!earshot Top 200 of 2021

Footsteps of Our Mothers: The Brandi Disterheft Interview

1 of 2 Next>

Brandi Disterhelf has played
on many recordings and finally
will be soon bereleasing a CD
with her own sextet.After some lean years, there seems to be a thriving jazz community in Toronto. Places like The Pilot and The Rex are drawing good crowds by featuring a mix of young and veteran jazz musicians. One of the busier young musicians is 25 year old bassist and composer, Brandi Disterheft. She's already played at Carnegie Hall, The Orpheum in her hometown, Vancouver and The Vienna Opera House. She's played in all the major jazz festivals in Canada and, also, in New Orleans , Chicago , Washington , DC and Vienna , Austria. She studied under such greats as Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen, Don Thompson, and the TSO's principal bassist Ed Tait. Yet, she still has particular praise for her high school teacher Bob Rebagliati. She has appeared with the Mike Murley Quartet, Phil Dwyer Quartet, Richard Underhill Quintet and the Michael Kaeshammer Trio, the IAJE's Sisters in Jazz and as a featured soloist with David Warrack's Canadian Pops Orchestra. In the past couple of years she has been on the recordings of Liala Biali, Richard Whiteman and Stacie MacGregor. Between gigs and recording sessions, she finds time to compose. Her song All About the Hank is one of the highlights on Richard Whiteman's CD All or Nothing At All. Brandi talks to Jim Dupuis about performing, composing and plans for her own CD, when he caught up with her via phone on an April morning at her home in Toronto.

JD: I see, from the information that I found, that you are a bassist and composer. We have a number of CDs here that you have appeared on. We have Stacie MacGregor's, Liala Biali's and Richard Whiteman's and I've enjoyed your playing on all of them, so I thought I should talk to you. Maybe you could tell our listeners about your background and musical training.

BD: Well, I grew up listening to jazz. My Mom is a jazz pianist ( Fran Jare ) in Vancouver , so I grew up listening to Bill Evans and Chick Corea and took piano lessons when I was young. When I was 13 I started playing the bass. I actually had to play it to get into a certain high school which had a really, strong music program with a fantastic educator named Bob Rebagliati. So I started playing bass throughout high school and in the stage band and the orchestra. Then, I got a scholarship to go to Humber College. I completed my studies at Humber and I've been playing jazz ever since.

JD: Oh, ya. Was the high school Handsworth in North Van?

BD: Yes, Handsworth Secondary.

JD: I was talking to Liala (Biali) and she mentioned she went there, as well.

BD: Yes, we went there together and we went to Humber together as well.

JD: She mentioned Bob, too. It sounds like Bob has a lot of fans out there.

BD: Bob also taught the renowned pianist Renee Rosnes, too. Renee went there

JD: You play the bass, but this doesn't seem to be a traditional position for a woman to have in a jazz band. Why do you think that there are fewer women in jazz bands at other positions than piano and vocals?

BD: That's a good question. I have no idea, but maybe (in the case of the bass) it's a bigger instrument and some men are taller, but maybe it's just tradition that girls don't take it up. But, lately I see lots of girls playing the bass. There's quite a few in Toronto who are really talented. There's one in BC, Jody Proznick, whom I've always looked up to, so I think it's becoming more common.

JD: It's good to see a variety of faces and genders on the bandstand in different positions. I've look into that, too-trying to find out. I do an International Women's Week radio show.

JD: So Brandi, who are you listening to these days?

BD: For the last few years, I've been listening to kind of the old school jazz, as in Blue Note jazz, like Art Blakey and Hank Mobley and Charlie Parker. Now I'm trying to get into some of the more modern jazz, maybe with some Latin influences. I just picked up a David Sanchez album-he's from Puerto Rico. I really like Danilo Perez, who's from Panama and combining the Latin with the modern jazz sound.

1 of 2 Next>