I am happy to report that Quinsin Nachoff's Magic Numbers concert was a success at the Glenn Gould last
night. Not only was it sold out but the music was fantastic.

The string quartet from Montreal played Nachoff's challenging and beautiful music with great accuracy and
enthusiasm.

The pieces that stood out for me (and many others I spoke with after) were Branches (a new piece written for
this particular ensemble) and the piece (title forgotten...sorry) that was just the String Quartet and Quinsin
on Soprano saxophone.

Jim Black put his usual stamp of individuality on the project. Unfortunately, it was hard to hear Mark
Dresser when he was playing Pizzicato bass.

It was great to be at the CBC building with many friends and creative jazz music fans. It felt a bit like a
special event that I see as a sign of good things to come for Toronto and perhaps all of Canada. It seems the
listening public, the CBC and the musicians are willing and interested to try out new things, and open our
ears for an exciting future in 2004 and beyond.