This month…Cover story/Peter Drake McHugh

Musical Score:  Blondheim is back

By Peter Drake McHugh

For the eclectic George Blondheim, this is a homecoming. But, in Edmonton, there is no band… no pennants… and no one has yet cued the trumpeter. Nonetheless, it is a homecoming worth noting. He has returned home to do business—the business of music, the art of recording.

The ‘been-there, done-that’ musician/impresario/composer/producer businessman has chosen to return to his roots after a lifetime of plying world routes looking for one more challenge in the impossibly difficult world of the composer. A musical gun for hire or a sensitive poet? Perhaps, a bit of both. Around the world, 30 million people hear his music each month. Some of them are even here in Edmonton. He is a man who had to leave home to have success follow him back.

At 50, George Blondheim is one of Canada’s most notable musicians. If you called him a musical genius, he would be mortified but his record speaks reams. He is recognized internationally as a film and television composer, conductor, arranger, music director and producer of pop/rock/country and jazz music. Centennial Celebrations, he was here… Mark Messier fund-raiser, he scripted the musical celebration… Ralph Klein Tribute, he composed the original score… Heritage Hockey Classic, he was the music director.

TV Guide once gushed; “His résumé reads like a short novel having performed and written virtually all styles of music in Canada, the USA and around the world. His film and TV composing credits include a Genie and two Gemini’s for such films as Bye Bye Blues and The War between Us to such American blockbusters as The Jewel of the Nile and 91/2 Weeks, and the hit TV series DaVinci’s Inquest.”

He has worked with artists from Nana Mouskouri to Cheech and Chong… from Bob Hope to Chubby Checker… from David Foster to Marvin Hamlisch… from Don Felder of the Eagles to Mason Williams… the list goes on. If he drops his little black book, pick it up and auction it off on eBay.

His series of concert recordings with symphony orchestras have led to other opportunities. His piano performances are described as “innovative, wildly energetic and surprise the listener with his sensitive maturity.”

He has conducted the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Toronto Festival Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Hamilton Symphony Orchestra, and others too numerous to mention. Over and above his own performances, Blondheim has arranged symphonic concerts with artists such as Tom Cochrane, Jann Arden, Spirit of the West and k.d. lang.

Over the years, he has lived and worked in Los Angles, Paris, Japan, the deep south of the USA, Toronto, and Vancouver where he still maintains a pied-a-terre. A recipient of the Queen’s Canada 125 Medal for his contribution through music to Canada and the world, Blondheim also was awarded the Alberta Centennial Gold Medal in 2005. He has been spokesperson for and contributes his time and talent to charity fundraisers.

Blondheim has been hooked on orchestras since he saw Procol Harum perform Conquistador with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra in 1971. It went on to be a worldwide hit. It was arguably the birth of symphonic rock.

The Edmonton of his boyhood was always winter but never quite Christmas. He longed to be gone… to step out from behind the wheat curtain… to explore the world of his musical dreams. It was not going well. The University of Alberta music program didn’t want him and, when Grant MacEwan College accepted him into its music program, he never did graduate—he remains its most internationally famous non-graduate... the subject of a lot of buzz around the world. 

UNCONVENTIONAL AND UNIQUE

He has bought his dream studio east of the city, near Sherwood Park. On the way out in his classic Mercedes 560 SEC—not quite a German staff car but with all the toots and whistles that came much later on other luxury cars—we glide the gently rolling parkland. “I like the fact that it survived,” Blondheim says of his luxury ride.

We arrive at a surplus, disused Canadian government weather station. The neighbors call it “the bunker.” In fact, it is a weather station with a difference… with charming country views, and a state of the art studio, ready to shake up the music scene in Alberta.

It houses B&W Entertainment/Retrogram Recordings, and it is open for business, as a number of Edmonton musicians have already discovered. 

For miles around the soft rush of the prairie wind keeps time with the dancing trees of the vast Alberta horizon. It is not the frenetic rush of Los Angeles tail-backed metal trapped in a sea of tar and cement, nor is it the easy chic and confidence of Vancouver or the apple blossom art of Japan, but it is home: These are the Canadian prairies on the threshold of Edmonton and, for an inquisitive hare staring at the floor to ceiling windows, there must never have been a more curious site. Could anything be more sublime? It is both unconventional and unique—much like its owner.

Four thousand square feet of dedicated music space on seven acres of solitude to work in film and TV and to write good music. At its centre is a well-used grand piano, surrounded by walls of electronics and acoustical marvels under 19-foot ceilings. Part home, part studio, all business. No recording session today, we have time to talk between phone calls and Blondheim checking his watch for his next appointment. The phone rings: a bass player in Calgary with studio experience. Could he send a sample? “Absolutely,” says Blondheim. “Always good to know what talent is out there.”

There is never a discordant note. He is of both the analogue and digital worlds, as comfortable composing as playing. He does have concerns for the future of music. Pop tart “idol” productions are “…a poor, pale production of American tastes, desires and economics,” he opines.

Gradually, he relents. When asked about the effects (if any) of current fads like Canadian Idol et al ,without batting an eye he responds, “Canadian Idol is to music performance what pond hockey is to the NHL.”

The man is a fan of every music genre. He will listen to Rap with the same concentration as a symphony orchestra. Jazz, country, heavy metal—all part of his vocabulary. An eclecticism he believes came naturally to him listening to radio in Edmonton. “In those days you would listen to one station and get a feeling for all types of music and that is missing today.” He recalls listening to CHED radio in the ’70s when he heard everything from Ray Stevens, Led Zeppelin, Stevie Wonder to Charlie Rich all in the same top 40. “You were exposed to every type of music and that can only make you better… I learned to wear many musical hats.”

For his studio, he looked near Vancouver and in Quebec, but his long-time friend and business partner said something like, “You can take the boy out of the prairie but…” Blondheim admits, “He really made me think about my life. What do I want to do? Sure, I could be somewhere else but it is a world of circumstance: This property being available and my business partner opting for Edmonton, and my being from here coupled with this wonderful studio popping up. It was a perfect storm of entrepreneurship and opportunity.” He does not add that it is also a bit of an odd-couple scenario with business partner Bernie Zolner: He eschews the limelight whereas Blondheim has learned to handle the public exposure.

Both men are adamant that Edmonton has a sound of its own and music made here doesn’t have to sound like music from everywhere else. “When you are inspired by Olds, Leduc and the Rockies, your take on the world is different and that’s just fine,” Blondheim suggests. His mentors would be jazz musician turned senator Tommy Banks and high school music teacher turned politician Gene Zwozdesky. But his language literally sparkles with the many people who have made the local music scene possible, even viable.

The list is long and eclectic—a catalogue of talent that had to be sold to international audiences. Blondheim says that part of the business is still most difficult. But he and Zolner share the philosophy that the sound of Alberta music is unique—whether country, hip hop, symphonic or rock. “We don’t have to make country music like Nashville or Austin. We must do it our way… go with our own sound.

“Every musician here owes a huge debt to Ian Tyson. He’s proof that when you sing about what you know, the world will listen.

“Of course, you must have talent. You must have quality both of performance and technology, and you must be willing to sell yourself in the worldwide market. Being nearly good enough is not good enough and you will fail.”

Blondheim sees his business filling a gap. “We like to look for people who have the talent and perhaps need packaging. The bar for talent has been raised tremendously by worldwide competition. It’s up to the musician to raise his or her game. Music is the backdrop of life. More music is being heard today than ever before.”

He is shifting in his seat again. Another topic. “As well as talent and knowledge, some academic training is necessary… but nothing will tell you the truth like a lot of clapping or booing.”

He has three rules for up-and-coming talent. First: “Do it because you love it;” second: “Make certain that it is good;” and third: “If you haven’t done your homework, you are wasting your time.

“If you want to be a star, chances are you will fail… but, if you commit to be the very best musician/performer you can be, there is every possibility you will succeed.”

Blondheim truly believes that, “music is part of the quality of life and must be nurtured. If not, you not only lose the music, but you risk losing the essence of culture.” 

Studio time has been booked and a group is arriving from Vancouver. Time to leave. Parting thoughts?

“I have friends in Europe and Los Angeles,” Blondheim concludes, “and they understand that Edmonton is ready to move onto the music map in a big way. Their quality of life is no better than mine. We have the talent… we have the production… we have the promotion... we have the technology. Now, we just have to put it together.

“I’m very happy to be home.” And he really means it.

More May 2007:
Magic Happens By Barb Deters

For a man who is so about music, George Blondheim is incredibly visual. He can actually see the notes he writes. His mind takes him beyond the realm of sound to create a mosaic for the senses.

That Bernie Zolner is on the same wave-length is a godsend… and audiences are the beneficiaries of their collaborative genius. Magic happens.

Case in point: Symphonia Masonica. Never heard of it? You will. Commissioned by the Grand Lodge of the Alberta Freemasons to commemorate its provincial centenary in 2004, the symphony in three movements premiered at the Winspear Centre for Music. It was unlike anything patrons—and the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra—had ever experienced.

This groundbreaking concert evoked emotions that swept through the audience like an electrical charge. Enhanced by massive video screens that projected inspiring images throughout the performance and an unrivalled light show that danced to the beat, the music filled the concert hall like never before. That’s what you get when you combine their talents with those of Don Metz of Aquila Productions.

In another departure from the norm, the entire audience—armed with complimentary recorders, slide whistles, harmonicas, drum skins and sticks—was invited to make its own music… to fully participate in its own symphonic presentation of Steelcraft & Coast Interactive. What a rush!

But wait there’s more. One patron put it this way: “James, George and Bernie became a triangle of excellence in that hall…” That reference would be to artist James Picard who stood elevated above the choir and in front of the Davis concert organ creating a massive painting. The finished piece, inspired by the music, was a symbolic representation of the Masonic culture.

But Blondheim is quick to point out that great works take time, something the professional community has to accept and embrace. He and Zolner are in the third re-write of Symphonia Masonica, and plan to re-record for release in the next year.

The publicity-shy Zolner wrote the introduction to the event in the Symphonia Masonica program. It is the embodiment of what fuels the collective passions of Zolner and Blondheim.

“There are certain occasions that bring to mind the nature and position of art within our community and its deep connection with the identity of our culture. Art lives on as a testimony and a legacy towards future generations…“…the people of Alberta are capable of contributing to the grand cultural legacy of the world.

The Wine Capital of Canada– Living up to the name By Michael O’Toole

 “Commercially available toilet tissue is not soft to the touch!” complains Jon Zwickel, executive vice-president of Bellstar Hotels & Resorts. “We got samples and took them home and said to ourselves, ‘If you’re paying $300 a night in a four-star resort, would this be an issue?’”

Much are the vexed choices and after-hours research that necessarily confront anyone involved in the south Okanagan’s latest environmentally-friendly destination resort development. The Oliver Wine Village—first tauted in 2001, and soon to emerge from the complexities of due diligence et al—aims to provide a true haven for value-added wine lovers and agro tourists that will rival the major wine experiences available in California, Australia and South Africa.

Andy Philip, project consultant with Co-operators Development Corporation, the principal real estate developer on the Wine Village project, explains the rationale:

“It really stems from the town of Oliver itself and their desire to create something that helps to put them on the map and live up to that name: The Wine Capital of Canada.” As Philip points out, Oliver, despite its many great wineries, has so far lacked the premium accommodation and other amenities necessary to present the town as a true wine resort destination. All that looks set to change by 2009, as the ambitious, multi-phase Wine Village concept starts to take tangible shape in what it is hoped will be a radical re-branding of the entire region.

In the town core, a premium hotel and spa are planned. Wine enthusiasts will be able to visit a wine interpretive centre to learn in depth about the magic of the grape, while a culinary arts centre and new riverfront residential properties add a missing dimension to the nation’s wine capital.

“We’re calling this our jewel in the crown,” says Les Lawther, economic development officer at Oliver and District Community Economic Development Society (ODCEDS). “We are the Wine Capital of Canada,” he expounds. “Around Oliver is the rural area which holds about 19 wineries now, with another five or six in the permitting stage. So we’re also putting together an agricultural resort, which would be the first in North America.”

For city slickers among us, the term “agricultural resort” may induce a little nervousness. We are assured, though, that tiptoeing carefully between suspiciously bucolic-looking patties of dark matter is not what Lawther has in mind. Instead, tasting wine served by the winemaker, picking cherries from the tree, and sampling local wild boar paté are among the charms to be offered in the context of the region’s enchanting landscape.

Lawther even envisions a new legislative process and governance model whereby official agricultural resort areas would be given the same status as mountain resorts, such as Whistler, in terms of provincial recognition, promotion and benefits.

Ed Romanowski, CEO of Bellstar, the hotel development partner in the project, could himself be regarded as a veteran of agro-tourism, having dabbled in the field through his Edmonton-based company Royal Tours in the 1980s.

“Agricultural tourism has always been a big part of what Canada is all about,” says Romanowski. “It just hasn’t been in the forefront. Clearly, viticulture (the study of grape growing) is more dominant in the domestic market. It touches the average consumer more than, say, grain farming or cattle ranching in the sense that we’re enjoying a bottle of wine. I think the average consumer, from a tourism point of view, would have trouble embracing the cattle industry.”

Philip anticipates that Alberta buyers and visitors will be a major factor in the future of the Oliver Wine Village and its agricultural extension—and not just for the attractions that have typically drawn them to the region for decades.

“I’ve come from the beverage alcohol business,” Philip explains, “and in my 15 years in that business, I’ve watched the Alberta market evolve dramatically from being a very domestic beer and core spirits driven market to being much more wine savvy.”

Bill Irwin, formerly an executive director for the BC government’s all season resort program, is now a consultant charged with moving forward the Agricultural Resort concept and championing it in the corridors of power.

“What makes Oliver and area unique,” Irwin points out, “is it has not been undermined in terms of unchecked development. It’s in a relatively pristine state… the agricultural rural community and even the downtown area. It’s going to be an opportunity to plan this and get it right before allowing development to occur. It’s hard to do that when communities have evolved ahead of the planning. There are not too many places where you could step in and put together an agricultural resort plan and initiative without having to deal with some decisions that are already compromised.”

Lawther is resolute in his summing up. “In the face of the onslaught on agricultural land, we’re trying to get across the message of let’s eat locally, do the best we can with the whole greenhouse gas emission process, contribute to a community that’s going to do it right… that’s sustainable, but allows development to take place. We don’t want to be Anywhere North America. We’re standing our ground against the homogenization that’s taking place.”

The Value Added Tourist is what the town needs, according to Lawther. The “VAT” is evidently your tourist who isn’t coming to stay in a camping ground and isn’t bringing an RV. “Value Added Tourists have deep pockets,” Lawther enthuses. “They’re high equity people. That way, the tour buses will not be coming in and it’ll be a more discreet tourist experience—wine tourism, agro-tourism, ecotourism, adventure tourism—but in keeping with this demographic that’s coming through.”

Coming through, also, will be a multitude of skiers as the nearby Mount Baldy resort progresses with its long-term expansion plans and new infrastructure upgrades bring casual traffic within the aromatic footprint of the Oliver core.

“One of the main access roads to Mount Baldy is going to go right by the front door of the Wine Village,” says Brett Sweezy, president of Idaho-based Winter Recreation, the parent company of Mount Baldy Ski Corporation. “So we’re going to be pushing 70 percent of our ski visitors through that core Oliver access road. Ten years from now, that could be 70 percent of a couple of hundred-thousand annual visitors coming up to the mountain that currently aren’t going by there.”

In the meantime, Sweezy has his own logistics to keep him occupied for the next 15 or so years as he phases in the stages of Mount Baldy’s growth.

“You can’t wake up one day and say, ‘I’m going to be a resort destination,’” he chuckles, contemplating the ambitious escapade that lies ahead. “I don’t hold to the ‘if you build it they will come’ strategy. Every time I do an expansion, I know it’s going to take one or two years to really reach the visitors that I want to see there. So instead of dropping $30 million at the resort and building three lifts and two lodges, my preference is to do one lift and get that information out there and let people start talking about it… then in the following year, do another lift.”

In terms of property investment opportunities, Sweezy is not just targeting affluent buyers as he plans for a family-oriented resort experience.

“It’s not going to be about 6,000 to 10,000 square-foot homes that are costing $1.5 million. I see us having a significant amount of 1,600 square-foot cabins and 2,000 square-foot homes that, just because of their size, become more affordable.”

Accolades almost commonplace for the man with a different message - By Michael O’Toole

There’s always a certain guilty trepidation about calling someone’s cell when you’re not even sure which international time zone the person is in at any given moment. Still, Clarence Louie, the charismatic Chief of the Osoyoos Indian Band has already had me scrambling, unsuccessfully, to reach the phone at 11.00pm in the middle of Much Vibe and last-minute tax return agonies. I suppose I should feel no remorse at disturbing him somewhere between the south Okanagan and Melbourne, Australia, where he’s due to address the Indigenous Economic Development Conference on the theme of embracing business opportunities.

As anyone familiar with the wine, development or tourism industries in the Okanagan Valley will know, Chief Louie is one of the main linchpins of high profile projects such as the Mt. Baldy ski resort expansion, Spirit Ridge Vineyard Resort & Spa, and the nascent Oliver Wine Village and Agricultural Resort. All of these initiatives involve long-term business partnerships with the Osoyoos Indian Band and lease agreements for the use of its land.

Chief Louie, though, is himself at the head of a small business “empire” in the region. Through the Osoyoos Indian Band Development Corp (OIBDC), the Oliver-born, business-driven Chief presides over nine thriving enterprises, including Nk’Mip Vineyards, Nk’Mip Canyon Desert Golf Course, and Nk’Mip Cellars—North America’s only aboriginal-owned winery. With corporate revenues likely to exceed $13 million this year, he has a compelling story and is frequently asked to tell it, both at home and abroad.

“It takes money to do anything. Health, education… they all cost money,” Chief Louie declares from what might be an airport executive lounge. “The Osoyoos Indian Band hopes to create more jobs, make more money and be part of the growing economy in the south Okanagan. We’re always a partner with the towns of Oliver and Osoyoos in anything to do with the grape and winery industries. It’s a win-win anytime there’s [a development] of quality that deals with attracting more tourists to our region.”

It’s an outlook which has won numerous local admirers for the 2006 Order of British Columbia recipient and his whole organization.

“They’re good neighbours,” explains Bill Irwin, former executive director for BC’s all-season resort program. “We have a very common economic approach to dealing with the opportunities and challenges that the area presents.”

The point is confirmed enthusiastically by Les Lawther, economic development officer at Oliver and District Community Economic Development Society (ODCEDS):

“When we moved forward with the Oliver Agricultural Resort concept, the first signatory to that memorandum of understanding was Chief Louie.” Lawther also applauds the fact that the Osoyoos Indian Band provides hundreds of jobs at its various business enterprises and is, therefore, one of the region’s largest employers.

Brett Sweezy is president of Idaho-based Winter Recreation which is currently expanding its Mount Baldy ski resort in the south Okanagan. The Osoyoos Indian Band has a 2.5 percent stake in the resort, in addition to being the landlord of 10,000 acres of territory required for the ongoing expansion project. Tough business negotiations aside, Sweezy has twice faced the somewhat dubious distinction of following Chief Louie on the speaking platform, including—as he good-naturedly recalls—an uncomfortable occasion at the Town of Osoyoos’ annual general meeting.

“Clarence came out and spoke. He’s a very vibrant speaker. I’m not trying to diminish my own qualities, but there’s no way that we compare. He has a different message to share and he can get away with that message. I think it’s good that somebody’s conveying the stuff that he’s saying. But when you follow Clarence on a podium, it’s harder. He’s out there and he’s such a positive ‘Why aren’t you in my stores?... I’ve never seen you at any of my OIB businesses’ sort of speaker. He definitely takes a different tack than somebody else would in front of an audience.”

Jon Zwickel, executive vice-president of Bellstar Hotels & Resorts, developers of both the Spirit Ridge and the Oliver Wine Village projects, has extensive experience in negotiating and dealing with the OIBDC. It was Chief Louie who first approached the developer five years ago to explore a potential business link-up. “In fact,” Zwickel explains, “the OIBDC has now made an investment and is a joint venture partner with Bellstar in Spirit Ridge Resort, rather than just being our landlord and host.”

So is it true, as some reports have suggested, that the Osoyoos Indian Band drives a hard bargain, given that it’s holding the trump card of tens of thousands of acres of prime land? Bellstar’s founder and CEO, former Edmontonian Ed Romanowski, seems to nurse no resentment:

“I ask the corollary question, which is: ‘Why should they be any less business driven than any other business organization?’ They should be prudent, they should apply appropriate due diligence, and they should endeavour to get the best deal. And I find the OIB to be excellent business people. Above all, you can trust them and they’ll stick to their word.”

Accolades for the popular Chief from the development community have become almost commonplace in the years since he was elected to his current position in 1985, when he was still in his mid-twenties. How, then, does he regard the experience of dealing with his civic and commercial partners?

“Well, we have a pretty good business relationship,” Chief Louie makes clear. “The only other thing is that, like most First Nations, we have unsettled land questions and jurisdictional issues outside of business, although they do affect business. In business negotiations, everybody tries to protect their side and advance their case.”

He freely accepts the necessity for give and take in the interest of common progress; caution, though, is not entirely absent from his tone. “When you’re dealing with First Nations, you’ve got this long, bad history of relations [with] provincial, federal and municipal governments,” he reflects.

As for his status as a role model with a powerful message of economic self-reliance, the graduate of the universities of Saskatchewan and Lethbridge is happy to let his impressive record speak for itself:

“You know, I guess the proof of that can be seen by the number of visits we get from First Nations across the country, and the amount of times I get asked to go out there and sell the Osoyoos Indian Band story. And now I’m off to Australia, as we speak, to tell the story.”

Chief Louie concedes, of course, that both his style and his pro-business policies—seen by some as a threat to cultural traditions—have attracted a certain degree of controversy over the years, not least from other First Nations groups. He insists, however, that economic self-sufficiency is an essential component of cultural survival.

“Everybody receives criticism. I don’t know a person that walks on water and has 100-percent approval. Of course, you take in reasonable, legitimate feedback and you discard the rest. You know what?” he quips, but perhaps with a serious subtext, “If Don Cherry can be criticised, anybody can be!”

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