The Curiosity Sessions - Introduction

Jacob Clarke – bass Lu Frattaroli – percussion Kyle Jordan – guitar Pete Woods – saxophone Voices: Jacob Clarke Rob Dalgleish Caitlin Fisher Lu Frattaroli Kyle Jordan Carolyn Sutherland Pete Woods I…. Practise ceaselessly: there is one art: wind in the open spaces grieving, laughing with us, saying improvise -Jan Zwicky This is a quilt of breath and body, air and touch. It is trust, closed eyes, smiles, silence and friendship. The music both abides and reveals. Practitioners of imagination and justice share a love of curiosity. The songs stitch together so many voices. Wisdom emerges alongside paradox and uncertainty and risk. So many encounters: mobile and studio recordings in Toronto, Hamilton and Ottawa; gigs at Ottawa’s Bar Robo, One Up Room, Options Jazz Lounge, and Toronto’s Emmet Ray; meditative musical gatherings in church sanctuaries (Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton, Smiths Falls, Brockville); poetic experiments and reflections amongst so many friends. All those moments set the stage for a two-day gathering filled with music and conversation and poetry. All of this was then documented in film and audio recordings at Ottawa’s historic MacKay Church. Randy Cole (filmmaker and audio-recordist) discerned themes and heard resonances as the days unfolded. Ten short meditative films emerged quickly and clearly around curiosity, spirituality and wisdom. The films tell passionate stories of life and artistry revealed in sounds and images created in a sacred space. The Curiosity Sessions: Live at MacKay affirms curiosity’s place at the heart of spirituality. It also highlights it as a key ingredient in the practice of communal care and art and ministry. ‘Curiosity’, plus ‘compassion’ and ‘community’, where the words placed before everyone (musicians and speakers) involved in the Sessions. Thoughtful riffs and rhythms emerged quickly amongst the musicians; ideas flowed in interviews. Old songs were re-framed, new poetry, fresh energy, bigger choruses. Resonance. Improvisation. It all remained grounded in the specific realities of faith communities in Canada, but something more expansive also broke through. Wonder and surprise… so many beautiful surprises. “Did that just happen?”, we’d ask each other. “Did you hear that?”, we’d say again and again. “How did we actually get here?”