporary music ensemble.
Paul Horn and Nexus (Columbia, 1975)
Altura Do Sol (Columbia, 1976) [later reissued as The Altitude Of The Sun (Black Sun, 1989)]
Nexus Ragtime Concert (june 1976 – Umbrella, 1976) [later reissued (Nexus, 1991)]
Music of Nexus (Nexus, 1978)
Under the Umbrella (CP, 1981)
Changes (Nexus, 1982)
Nexus & Earle Birney (1982)
The Best of Nexus (Nexus, 1989)
Nexus Now (june 1989 – Nexus, 1990)
Dance of the Octopus (CBC, 1990) with Judy Loman
Nexus Plays the Novelty Music of G.H.Green (Nexus, 1991)
Origins (august 1991 – Nexus, 1992)
The Story of Percussion in the Orchestra (june 1992 – Nexus, 1992)
Voices (january 1994 – Nexus, 1994)
The Mother of the Book (IRJ, 1994) with Gil Evans
Music for Heaven and Earth (CBC, 1995)
World Diary (Papa Bear, 1995) with Tony Levin
Farewell to Philosophy (may 1995 – Point, 1996)
Toccata (may 1996 – Nexus, 1997)
Nexus meets Peter Sadlo (Koch, 1997)
Rune (Nexus, 1997)
World Drum Festival (march 1997 – Syrinx, 1997)
Orchestral Music of Takemitsu (february 1997 – Sony, 1998)
Garden of Sounds (january 1999 – BIS, 2000), with Richard Stoltzman
Lullaby (Nexus, 2001) with Leigh Howard Stevens
DrumTalker (april 2003 – Nexus, 2003)
Rituals, containing Concert for Violin and Orchestra (october 1998) and Rituals (march 2004) for five percussionists and orchestra
Out of the Blue (march 2005)
Wings (june 2005)
Members of the group have also released solo albums:
John Wyre: Vagabond Dream (Heron, 1991)
Bob Becker: There is a Time (Nexus, 1994)
William Cahn: Solo Percussionist Music (Nexus, 1996)
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
-based percussion ensemble
Percussion ensemble
A percussion ensemble is a musical ensemble consisting of only percussion instruments. Although the term can be used to describe any such group, it commonly refers to groups of classically-trained percussionists performing primarily classical music. Percussion ensembles are most commonly found at...
that performs jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
, and western avantgarde music
Avantgarde Music
Avantgarde Music is an Italian record label, formed as a continuation of Obscure Plasma Records, focusing on black and doom metal artists. The label has a sub-label called Wounded Love Records, which has released albums by Dolorian and Taake....
.
The ensemble is made up of percussionists Bob Becker (mainly on xylophone and marimba), Bill Cahn (mainly xylophone), Robin Engelman, Russell Hartenberger, John Wyre
John Wyre
John Harvey Wyre was a U.S.-born Canadian percussionist, composer, and music educator. He worked as percussionist with a number of important orchestras in North America, notably serving for many years as the principal timpanist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra...
, and Garry Kvistad. Founding member Michael Craden died of liver cancer in 1982. Wyre died in 2006 and was replaced by long-time professional colleague Garry Kvistad. Engelman resigned from the group in December 2009 because of vision difficulties.
The group formed in 1971 and debuted with a concert of entirely improvised
Improvisation
Improvisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings. This can result in the invention of new thought patterns, new practices, new structures or symbols, and/or...
music. In the mid-1970s the group recorded two albums with New Age music pioneer Paul Horn
Paul Horn
Paul Horn is the name of:*Paul Horn , jazz flutist*Paul Horn , American computer scientist...
: Paul Horn and Nexus (1975) and Altura Do Sol (1976).
Nexus played on the soundtrack of the 1974 film The Man Who Skied Down Everest
The Man Who Skied Down Everest
The Man Who Skied Down Everest is a documentary about Yuichiro Miura, a Japanese alpinist who skied down Mt. Everest in 1970. The film was produced by Canadian film maker Budge Crawley. Miura skied 6,600 feet in 2 minutes and 20 seconds and fell 1320 feet down the steep Lhotse face from the Yellow...
, and appeared in the 1975 National Film Board
National Film Board of Canada
The National Film Board of Canada is Canada's twelve-time Academy Award-winning public film producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary, animation, alternative drama and digital media productions...
movie Musicanada.
In 1982 the group released Nexus and Earle Birney, a triple-album collaboration with noted Canadian poet Earle Birney
Earle Birney
Earle Alfred Birney, OC, FRSC was a distinguished Canadian poet and novelist, who twice won the Governor General's Award, Canada's top literary honor, for his poetry.-Life:...
.
The group recorded an album for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
, Dance of the Octopus, in 1990 with harpist Judy Loman.
In 1990, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
Toru Takemitsu
Toru Takemitsu
was a Japanese composer and writer on aesthetics and music theory. Largely self-taught, Takemitsu possessed consummate skill in the subtle manipulation of instrumental and orchestral timbre...
wrote a concerto
Concerto
A concerto is a musical work usually composed in three parts or movements, in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra.The etymology is uncertain, but the word seems to have originated from the conjunction of the two Latin words...
for percussion ensemble and orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
entitled From me flows what you call time for the group. Dozens of other composers have written music specifically for Nexus and for individual members of Nexus, and the group's members are also composers and arrangers, writing for Nexus and, on occasion, for others.
In addition to their regular concerts, the group also gives masterclasses and education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
al performances.
Russell Hartenberger is on faculty at the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
's Faculty of Music (Dean, Chair of Graduate Education, and Professor, Percussion). Robin Engelman was also a long-time staff member at the University of Toronto, where he mainly taught and conducted the percussion ensemble and the contemporary music ensemble.
Discography
Nexus has released many albums in the group's career:Paul Horn and Nexus (Columbia, 1975)
Altura Do Sol (Columbia, 1976) [later reissued as The Altitude Of The Sun (Black Sun, 1989)]
Nexus Ragtime Concert (june 1976 – Umbrella, 1976) [later reissued (Nexus, 1991)]
Music of Nexus (Nexus, 1978)
Under the Umbrella (CP, 1981)
Changes (Nexus, 1982)
Nexus & Earle Birney (1982)
The Best of Nexus (Nexus, 1989)
Nexus Now (june 1989 – Nexus, 1990)
Dance of the Octopus (CBC, 1990) with Judy Loman
Nexus Plays the Novelty Music of G.H.Green (Nexus, 1991)
Origins (august 1991 – Nexus, 1992)
The Story of Percussion in the Orchestra (june 1992 – Nexus, 1992)
Voices (january 1994 – Nexus, 1994)
The Mother of the Book (IRJ, 1994) with Gil Evans
Music for Heaven and Earth (CBC, 1995)
World Diary (Papa Bear, 1995) with Tony Levin
Farewell to Philosophy (may 1995 – Point, 1996)
Toccata (may 1996 – Nexus, 1997)
Nexus meets Peter Sadlo (Koch, 1997)
Rune (Nexus, 1997)
World Drum Festival (march 1997 – Syrinx, 1997)
Orchestral Music of Takemitsu (february 1997 – Sony, 1998)
Garden of Sounds (january 1999 – BIS, 2000), with Richard Stoltzman
Lullaby (Nexus, 2001) with Leigh Howard Stevens
DrumTalker (april 2003 – Nexus, 2003)
Rituals, containing Concert for Violin and Orchestra (october 1998) and Rituals (march 2004) for five percussionists and orchestra
Out of the Blue (march 2005)
Wings (june 2005)
Members of the group have also released solo albums:
John Wyre: Vagabond Dream (Heron, 1991)
Bob Becker: There is a Time (Nexus, 1994)
William Cahn: Solo Percussionist Music (Nexus, 1996)