Date: January 30, 2010
Show Time: 8:00pm
Tickets - $45 Advance $48 door
Manteca - Contemporary / World
MANTECA IS A FRIENDLY, SENSUOUSLY-ATTRACTIVE PLACE TO VISIT – A MUSICAL UTOPIA…IT IS EVOCATIVE, EVEN ETHEREAL AND YET IT CAN ALSO HAVE GREAT PHYSICAL PRESENCE, IT IS WILDLY SPIRITED AND YET REMARKABLY CONTROLLED. EVERYTHING IS IN BALANCE, UTOPIAN INDEED.
GLOBE AND MAIL
SURGING WITH SASSY CHARTS, TUMULTUOUS SOLOS AND POLISHED ENSEMBLES, MANTECA CUTS A HANDSOME FIGURE AS IT STRUTS WITH A WORLD BEAT GROUNDED IN THE BEST ATTRIBUTES OF THE BIG BAND TRADITION. BOLD, IMAGINATIVE, AND BUBBLING WITH JOIE DE VIVRE, MANTECA IS A CLASSY OUTFIT WORTHY OF ATTENTION.
JAZZ TIMES MAGAZINE US
Rehab, therapy, parole - No doubt you’ve heard all sorts of tawdry details of Manteca’s tragic demise after 18 years at the height of the Canadian Jazz Industry… (editors note: check style guide to see if “ industry” and “jazz” can be used in the same sentence), well the true story has never been told. And so, against the good counsel of our publicists, below you will find, for the first time, the true story of Manteca’s downfall and rebirth, a story of medium celebrity, excessive gourmet food with expertly paired wines and notes played really fast against a backdrop of jazz pyro. Embargoed until now, this is the true story of Manteca.
On the evening of October 8, 1998, the nine-member World Beat Big Band, Manteca took to the stage for another sold out show. After 8 albums that sold over 100,000 units around the world, international tours highlighted by performances at the Hollywood Bowl, appearances with legends Miles Davis and Weather Report, numerous awards including a Juno, and 18 years after their first show in a midtown Toronto bar, this concert was to be their last.
During those 18 years, Manteca’s music was released in the US, Germany, Africa, Malaysia and Sweden and their extensive touring in the late ‘80s and ‘90s brought a universal response, widely enthusiastic audiences, critical acclaim from the press and a music industry always somewhat confused about how to classify this eclectic band from Canada.
By the late ‘90s, despite enthusiastic reviews and the joys of playing live, leaders Matt Zimbel and Henry Heillig understood that the numbers just did not add up. Touring jazz around the world with a company of 13 musicians and crew had become too expensive. And so, reluctantly, and with the accord of all of the members (Manteca is run as an artist’s collective), the decision was made to discontinue the band. This was an emotional night as most of the members of both the band and crew had been with Manteca for more than 15 years. They loved playing together and enjoyed each other’s company. During the final show, Zimbel said to the audience, “I’m not sure whether this is the last show or pre-production for the reunion tour…”
That comment, made in jest almost ten years ago, has turned out to be prophetic. On June 12, 2007, Manteca will release their ninth record titled Onward! – “our best work yet,” according to leader/percussionist Matt Zimbel, and the band will make selected concert appearances until October of 2008.
Compositionally, the band has approached this record with fresh ears. With new pieces by Aaron Davis, Henry Heillig, Matt Zimbel and guest composers Gord Sheard and Doug Wilde, the focus has been on writing for the "ensemble within the ensemble," by using instruments that create a new melodic voice for the band; baritone sax, alto flute, bass clarinet, penny whistle, EWI (Electronic Wind Instrument) and trombone. “We felt like a lot of the salsa, samba and funk territory of our early years was now being covered so well by others,” says Zimbel, “so we wanted to find fresh grooves and new melodic approaches that were muscular and energetic, and still grounded in the kind of Manteca stew where we all come from musically.”
