Doug Wilde's Wilderness Ensemble - Jazz Workshop - Friday April 16, 2027 - 12 pm to 4 pm - THE LOFT

Presented by Black Fly Jam in cooperation with Algoma Conservatory Concerts

Doug Wilde's Wilderness Ensemble

Jazz Workshop

Friday April 16th - 12 pm - 4pm

Register Below: Free to All Music Students

Instrumental jazz workshop and concert for all music students enrolled in Algoma University, ADSB/HSCDSB and private music lessons in SSM are invited to attend.(12 pm -2pm) Based on interest, last half of afternoon (2pm - 4 pm) reserved for instrument breakout sessions.

Instruments include; keyboard, saxophone, drums, bass and guitar.

We are grateful for assistance from Arts and Culture Sault Ste. Marie 

The Wilderness Ensemble:

The Wilderness Ensemble is comprised of an "A"- list of Toronto’s best jazz musicians - Colleen Allen, saxophones, Eric St-Laurent, guitar, Henry Heillig, bass, Charlie Cooley, drums, and composer Doug Wilde on keys. They fused as a group in 2024 when they got together to record Doug's newest compositions, and, with the exception of Eric, all players are, or have been members of Manteca, an award winning pan-cultural Canadian world/ jazz/fusion collective founded in Toronto 44 years ago. Doug Wilde is also the principal composer, music director, and keyboard player for Manteca.

Doug Wilde:

Doug was born into a musical family and raised in Sault Ste. Marie Ontario.  At Humber College he studied arranging with the legendary Ron Collier, and was awarded the Duke Ellington Memorial Scholarship. He later studied film scoring and advanced arranging with Rayburn Wright and Manny Albam at the Eastman School of Music. After working for three decades as a professional composer, Doug returned to the academic world earning a master’s degree in composition (2016) and a PhD in musicology/composition (2021) from York University. Research for both degrees was concerned with post-tonal techniques in classical and jazz composition. His particular interest is in Hexachords – harmonic systems created from six-note scales.

Despite his academic ramblings Wilde has spent most of his professional life as a composer, crafting scores for various media. Although this work is often anonymous and ephemeral, decades of writing all kinds of music on demand for others developed a confident eclecticism. When Wilde writes for himself a distinctive voice is evident – harmonically rich and melodic, yet idiosyncratic and at times quirky. This voice can be heard on jazz recordings under his own name – “Secret Places”, “Rhymes with Reason”, “The Sixth Dimension”, as principal composer for the jazz fusion ensemble Manteca “ Monday Night at The Mensa Disco” , The Twelfth of Never” and “Augmented Indifference” and also on his ambient Sonic Journeys series.

As a composer and founding partner of the music production company "Harris Cole Wilde " (later known as "Jungle Music") Doug spent many years writing and learning on the front lines – creating all kinds of music, working with great musicians and recording everyday. As a screen composer, Doug has created well over 2000 scores for radio and television commercials –including numerous scores for TV variety, documentary programming and radio drama. Doug also has extensive experience as a music director for live television. He has composed, arranged, and led bands for the Gemini and Genie awards, weekly national variety shows, Canada Day from Parliament Hill and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Since 2021 Doug has created over 100 short videos for YouTube featuring recent compositions. His 2024 musical offering, The Sixth Dimension, is a unique exploration of nontraditional harmonic environments built from six-note scales.

LINKS
Website/ Bio & Music www.dougwilde.com