In the summer of 2014 I was asked to sing at a lunchtime concert during the annual Yukon Summer Music Camp. The concert brought together all the jazz instructors from camp including the lovely guitarist Robert Walsh of Edmonton and the charismatic drummer Karl Schwonik from Calgary.

My favourite thing about jazz is how easy it is for musicians to come together at a moment’s notice and play. It is always a thrill to collaborate with new players and hear the new language they bring to the table.

A highlight of that concert was singing “Georgia”; thanks to Robert’s beautiful playing, it still stands out in my mind as my favourite performance ever of that song,

The other highlight was Karl’s lyrical drumming throughout the concert. I was struck by how melodious he was. Some drummers just play rhythms, but Karl made those drums sing. It made me want to sing along.

Karl came back for summer camp in 2015 and we took the opportunity to record together. I drove him out to Daniel Janke’s studio in Mary Lake, about 20 minutes out of town. Karl is legally blind, so the scenery didn’t do much for him. He asked if I had a shovel in the back of the van and remarked that he’d seen enough long drives in horror films to know how this trip would end. I bet an overactive imagination is an advantage for developing a creative playing style.

I wrote a new song, Can’t Find My Way No More, with Karl in mind, but we tried out a few other tunes as well, and my favourite turned out to be a Cole Porter song, though I won’t yet reveal which one. (But if you’ve been following the updates on my GoFundMe campaign, you might have caught a clue last week! Go ahead and put your guess in the comments. I’ll send a prize to the first person to guess correctly!)

For more Karl: karlschwonik.com