Talking Pictures

Ron Samworth, Bill Clark, Peggy Lee, Dylan van der Schyff

January 15

A frequent performer in their home town, TALKING PICTURES has been featured in the du Maurier Ltd. International Jazz Festival in Vancouver since 1993. 

Talking Pictures is a quartet of Vancouver musicians formed in 1993 by composer/guitarist Ron Samworth (co-artistic director of the collective New Orchestra Workshop) with the idea of bringing together some of his favourite musicians in an ensemble that incorporates diverse musical experiences in a communion of form and freedom. With Bill Clark on trumpet, Dylan van der Schyff on drums and Peggy Lee on cello, the group has a striking sound that uses a wide range of dynamics and textures. The jazz continuum from Armstrong to Zorn, New Music, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Weill and Nino Rota meet in a compelling montage of musical influences.

They have toured across Canada and in Europe where they have played at prestigious festivals and venues such as the Festival International de Musique de Victoriaville, the BINhuis and De IJsbreker Music Centres in Amsterdam, Instants Chavires in Paris and the Loft in Koln.Their debut CD, Ciao Bella, and their second, The Mirror with a Memory are on Montreal's Red Toucan label.

Talking Pictures also has a decidedly theatrical bent, having written and performed RubyCab, and original cabaret with the Ruby Slippers Theatre Company, as well as performed the music and text of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht with guest vocalists. They have also arranged and performed in an acclaimed production of Brecht's Threepenny Opera.