Multi-instrumentalist, composer and arranger Drew Jurecka and wife/fellow musician Rebekah Wolkstein formed The Venuti String Quartet with violist Shannon Knights, and cellist Amahl Arulanandam. All of the musicians are veterans of Toronto’s many classical ensembles, and perform with the COC and National Ballet orchestras, Tafelmusik and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, among other ensembles.
Their first recording as a quartet — Drew Jurecka & Maurice Ravel: String Quartets — will be released on February 28 in celebration of Ravel’s 150th birthday.
Classically trained, as is Wolkstein (with whom he performs in the ensemble Payadora), Drew Jurecka works in a range of genres from jazz to pop. He’s performed on, and written for, work that appears on more than 150 albums by artists like Royal Wood, Bahamas, and Hailee Steinfeld.
We spoke to him about the album and concert.
Drew Jurecka: The Interview
The program pairs Jurecka’s quartet with Ravel’s. It’s a composer, and an era, he’s long been drawn to.
“I think of Ravel as being part of a movement of composers that were exploring different styles, and were coming into contact with exoticism musically,” he says.
As he points out, Ravel’s interests and musical influences included a range of global musical genres like jazz and other American styles. “And also, [composers] were moving away from the standard Western tonality in a way that I still find very appealing.”
Ravel’s String Quartet in F major, his one and only, was composed in 1903, and it was that era of Western music where the old harmonic and other forms were beginning to fall away, but were not yet replaced by any specific system, such as the 12-tone music that would follow. Jurecka points out that it allowed Ravel and his contemporaries to experiment more simply and directly with the sounds they wanted, unfettered by dogma.
“It’s true, and Ravel famously didn’t want to talk about functional harmony with his peers,” he says. “He represents a kind of beautiful, spirit-driven music.”
Jazz vs. Classical
Drew’s work as a producer, multi-instrumentalist and arranger takes him across North America. He was nominated for a Grammy for Record of the Year for his work with pop singer Dua Lipa, which included arranging strings, performing, and engineering on the song Don’t Start Now.
When it comes to both contemporary jazz and contemporary classical music, there is a significant overlap. As Jurecka notes, jazz and classical musicians have a similar approach to the music, and both forms emphasize technical and expressive abilities.
That’s not to say that complicated or difficult passages are necessary in any genre.
“What felt like a revelation to me, but was obvious to everyone around me, was that music can be very simple […] or it can be beautifully complex,” he says, “but, if you’re missing your listener — it’s a failure.”
That’s the danger of creating music that’s overly intellectual. The Impressionists, as he explains, were more listener focused. Technical difficulty had a purpose: expression. “We need both things to exist,” he says. Of the two, expression is the more crucial for listeners. “It can be all vibe,” he says. “As a listener, you don’t want to be siting there going, wow this guy is working very hard.”
The scherzo (2nd) movement of Jurecka’s string quartet in an animated video conceived and directed by Rebekah Wolkstein and animated by Marcus Kim Cade:
Drew Jurecka: String Quartet No. 1
Jurecka’s String Quartet took about a decade to take shape between 2010 and 2020.
“Writing a quartet is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time just because I love the medium,” he says.
As a classically-trained musician who works largely in non-classical environments, he was intrigued by the expressive powers of the string quartet as an ensemble.
“It has the potential to sound like a 100 musicians,” he says. Dynamics can also be explored. “It somehow allows an entire range.”
The Venuti Quartet came together because of that fascination, and a recently completed string quartet manuscript that needed performance and recording. “We started this group because we love string quartets and we wanted to play it.”
After years of work completed, for the most part, for other artists and their projects, he was happy to have the opportunity to compose and perform his own music. That’s not to say he’s rejecting the world of pop or jazz, or the work he’s done there. “I wanted to feature some of the textures I’ve been playing with,” he adds.
The interaction of the movements in a string quartet intrigued him. “I wanted to explore the form of a string quartet,” he says. “A string quartet is kind of a concept album.
I wanted to explore that idea. It was a challenge for myself.”
As in Ravel’s work, he uses what he calls a “jazzy language” within the form of a string quartet. “I kind of wanted to play with some of those traditional things from Haydn and Beethoven, and those traditional writers, and take them in a different direction.”
His composition was written in spurts over the 10-year period. “I had musical compatriots who would encourage me.”
Pairing it with Ravel’s string quartet seemed like a natural choice. “Really, it’s just that I’m very influenced by the harmonic language of that movement. “
The Concert
The February 28 concert takes place at Hugh’s Room Live. The quartet will be performing their entire album, along with a group of pieces by midcentury modernist Austro-Czech composer Erwin Schulhoff.
“He was part of that Weimar scene.,” Jurecka says. “They also fit into that adventurous but still emotionally accessible language that Ravel used,” he adds.
“That’s one of the cool things about living now, is that we have access to everything,” he says of the contemporary composer’s palette.
Rebekah Wolkstein adds of his string quartet, “I think Ravel would love it.”
Both hope the work has a longer life and wider reach than a local premiere. “It would require a quartet to have a really great jazz violinist,” Wolkstein adds.
The recording also includes a bit of a surprise.
“There’s a tiny little piece at the end of the album called The Spider,” Drew says. “It’s a piece that I wrote with Jay Danley.” Danley is a Toronto jazz artist and composer, and The Spider was written when he and Jurecka had a weekly gig at the Rex Hotel. “The two of us wrote that piece, and performed it as an encore every week.”
For the album, he expanded on it somewhat (it’s about a minute long) to accommodate a string quartet. “It pays tribute to Carl Stalling, who was the great composer of Merry Melodies and Looney Tunes [cartoons],” Jurecka says. “It’s a fun little bon bon.”
“It’s so rare that Drew writes music just for the sake of saying what he wants to say.,” Rebekah says. “It’s a testament to his artistry and that he really should do it more.”
“I really do love collaboration a lot,” Drew allows. Four of the albums he’s worked on are currently nominated for a JUNO Award. “It is rare to have actually taken the time to create something of my own.”
- Find more information about the February 28 album release concert, and tickets, [HERE].
- The album will be released on March 7 on Leaf Music [HERE].
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