I am truly honoured to have my CD, Visions from the Farm (Chronograph, 2010), named as the #1 Canadian Jazz Album of 2010 by Dennis Slater in FFWD magazine! Here is the link for more information and the other excellent discs named:
TOUR ANNOUNCEMENT: Karl Schwonik Quartet 2011 - December 8, 2010
'Visions from the Farm' mini-tour January 5-17, 2011! Fresh off our WCMA nomination for 'Jazz Recording of the Year', the quartet is doing a small follow-up tour of AB and SK. Very excited to visit some new and fantastic venues in 2011!
See 'Calendar' for dates and info.
Karl Schwonik - Drums
Chris Andrew - Piano
Kodi Hutchinson - Bass
Brent Mah - Sax
Jazz-in-Schools tour this February! - December 1, 2010
Announcing the Wetaskiwin Jazz Society's 'Jazz-in-Schools' tour February 2011! My quartet will be visiting 11 different Alberta schools to bring music and education to new young audiences! See the 'calendar' page for more details!
Very excited to travel to the mile-high state, Colorado, this week for some education and performances! My Chicago Goes West trio is guest faculty at the Denver School of the Arts Jazz Symposium, will perform at Dazzle Jazz Club in Denver on Thursday night, DSA on Friday night and will also be visiting Kent Denver HS and the Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind!
IAMA Artist of the Month! - September 25, 2010
I am happy to announce that I am a 'Featured Artists of the Month' on the International Acoustic Music Awards webpage! Drop by if you can:
Wetaskiwin Jazz Website update! - September 19, 2010
The website has been totally revamped and updated! Stop by and check it out: www.wetaskiwinjazz.com
There are many exciting events we are planning this year with the Society...check the website for more info!
Western Canadian Music Awards! - August 10, 2010
My CD 'Visions from the Farm' was just nominated for a Western Canadian Music Award in the 'Jazz Recording of the Year' Category! Congratulations to all the other nominees and good luck to everyone!
Just wrapped up an exceptional 10 days of education, performing and recording with one of Canada's greats Rémi Bolduc! Thank you to everyone along the way for your amazing support of this project.
Watch for the CD to be released in January....'1+4: Karl Schwonik Jazz Ensemble avec/with Rémi Bolduc'!!
Off to Connecticut this weekend to teach at the Litchfield Jazz Camp. Looking forward to that too!
Achromatopsia - June 13, 2010
Great new website about the eye condition that I and many others have. Very honoured to be included in this feature section as well:
Extremely excited to announce that I am one of 7 artists to win the Lt. Governor of Aberta Emerging Artist Award for 2010! The award is a cash prize, a medal and an awards ceremony with the Lt. Gov and friends. Thanks to everyone at this amazing organization for your fantastic support!
AFM International Diversity Award!! - May 22, 2010
Very excited to announce that I have just won the 2010 AFM International Diversity Award: President's Youth Award!!
The presentation is in Las Vegas in June which will also be a lot of fun!
Wetaskiwin Jazz Camp Deadline extended! - May 16, 2010
We have decided to extend the deadline to register for the 2010 Wetaskiwin Jazz Camp until June 10. We are about 70% full at the moment and have spots open at every instrument. See www.myspace.com/wetaskiwinjazz or email me at kschwonik@hotmail.com for more details.
Look forward to seeing everyone in July!
Summer tour ANNOUNCEMENT - May 9, 2010
1+4:
Karl Schwonik Jazz Ensemble avec/with Remi Bolduc from Montreal
See 'Calendar' for more details!
Featuring Montreal legend: Remi Bolduc. Supported by the Canada Council for the Arts.
Downbeat!! - May 4, 2010
Some great news today: I found out I won a Student Downbeat Award for 'Original Song: Outstanding Performance' in the College Category!! The song I won for is 'Gwynne' from my recently released album 'Visions from the Farm'. Pick up the June issue of Downbeat Magazine for the full winner list. www.downbeat.com
ADULT JAZZ MINI-CAMP REGISTRATION ANNOUNCEMENT - April 15, 2010
We are now accepting applications for the first annual Adult Jazz mini-Camp in Wetaskiwin! This exciting and unique opportunity will be held at Grace Lutheran Church on Sunday, July 11 from 7-9pm and Monday, July 12 from 7-10pm with a possible performance during the week.
The WJC was started in 2009 as an initiative of the non-profit Wetaskiwin Jazz Society and has been a huge success throughout Central Alberta. The 2010 Adult Jazz mini-Camp will feature an all-star faculty (subject to change): Wetaskiwin born and one of Canada’s rising stars: Karl Schwonik (drums), special guest and Montreal Jazz legend Remi Bolduc (sax), CBC Galaxie Rising Star Chris Andrew (piano) from Edmonton, top-call Calgary bassist Kodi Hutchinson, virtuoso trumpeter James Davis from Chicago and cross-genre cellist Andrea Case from Calgary.
Participants of any age can apply and should have at least a few years experience on their instrument and some knowledge of Jazz: the more the better! We are accepting registration for: voice, sax, trumpet, trombone, guitar, piano, bass and drums.
To apply send (registrations must be received by June 12, 2010)***
-Name
-Instrument
-Years of musical training
-Gender
-Address
-Phone number
-Email
-Fee (Cheque only) of $75.00 (payable to Wetaskiwin Jazz Society)
To:
Karl Schwonik
Wetaskiwin Jazz Society
RR#2
Gwynne, AB T0C 1L0
For more information please contact me directly at kschwonik@hotmail.com, speak with John Schwonik at (780) 352-3581 or visit www.myspace.com/wetaskiwinjazz. Space is limited! We look forward to seeing many applications over the coming months!
Karl Schwonik
Director: Wetaskiwin Jazz Camp and Adult Jazz mini-Camp
www.karlschwonik.com
***The Adult Jazz mini-Camp is contingent on at least having 10 registrations by mid-June. If we do not have 10 registrations by this time, we will not proceed with the Camp.
Canadian Charts! - April 13, 2010
It has just come to my attention that the self-titled CD from my trio, Chicago Goes West, debuted in the top 5 for over a month on Canadian Jazz Charts (Chart Attack and Earshot)!! We are very excited about future events with the trio...stay tuned...
Announcement: 2010 Wetaskiwin Jazz Camp sponsors - April 10, 2010
I would like to take this moment to extend a huge thank-you to the following sponsors of the 2010 Wetaskiwin Jazz Camp. It is because of you that we are able to continue on nurturing the amazing talented music students of Central Alberta. Thank-you!
Remi Bolduc - Sas
Al McLean - Sax
Alex Cote - Sax
Fraser Hollins - Bass
Steve Amireault - Piano
Karl Schwonik - Drums
'Visions from the Farm' on CBC Radio!! - February 18, 2010
If you didn't get a chance to see the 'Visions from the Farm' tour this January, or you would like to hear more, you can now listen to my quartet on CBC Radio 2's Concerts on Demand website for the next year. This recording is from January 29 at the Yardbird Suite in Edmonton, AB.
We will also be featured on Canada Live in the coming months. Stay tuned for more details!
Visions from the Farm tour is officially over after 28 days, 10,000km, one phone in the washer, one set of contacts lost and one parking ticket. 23 cities, 24 shows and 22 clinics. Kodi, Chris and Brent did great as well. If you missed us, we were recorded by CBC Radio 2 and we will be on Canada Live and a couple other shows in the coming months. Also, you can get our CD at... www.chronographrecords.com or itunes. Thanks to everyone who supported our CD-release tour!
CD Review - January 21, 2010
Here is a fantastic review by Dennis Slater in FFWD Weekly (Calgary) from January 21:
I am very excited to announce that the Karl Schwonik Quartet: Visions from the Farm tour will be recorded by CBC Radio on January 29 at the Yardbird Suite! If you are free, come down and bringing your loud-clapping shoes!
Just a quick update: we are now on Day 3 of our 'Visions from the Farm' CD-release tour and I wanted to let everyone know that the tracks are now available for download on iTunes!! The links are below. Take care!
2010 Wetaskiwin Jazz Camp registration open! - January 1, 2010
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS 2010
Applications are now being accepted for the 2010 Wetaskiwin Jazz Camp, July 11-16, 2010 in Wetaskiwin, AB!
This year’s exciting faculty includes: Canadian jazz legend Remi Bolduc (Sax) from Montreal, James Davis (Trumpet) from Chicago, Chris Andrew (Piano) from Edmonton, Kodi Hutchinson (Bass) from Calgary, Andrea Case (Cello) from Calgary, and myself Karl Schwonik (Drums) from Gwynne.
Students 12-25 years old can apply and should have at least a few years experience on their instrument and some knowledge of Jazz: the more the better! We are accepting applicants for: sax, trumpet, trombone, guitar, piano, bass and drums.
To apply send (application deadline is May 15, 2010):
-Name
-Instrument
-Years of musical training
-Age
-Gender
-Address
-Phone number
-Email
-Fee (Cheque only) of $250.00 (payable to Wetaskiwin Jazz Society)
To:
Karl Schwonik
Wetaskiwin Jazz Society
RR#2
Gwynne, AB
T0C 1L0
