Carleton Music Professor Jesse Stewart Nominated for Juno

By Caitlin Kealey

Carleton Professor Jesse Stewart has been nominated for a Juno for Instrumental Album of the Year. As one third of the group Stretch Orchestra, Stewart is a professor in Carleton’s music faculty. He wears many hats — award-winning composer, percussionist, improviser, artist, instrument builder, educator, researcher and writer.

“It is a great honour and at some level it is also a validation of the work we’ve been doing as musicians,” said Stewart. “My interest lies in sonic exploration and those influences are definitely on this album.”

Stewart was in Toronto yesterday to take part in the press conference announcing his group’s nomination for the award. The Junos will be handed out in Ottawa on April 1 and Stewart plans to attend. News of his nomination spread quickly.

“I opened my email this morning to find over 50 congratulatory messages from friends and colleagues at Carleton!” said Stewart. “I am quite certain that this would not happen at most universities — further confirmation that Carleton is a special place.”

The Stretch Orchestra is described as an eclectic trio that routinely traverses a wide gamut of musical styles, from jazz to rock to folk, often within a single tune. The group includes Stewart on percussion, Kevin Breit on guitar and Matt Brubeck on cello (yes, he is Dave Brubeck’s son).

“The common language between the three of us is jazz but we all come from different backgrounds,” said Stewart. “There’s a real mix of sensibilities with an experimental edge but this album is a little more tuneful, which I love. Being on stage with these two – our music facilitates or grows out of this friendship.”

Before joining Carleton’s music faculty in 2008, Stewart lived in Guelph and saw his band mates more regularly. This has not hindered the music writing process as he says they often do their writing before their gigs, jamming new ideas out during sound check.

At Carleton, Stewart teaches music composition. As a composer, he writes mainly for percussion, found objects and instruments of his own design. As a researcher, Stewart’s work focuses primarily on experimental music, jazz, hip hop, music of the African diaspora, and musical improvisation. He is a co-investigator with the Improvisation, Community, and Social Practice Project (ICASP), which received a multi-year $2.5-million Major Collaborative Research Initiative grant through Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council in 2007.

Stewart is the second Carleton community member in recent years to be nominated for a Juno. In 2011, Jazz singer Kellylee Evans, a Carleton alumna (BAHons/97) won the Vocal Jazz Album of the Year award for her album Nina.