Bassist John Geggie Returns to NAC's Fourth Stage with new series, 5 Shades of Geggie

Ottawa (Canada), September 30, 2004 - In response to the immense success and growing popularity of the past three seasons, the Fourth Stage of the National Arts Centre is pleased to present a new series of concerts, 5 Shades of Geggie, featuring critically acclaimed double bass player, John Geggie. The series kicks off on Saturday, October 9, 2004 at 8pm when Geggie is joined by his guests, two of Quebec's more unique creative improvisational jazz sensations, saxophonist Yannick Rieu and keyboardist Daniel Thouin.

“Each year, we have endeavoured to engage a challenging and entertaining collection of creative guests and I am confident that this season is going to impress and surprise the listener", enthused Geggie. “Yannick and Daniel are very special players, well known on the Montreal music scene and I am delighted that they have agreed to take part in the opening concert."

No stranger to the creative music world, John Geggie is excited to be returning to the Fourth Stage. Mr. Geggie is extremely active in the Canadian music scene as a freelance double bass player and teacher. His association with the award-winning jazz group Chelsea Bridge and the Juno-nominated D. D. Jackson Trio is well known. This past summer and for the fifth consecutive year, John hosted the immensely popular late night jam sessions at the Ottawa International Jazz Festival; during that time, he has appeared with such international artists as John Scofield, Courtney Pine, Wynton Marsalis, Ravi Coltrane and Joe Lovano. In July, he performed a highly-acclaimed concert with world renowned pianist Marilyn Crispell which was recorded for broadcast by Radio-Canada. His concert credits also include performances with such jazz luminaries as Gene Lees, Henry Mancini, David Murray, Andrew Cyrille and Billy Hart. In addition to his jazz commitments, Geggie maintains a busy schedule of concerts with the National Arts Centre Orchestra and the Thirteen Strings Chamber Orchestra.

Cited by Down Beat magazine as one of the 20 most promising saxophonists, the Montreal-based Yannick Rieu has toured and performed throughout Canada, France, Portugal, Germany and Italy. He has recorded prolifically and has collaborated with such jazz musicians as Paul Bley, Dizzy Gillespie, Toots Thielemans and Jon Hendricks.

Daniel Thouin started pursuing his love of music by playing electric guitar and switched to keyboards at 17. Since 1992 he has been playing with numerous jazz figures from the Montreal jazz scene such as Michel Donato, Pierre Tanguay, R