Album Notes

Gary Sill

Gary Sill is best known for his brilliant new age and jazz piano improvisations. His CD’s of acoustic solo piano, Spring is in the Poet (2001) and Restless Hearts (2002), remained in the top 5 listings in the USA for 10 weeks following their release and received extensive international air play. He has composed for film, television, and radio.

Gary is also an innovator in computer assisted composition, performance, and recording. His landmark jazz collaboration with Canadian flugelhorn virtuoso Bob Day, Stonehenge is Burning, will be released in late fall 2007. The Gary Sill Studio in Vancouver is an acoustically designed sound environment for digitally recording acoustic performances of jazz and formal music.

Gary’s formal studies at the University of Calgary included composition with Luigi Zaninelli and piano with Gloria Saarinen. While working as Media Producer at the Banff Centre School of Fine Arts, he studied composition with Steve Reich, John Cage, R. Murray Schaffer, Oscar Peterson, Carl Berger, and Ursula Oppens; audio engineering with Stephen Temmer, and attended workshops with Gene Youngblood on the future of electronic media.

The heart of Gary’s musical style is accomplished piano improvisation which is inspired by western melodic styles, indian ragas, and jazz improvisation

Gary is engaged in ongoing studies with French composer, Hidayat Inayat-Khan, son of the the Sufi mystic and musician, Hazrat Inayat-Khan.

Through the Banff Centre For The Arts, Gary has worked or studied with:
-Steve Reich, John Cage, R. Murray Schaffer, Oscar Peterson, Carl Berger, Ursula Oppens, and other influential contemporary composers.
-Stephen Temmer, (audio engineering) and Gene Youngblood, (future of electronic media).


Bob Day

Originally from Toronto, Bob moved to Vancouver before making his home in Calgary during the 1960’s. Known as a gifted player, master composer, as well as an inspiring educator, Bob was a mainstay on the local scene and in-demand session and section player. He passed away in September of 2007. 'Stonehenge Is Burning' was his last recorded project.

Bob Day’s career on the Canadian jazz scene began in Toronto where he played with Rob McConnell and the Boss Brass, Phil Nimmon’s n ‘Nine plus Six and the O’keefe Centre orchestra backing up singers such as Sammy Davis Jr. and Tony Bennett. He also performed and recorded there with many other great jazz players such as Moe Koffman and Ed Bickert.

His move to Vancouver in 1976 led to gigs with the Bobby Hales Big Band, Pacific Salt, Paul Horn and his own trio with Oliver Gannon and Torben Oxbol. After moving to Calgary in 1986 Bob played with the Bob Erlendson Quintet, the Eric Friedenberg Big Band, and his own Quintet Record High which became a vehicle for his original compositions.

Bob’s writing was inspired by his association with the legendary valve trombonist and composer/arranger Bob Brookmeyer whom Bob studied with in New York city off and on since 1986. Bob also performed with Brookmeyer as a soloist at the Edmonton Jazz Festival.

Internationally, Bob toured the USA in 1970 with Paul Anka, worked in New York city and in 1990 toured Sweden and Germany with Stockholm’s hottest jazz band Panta Rei under the direction of Erik Lundmark.