Chelsea McBride’s Socialist Night School

“The composer has previously shown promise and talent embracing a classic big band sound and focusing it through a lens of the modern scene. But Aftermath is an entirely new high. There is a focus to its huge statements, wild inspirations, and bold leaps that wasn’t quite there before. The difference between now and, say, the solid 2017 release The Twilight Fall, is the way one piece snaps into place with the next; rather than the album feeling like a fascinating collection of pieces, there is a sense of grand vision—a guiding hand that steers events from the very first moment until the grand finale. This is one of the very best big band recordings of 2019.” Dave Sumner – Bandcamp Daily

“As credible as The Twilight Fall is, Aftermath represents a formidable progression. A recording to savour from beginning to end, the seventy-four-minute collection impresses so much it’s hard not to contemplate the heights she might scale in the years to come.” Ron Schepper – textura

Chelsea McBride’s Socialist Night School is a Toronto, Canada based 19 piece modern jazz orchestra led by fast-rising orchestration trail-blazer Chelsea McBride. Award-winning veterans like William Carn and Colleen Allen stand next to the city’s hottest emerging artists in this contemporary modern big band. The Socialist Night School recently released their sophomore full-length album Aftermath, a concept album about conflict, on November 1, 2019. Seesaw Magazine points out that “McBride’s writing is political, harmonically fresh and firmly embedded in the catchy hooks and lushness of big band tradition”, and Shepherd Express adds “The rhythms are steady-on and the arrangements are cut as precisely as puzzle pieces… It’s a masterful piece of work descended from the school of Gil Evans with its lush harmonies and arrangements.” This follows the success of their debut full-length album “The Twilight Fall”, which received 4 stars in Downbeat Magazine.

Chelsea McBride’s Socialist Night School completed their first 11-city cross-Canada tour in 2018, which took them to Vancouver Island and Halifax and many places in between. Aftermath, along with their previous releases, are available on Bandcamp and wherever music is streamed and sold.

You can find the Socialist Night School on Facebook here, and at #socialistnightschool wherever hashtags are used.