DAVID REHORICK

Karim, David’s full text and yours are after my sign off signature.
Also I think it’d be great if you could provide a brief blurb. You’ll see a spot for that below.
I’ve made the 6-song playlists for YouTube and Spotify. I think you could boost the song lists a bit.I’ve boldfaced some tunes in his write-up.
Of course it’s up to you and David.

Any feedback you offer on how things read and look would be excellent.
This has come togetehr very easily and well. There’s just about all of your text with some minor edits and then a bunch of David’s great answers.
Def one of the easiest editing jobs I’ve had in a long time!

Over to you.
cheers,

Kris

• VIDEO PLAYLIST: 14 songs on Youtube from a Dec. 2022 live performance at Frankie’s
• PLAYLIST: 6 songs on YouTube and Spotify
• UPCOMING CONCERT: Burnaby Brentwood Presbyterian Church, Sunday, May 16, 3:30 pm
  with the Miles Black Trio featuring vocalist Steve Maddock
• MORE ABOUT DAVID REHORICK: on his Website

David Rehorick (left) and Miles Black, his mentor and collaborator in jazz. (did we need a photo credit …?)

A RETURN TO JAZZ

From academia to composing jazz: David Rehorick plays

by Karim Ratib

Jazz pianist and composer David Rehorick saw his first “jazz fake sheet” when he was 30 at a workshop by renowned Toronto musician Phil Nimmons. “I was perplexed by the absence of notes on the music sheets wondering how jazz musicians can possibly play,” he says.

So began Rehorick’s early forays into the genre and a sideline to a fulfilling academic career at the University of New Brunswick. He played semi-professionally with two Fredericton bands for 15 years. However, his duties as a university professor and research scholar left no time to continue jazz jobbing or writing tunes.

Upon retirement and moving to Vancouver in 2007, he rekindled his passion for jazz taking private and group jazz classes. That’s where he met Miles Black, an established and busy Vancouver jazzman who gave him the support and space he needed to explore and refine his interest in composition.

Their pairing has been productive. “On reflection, how wonderful it has been to compose original tunes – some with lyrics – and release five albums after the age of 70,” he notes. His albums include: Step Up (2018), Just One Moment (2020), Live at the Silk Purse (2022), and Full Circle (2025). A collaborative digital album called Canadian Horizons (2021) was created online by Roland Bourgeois, Miles Black, and Rehorick during the pandemic days of isolation.

did we need a credit here?

Finding the creative impulse

“Much of my creative musical expression arises through late evening, open-ended piano explorations,” says Rehorick. “Sometimes the music and lyrics surface together. Sometimes I begin by generating narrative text for unfolding lyrics. Sometimes I’m just surprised by the source of the musical ideas, for instance, surfacing within a dream.”

He also draws on his academic knowledge. “Many themes emerge from reflections on personal experiences as well as the presence of ordinary, mundane objects that are present in our daily lives.

“This turn to the ‘everyday lifeworld’ is foundational to thinking in phenomenological
sociology, one area of my research as a university professor.”

Rehorick’s compositions span the gamut of the jazz idiom, from standard-sounding bossa (Vancouver), to modal jazz (Step Up), to groovy numbers (Edge of Darkness) all the way to meditative and spoken-word pieces (the Covid-era In Relief suite, Dark Fragments). He doesn’t shy away from songs – his lyrics are often infused with humorous, tender and reflective takes on real-life topics (Cozy Sizzle, STRATAsfaction, Blue Bag Folly, Cocoa Girl). With this compositional richness, it’s no wonder that his music is regularly performed and enjoyed around town, from Frankie’s Jazz Club to the Shadbolt Centre and West Van’s Silk Purse.

What’s next for this prolific and devoted jazz aficianado? “I’m not sure, but I do have about six to eight sets of draft ideas for a project I call Geriatric Jazz,” he says. “It’s intended to allow older folks to reflect on life’s circumstances, and then just laugh. It feels akin to the job of a solo stand-up comedian on stage — either the audience laughs or it just falls flat.”

Karim Ratib is … and this could be a brief blurb about yourself …!

Kurated is tuned in.

02 May 2026



DAVID’S PIECE:

I moved beyond playing only well known music and tunes from the movies at age
30 when I saw my first “jazz fake sheet”. I attended a five-day workshop led by
the Toronto-based musician Phil Nimmons. I was perplexed by the absence of
notes on the music sheets, wondering how jazz musicians can possibly play.
After one year of intense jazz piano study, I was fortunate to perform semi-
professionally with two jazz groups in Fredericton, New Brunswick for about
fifteen years. Between the mid-1970s and 2015, I only composed two tunes.
“Vancouver” written in 1977 expressed what the warmth of Vancouver in March
felt like in comparison to cold winters in the Maritime provinces. Then, after the
birth of Nathan, my son, I felt compelled to find an authentic way to express my
joy and happiness, culminating with the tune “Song of Joy” in 1984.

My duties as a university professor and research scholar left no time to continue
jazz jobbing or writing tunes. After I retired and moved to Vancouver in 2007, I
returned to jazz piano study. It was fortuitous that I signed up for summer school
jazz workshops with Miles Black at the VSO School of Music in 2014 and 2015. I
then began bi-weekly jazz study and piano lessons with Miles that are still on-
going.
In December of 2015, I discovered early draft notes for a tune generated under
the guidance of Ian Sedgewick, my first jazz teacher in 1976. I worked on this over
the Christmas holidays, returning to lessons with Miles Black with a fully formed
jazz tune called “Remembering Ian”. This turned out to be the launch of my career
as a jazz composer, something that has been the focus of my attention for ten
years.

On reflection, how wonderful it has been to compose original tunes (some with
lyrics), and release five albums after the age of 70. The albums include: Step Up
(2018), Just One Moment (2020), Live at the Silk Purse (2022), and Full Circle
(2025). A collaborative digital album called Canadian Horizons (2021) was created
online by Roland Bourgeois, Miles Black, and me during our pandemic isolation
days.

Much of my creative musical expression arises through late evening open-ended
piano explorations. Sometimes the music and lyrics surface together. Sometimes I
begin by generating narrative text for unfolding lyrics. Sometimes I’m just
surprised by the source of the musical ideas, for instance surfacing within a
dream. Many themes emerge from reflections on personal experiences as well as
the presence of ordinary, mundane objects that are present in our daily lives. This
turn to the “everyday lifeworld” is foundational to thinking in phenomenological
sociology, one area of my research as a university professor.

My life as a university professor and jazz composer can be found on my website:
davidrehorick.com. Listen to my jazz albums at davidrehorick.com/stores While
several platforms are provided, I recommend listening on “Bandcamp” since the
liner notes for the albums are present.

Addendum: responses to the series of questions that you posed
Questions 1, 3, 10 are answered in my commentary. Please select out and use
the material as you deem appropriate.
Questions 4 & 5 combined:
As a jazz pianist in the 1980s and 1990s, I performed many jazz standards. I
continue to play tunes like When Sunny Gets Blue, Autumn Leaves, Black Orpheus,
and I Didn’t Know What Time it Was. And I enjoy the open improvisational
horizons arising within Dear Old Stockholm, Little Sunflower, and So What.

Question 6:
I like all my compositions. But do take note of audience response in particular to
Edge of Darkness, Just One Moment, and STRATAsfaction. My music is melodic
and story-telling. Take for example tunes composed to celebrate our family
cats—Neville-san, Benny Bengal Boy, Cocoa Girl, and Top of the Stairs (Cocoa
Calls).
Question 7:
It was fortuitous that Sally, my wife noticed that the VSO School of Music in
Vancouver had started a jazz program in 2013. After two summer sessions with
Miles Black, I began continuing part-time study with him. His vast instrumental
repertoire has allowed us to try things out, from duo pianos to piano and bass,
brass instruments, guitar and more. His easy-going nature is so supportive of my
creative temperament. When I share a new draft jazz tune, he offers thoughts on
how to make it better, then leaves it to me to make final choices. Our co-
production of five jazz albums is testimony to a wonderful working relationship.
Question 8:
Sally Rehorick, my wife, is an international and Olympic level figure-skating judge
and official. She knows how coaches and figure skaters adapt music to create
first-class programs. As my compositions unfold, she often remarks–“it’s skate-
able”, and starts dancing around the room! On my recent album FULL CIRCLE, I
played an unnamed demo and when she said “it’s skate-able”, I told her the
tune’s title—Just for Sally.
Question 9:
What’s next? I’m not sure, but I do have about 6 – 8 sets of draft ideas for a
project I call “Geriatric Jazz”. It’s intended to allow older folks to reflect on life’s
circumstances, and then just laugh. It feels akin to the job of a solo stand-up
comedian on stage—either the audience laughs or it just falls flat.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
THIS IS YOUR PIECE
David Rehorick turned to music composition later in life. He rekindled his passion for jazz as his career as a university professor was winding down, restarting with private and group jazz classes. That’s where he met Miles Black, an established and busy Vancouver jazzman who nevertheless gave David the support and space he needed to explore and refine his interest in composition.

Their pairing has been productive. Between 2018 and today, David has self-produced and self-published 5 albums (3 studio albums, one live album and one collaborative project, all available on Bandcamp) that feature some of Vancouver’s (and beyond) finest jazz players, including Miles Black of course. 

What about the music itself? David’s compositions span the gamut of the jazz idiom, from standard-sounding bossa (Vancouver), to modal jazz (Step Up), to groovy numbers (Edge of Darkness) all the way to meditative and spoken-word pieces (the Covid-era In Relief suite, Dark Fragments). David does not shy away from songs – his lyrics are often infused with humorous, tender and reflective takes on real-life topics (Cozy Sizzle, STRATAsfaction, Blue Bag Folly, Cocoa Girl). With this compositional richness, it’s no wonder that David’s music is regularly performed and enjoyed around town, from Frankie’s Jazz Club to the Shadbolt Centre and West Van’s Silk Purse.

Next concert: Brentwood Presbyterian Church, May 16, 3:30pm, with the Miles Black Trio featuring vocalist Steve Maddock (poster on next page).

More information about David and his music at https://davidrehorick.com/