Gather with us at 11:30 AM on Saturday, September 12 at the back of the Guelph Farmers’ Market (2 Gordon Street, behind Harvey’s). We’ll learn the parade theme together before joyfully parading through the streets of downtown Guelph with a big beautiful crew of musicians, dancers, walkers, clappers, foot-stompers… ending at Royal City Mission (50 Quebec St).
Each year, the Guelph Jazz Festival Community Parade is built around a musical theme. Participants are invited to learn and perform a simple piece together as we make our way through downtown Guelph.
This year’s theme is We Travel the Spaceways by Sun Ra, arranged by our Artistic Director, Joe Sorbara.
Led this year by special guests: poet Monique Ngozi Nri and trumpeter Ahmed Abdullah—a member of Sun Ra’s Arkestra since 1975—along with local musicians Connor Bennett on saxophones, Colin Couch on tuba, Heather Saumer on trombone, and drummers Joe Sorbara and Mark Zurawinski, this year’s community parade will be a wild rumpus to remember!
If you’d like to play along in the parade, you can download the sheet music below and start practicing in advance.
We’ll gather at 11:30 AM at the back of the outdoor Guelph Farmers’ Market (behind Harvey’s), to learn and play the parade music together before setting off.
Our route takes us along Freshfield Street, Wilson Street, and Carden Street, with a special stop at Market Square to pause and make music together. From there, we’ll continue past the Albion Hotel, along Norfolk Street, and down Quebec Street to our final destination at Royal City Mission (50 Quebec St).
The parade is a slow, family-friendly procession with several moments to pause and perform together along the way. The total route is approximately one kilometre. For everyone’s safety, we will remain on the sidewalks throughout the parade.
Festival volunteers will lead the procession, help guide participants along the route, and be available to assist anyone who needs support. Whether you’re playing an instrument, singing, or simply walking alongside the music, everyone is welcome to join us.
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Trumpeter, composer, educator, and author Ahmed Abdullah is one of the central figures in 21st-century Brooklyn Jazz. He joined the Sun Ra Arkestra in 1975, touring, recording, and traveling extensively until 1997. His recently published (2023) memoir, A Strange Celestial Road: My Time in the Sun Ra Arkestra, recounts that experience and many more he has had in the music. He recently phoenixed from the NYC Dept of Education after 20 years of service as a music teacher at Brooklyn’s PS 3 and is also curator emeritus from his 25-year position as Music Director of Sistas’ Place in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. He is currently an adjunct professor at the acclaimed New School Jazz Program, where he has been teaching the music and philosophy of Sun Ra since 2002. He continues to lead his own ensemble, Diaspora (Dispersions of the Spirit of Ra), and he is working on writing the second part of his life story.
melchizedekmusicproduction.com
Connor Bennett is a musician, craftsperson, and arts organizer in Hamilton. They play saxophone, flute, and whistle in a variety of musical contexts, mostly focused on improvisation (Current projects include: Tidal Pool; Horseman, Pass By; Blue Moss; Ghost Variables; Madam Sad; Ylang Ylang; Ula Lume; Pink Snail). Their craft is in custom mouthpiece making for woodwinds. Connor has been involved with Zula Music and Arts Collective since its conception and is also a founding member of the Hamilton Audio Visual Node (HAVN) and has worked there in collaboration with many other artists in the curation and organization of concerts, art shows, events, and series.
@tidal.pool
tidalpoolmusic.bandcamp.com
bluemossmusic.bandcamp.com
ylangylang.bandcamp.com
Colin Couch is a tuba player, multi-instrumentalist, and carpenter. He is well known for his work with The Polka Dogs as well as collaborations with the Cowboy Junkies and the long-running collective of genre-defying local weirdos, GUH.
polkadogs.bandcamp.com
guhmusic1.bandcamp.com
Monique Ngozi Nri a writer of Nigerian, Barbadian, and British descent, was born in Coventry, England, raised in Nigeria until age nine, and has lived in Brooklyn, New York, for 30 years. Her work delves into her nomadic life, exploring the impact of the Biafran war, displacement, home, relationships, freedom, and feminism. She collaborates with her husband, Ahmed Abdullah, in performing music of the African Diaspora and Sun Ra, blending her poetry with song. Together they formed Melchizedek Music Productions in 1995, which has the mission of bringing music back into the community and building institutions that empower humanity. Nri, who earned her MFA in Creative Writing (poetry) from Brooklyn College in 2021, has taught in its English department. Her work has appeared in And Then, The Brooklyn Review, The Marbled Sigh, and The New York City Jazz Record. Her first book of poetry, Who We Be, was originally published in 2023. Their most recent project is Open Fortress, part of the Greenhouse Creators’ Consortium.
Heather Saumer is a trombonist, multi-instrumentalist, singer, composer, mover, thinker, wonderer, noticer, collaborator. She has a MMus from UofT, and also works as a Psychotherapist, music teacher, and group facilitator. A versatile performer, you may find her singing country songs, playing in Jazz/Contemporary Classical ensembles, or dancing with tall grasses.
In addition to serving the Guelph Jazz Festival as Artistic Director since 2025, Canadian drummer and percussionist Joe Sorbara (they/ them) has spent decades developing a reputation as a dedicated and imaginative performer, composer, improviser, collaborator, organiser, listener, writer, and educator. They help lead our Community Parade each year, strapped to a big bass drum and wielding a big smile.
ovalwindowmusic.org/joesorbara/
Mark Zurawinski is a percussionist, improviser and sound designer with an eclectic palette, and fondness for left field music which takes him to interesting and diverse sonic places – from contemplative chamber music to free-jazz freakouts, minimalist groove to digital noise. Mark is inspired by the tangibility of sound and has a keen interest in exploring the fluidity of texture and time, and the space where composition and improvisation meet. He is a regular collaborator, sometimes band-leader, and can be found performing with Agnes, Scallions, Kindhorse, the Imaginary Percussion Ensemble, and many others in Toronto and Guelph.
@_mmmzzzz__
markzurawinskimusic.com
scallionsband.bandcamp.com
photos by Colin Medley, Janet Morton, Chantale Renee, Nathan Dell Vandenberg, and others.