BACKSTAGE PASS| How The Bassment has become Saskatoon's 'true jazz club'
'You're part of a musical mosaic and when you step on stage,' says Dean McNeill, jazz musician and professor
The Juno Awards were supposed to take place on March 15, but the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered the in-person Saskatoon weekend of events. On June 29 at 7 p.m. ET, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) and CBC will reveal the winners in a special, virtual celebration via CBC Music and CBC Gem.
Tune in for a special Juno Awards show on Saskatchewan Weekend with host Peter Mills and guest co-host Christy Climenhaga. Listen this Saturday and Sunday from 6 to 9 a.m. CST here.
Dean McNeill first played at The Bassment 23 years ago, back at its old location.
"It was dark, it was kind of dingy. You had to take your life into your own hands walking down these little stairs going into it. It was back when everyone still smoked in establishments. It was a low ceiling," McNeill, a musician and University of Saskatchewan professor who runs the Saskatoon jazz orchestra, said.
"It was a true jazz club and I loved it."
The Bassment, Saskatoon's premier jazz venue, has changed over the years. It moved in 2009 after a burst water pipe damaged the old building.
McNeill said he had his doubts about the club's survival after the damage.
"I thought that was it. But through the work of some amazing people, generous volunteerism and all kinds of charity, the Bassment moved to its current location."
The new location is different, but still carries on the tradition of jazz in the Bridge City.
The venue was slated to be a part of this year's Junofest before Juno events were cancelled over coronavirus concerns. The celebration was scheduled to be a roster of more than 50 musical acts, including local Saskatoon artists and Juno Award nominees.
Don Griffith went from musician to board member and now artistic director of the Saskatoon Jazz Society.
"There's something about a live performance that just makes your life better," Griffith said.
Griffith stepped into the director role around the time of the Bassment's move to its new location, a renovated space in Saskatoon's old post office at Fourth Avenue and 23rd Street. He said high-end instruments were key to the new venue.
"I knew when we opened up that we had to develop our backline," he said.
Now The Bassment has two top-end grand pianos and a Hammond B3 organ.
"Golden Eagle Organ Company found the organ in a church in Churchbridge, Sask." Griffith says he purchased that and a speaker on EBay. He says the sound is just incredible. "It's one of the greatest instruments you'll ever hear. Whenever musicians come in from out of town and they have an organist, they have a Hammond B3 to play."
With top-tier instruments comes top-tier talent. A wall in the back of the club shows the history of the stage. Names and autographs show a journey through time and genre. Vast and varied performers have graced the stage and filled the room with riffs, beats and melodies.
"We've got names of musicians who have played here since July 2009. We try to ask everybody, local musicians and touring musicians, to sign that wall. High school musicians will play an opening set here and they'll sign the wall, and very famous Canadian jazz musicians," says Griffith.
Being a part of that legacy defines performing at The Bassment for Griffith.
"Anytime you play on a stage that has been shared by greats there's a certain type of milieu to it," he said. "You're part of a mosaic. A musical mosaic. And when you step on a stage it always feels like a special opportunity to get to play there."
McNeill has been able to share that feeling of playing with the greats with up-and-coming musicians. He said some of his fondest memories involve younger musicians having opportunities to grow at The Bassment.
"[The U of S Jazz Ensemble] was able to play a show with Wycliffe Gordon, literally one of, if not the greatest, jazz trombonists around today. He is unbelievable. He worked with a bunch of students [at The Bassment], with university and high school students. High school students playing at The Bassment with one of the world's greatest trombonists...those are very special memories for me."
That sense of community rings true for Griffith as well.
"[It's] a community of people who love live music and hanging out together." he said.
Because the club has rush seating, people show up early and end up chatting. Griffith said those connections, those friendships only add to the atmosphere and experience.
"The Bassment is like a curling club in rural Saskatchewan. The curling is the reason to go there, but it's also the community where people make connections," Griffith said.
McNeill says a venue like The Bassment is quite rare, but important to Saskatoon.
"Saskatoon is really, as they say, punching above its weight," he said. "In my mind there's two premier jazz venues in Canada. That's the Yardbird Suite in Edmonton and The Bassment here in Saskatoon. There's really nothing like it in other cities."
In celebration of Saskatchewan music, CBC Saskatchewan is resharing our five-part series called Backstage Pass which explores music venues in Saskatoon.
You can read the rest of the series here:
With files Jennifer Quesnel