Obituaries: Jeans 'n Classics Founder Peter Brennan, Canadian Sound Poet Nobuo Kubota

Peter Brennan, a musician and the founder, head and lead guitarist of Jeans ‘n Classics, a Canadian-based symphonic rock performance series that has found widespread popularity in North America and Europe, died on Sept. 29, at age 73. He had been living with cancer for 18 months.

An obituary in his hometown newspaper, The London Free Press, called Brennan "a longtime Londoner who blended rock and orchestra through Jeans ’n Classics and leaves a legacy of both music and generosity."

"Though his work filled theatres and concert halls – from London’s Grand Theatre to performances with the BBC Concert Orchestra and British band ABC at Royal Albert Hall – Brennan never sought the spotlight, his wife Sharon said. 'He was the same on stage as he was at home. There was never any pretence with him. He liked to let everybody else have the spotlight and he was just happy to make the music.'"

"Born in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, and raised in Campbellford, east of Peterborough, Brennan moved to London, Ontario, to study music at Western University. He toured widely, produced albums, and, in the early 1990s, founded Jeans ’n Classics, an ensemble of rock and pop musicians who combined with orchestra musicians to perform symphonic rock shows featuring the music of acts such as the Beatles, the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac."

For his work with Jeans ‘n Classics, Brennan was honoured with a lifetime achievement award at the Forest City London Music Awards earlier this year.

Mario Circelli, chair and founder of the Forest City London Music Awards, said Brennan always proudly represented his adopted city. “Everywhere he went, he carried the London, Ont., flag with him,” Circelli told the LFP.

Upon news of Brennan's passing, messages have poured in from orchestras, musicians and conductors across the continent, his wife Sharon told the London Free Press.

Jeans ‘n Classics was launched in London in the early '90s, and from humble beginnings it has become a major force in the live entertainment market.

"Most definitely not a tribute act, Jeans ‘n Classics faithfully interprets the music of legendary rock and pop albums and artists with their own special and signature flair," the company's website notes. "A star performer in the arts and entertainment scene, this tight-knit collection of the best vocalists and musicians in the business tours year round to perform as special guests of symphonies across North America. Closer to home, they even have their own symphony, the JNC Rock Symphony."

The impressive expansion of the company and its symphonic rock concept has seen major growth in the U.S. market, with a ratio of U.S. to Canada concerts estimated at 70/30. There are 40 symphonic rock, pop and country shows in the catalogue, and Jeans 'n Classics perform 60-80 nights a year, with around 35 different artists in the company. As well as producing and arranging, Brennan played lead guitar on most shows. The Jeans 'n Classics series will continue, and is currently booked into 2027.

Brennan was responsible for selecting or approving all the musicians and vocalists involved in Jeans 'n Classics shows, and a look at the performers list reveals an A-list of Canadian artists. Those names include the likes of vocalists Rique Franks, Gavin Hope (The Nylons) and Kathryn Rose and musicians Dave Dunlop (Rik Emmett) and Paul DeLong (Kim Mitchell).

Outside of Jeans 'n Classics, a career highlight for Brennan was getting to work with one of his favourite bands, English hitmakers ABC. He collaborated with the group on four Ontario shows and was then invited to London, England, to help the band rehearse for a concert at the famed Royal Albert Hall with the BBC Concert Orchestra. In an interview on the London Lights TV show back in his hometown, Brennan recalled that "I ended up playing the show, and afterwards I got to meet '80s luminaries like Trevor Horn, my god of producers."

A celebration of life, open to the public, will be held Monday, Oct. 6, from 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Drewlo lounge at the Grand Theatre at 471 Richmond St., London, Ontario. Donations in his memory can be made to one of his favourite charities: The Grand Theatre, London; Habitat for Humanity Heartland Ontario; the Donkey Sanctuary of Canada; or a local arts organization you love.

Nobuo Kubota, a Canadian sound poet and multimedia artist best known for his work in pioneering free improvisation group CCMC, died on Sept. 30, at age 93.

Kubota co-founded CCMC (Canadian Creative Music Collective) with Peter Anson, Graham Coughtry, Larry Dubin, Greg Gallagher, Allan Mattes, Casey Sokol, Bill Smith and Canadian arts legend Michael Snow. From the late 1960s on, along with Coughtry and Snow, Kubota was also a members of Artists' Jazz Band, a seminal Toronto free-jazz ensemble for whom he played alto sax.

The CCMC was founded in 1974, and in 1976, CCMC founded The Music Gallery as an artist-run centre in Toronto and they performed there twice-weekly. The group was formally associated with The Music Gallery until 2000. Members of the group were also founders of the Music Gallery Editions record label, which issued CCMC's first six albums.

CCMC's music is based on "improvisation-as-composition," inspired by free jazz, and their work earned international acclaim. A later member of the ensemble, Paul Dutton, died earlier this year.

Kubota later also became known for his extended vocal techniques and sound poetry. In 1999, the Kelowna Art Gallery held a retrospective of his work titled Nobuo Kubota: The Exploration of Possibility. A second exhibition titled Nobuo Kubota: Hokusai Revisited was held at Kelowna in 2010.

Born in Vancouver in 1932, Kubota was interned with his family in an internment camp for Japanese Canadians during World War 11.

He earned a degree in architecture from the University of Toronto and practiced architecture for ten years. His interest in Zen Buddhism was reinforced by an attraction to Japanese architecture. He became a sculptor in 1969 and showed regularly with the Isaacs Gallery group in Toronto. Japanese aesthetics and art also influenced this work.

A more recent creative pursuit was the development of a calligraphic style of notation for the depiction of sound which he called 'Sonic Calligraphy'.

Kubota published two books, Phonic Slices and Deep Text (both 2001) with Coach House Books. From 1970 to 1998, he taught at OCAD University in Toronto.

His work is held in numerous collections including the National Gallery of Canada. He was made a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts and received the Allied Arts Award from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.

In 2000, he received the Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award from the Canada Council, and was a recipient of the Governor General's award for the arts in 2009. He also received a Doctor of Fine Arts Honoris Causa from the Ontario College of Art and Design (2011).

Amongst those paying tribute to Kubota on social media was Toronto artist Erella Ganon, with this Facebook post: "I’m very sad to learn that Nobuo Kubota has passed. What an amazing lively, gentle, brilliant man. I learned a lot from him at the Ontario College of Art and with every interaction in the decades that followed. He was one of my teachers, we worked together at the Music Gallery and we remained friends. He was a delight to behold."

International

Assata Olugbala Shakur (born JoAnne Byron), an American black activist and godmother of hip-hop icon Tupac Shakur, died on Sept. 25, at age 78, in Havana, Cuba.

She was a member of the Black Liberation Army and was convicted in 1977 for the murder of a state trooper in 1973 and was sentenced to life in prison. She escaped from prison in 1979 and was wanted by the FBI. She was granted political asylum in Cuba in 1983 and remained there for the rest of her life.

Her life and memoir made her a folk hero in black liberation circles and Shakur had a major impact on the Black Lives Matter movement. She was the subject of two biographical movies.

A Pitchfork obituary notes that "Shakur had been an iconic figure in hip-hop since she was name-checked on 'Rebel Without a Pause,' from Public Enemy’s 1988 album It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back: 'Hard, my calling card/Recorded and ordered, supporter of Chesimard.' Common also titled a song on 2000’s Like Water for Chocolate after her. Most significantly, Shakur was step-aunt and godmother to the late rapper 2Pac."