London is a City of Music with Mario Circelli - John Noubarian

Mario Ciselli comes in our studio to give us a pearl of music history from here in London. Today, we're talking about a Londoner who's been considered one of southwestern Ontario's most respected jazz musicians. Mario, who are we talking about here? We're talking about John Newberry and who's actually not just southwestern Ontario, probably one of Ontario's most noted jazz musicians. Consummate musician. Teacher, mentor, and for many who have crossed paths with him, really a guide by the side. And it's not a stretch at all. It's quite appropriate to say he was a prodigy. Already by 11, he was born in Brantford. By 11, he was already just tinkling the keyboards like you wouldn't believe. And they had given him the name, the Keyboard Kid. At 11 years old, because of his ability to pull off boogie-woogies and to just jam. And then in his teens, he moved to London, Ontario, and just the impact that he had here and then across the province is phenomenal. Wow. It's always nice to know when you have folks in your home city that are just doing above and beyond. We found a taste of John playing piano live here in London. I think Ryan's got that. You can hear it there. What is it about it, though, from a musician's perspective that sets him apart? Just his ear, his ability to fit into the composition. And kudos to Ryan for sourcing that. That's a track called Jump for Joy that was... Written by London musician and songwriter Stephen Hardy. And of course, John Newberry and doing the, it's probably an 8 or 12 bar solo in that song. So kudos to Ryan, fantastic. When he arrived in London and even at an early age in his teens, he'd already made an impact. He's already gigging and established a name for himself and playing. Campbell's and some of those noteworthy... You know, the Iroquois Hotel, and then became the house band, and with his trio, was already performing and rubbing elbows with Coleman Hawkins and Wiggy Manon and Bobby Hackett. He did have a stint, which is so cool at such a young age, went to the Northern States and was a session player in Cleveland and Chicago, playing with Herbie Mann and Chet Baker. I mean, these are some heavy hitters. at such a young age and then came back to London and slipped into just performing with anybody who really needed some help and proved to be just the consummate musician. Then we can talk about, too, his ability to teach. Well, that's what I'm wondering, right? People may know him from what he was able to do musically, but he was also passing this wisdom along. He was. And what's cool about him was not only was he performing and he was a hired hand, you know, a session musician, but at the same time he was getting his teaching certificate and then started teaching in the, I guess it would be the middle 70s, in the Catholic school board in particular at St. Pius X Elementary School. And that's where he met, as an 11-year-old, Denise Pelley. No way. And Denise Pelley was a student there. And John, right away, he flagged and noted that this young lady had some talent and introduced her to jazz. And that was the guide by the side, okay? Earlier on, the influence he had would be on individuals like Garth Hudson from the band. They were contemporaries, and Garth made no bones about saying how, you know, John Newberry influenced me. He helped me become the keyboardist, the piano player that I became, and it was all linked back to John. Wow, the spiderweb that connects there. What was it like when he was performing? Did you ever have a chance? Oh, yeah, yeah. Well, that track that Ryan just played, I produced that CD called Jazz and Beyond together with Rob Svilpa. So we got to spend some studio time together. And over the years, too. He was very generous with his time, so anybody who needed a pianist, anyone who needed some help, John would sit in. He went on to become the president of the London Musicians Association, and just an incredible, lovely, lovely man with so much impact. What does that say, to be a prodigy and then to pass it along? It says that you're fulfilling what you should be fulfilling in life, which is, you know, to reach such a pinnacle and then the ability to be humble enough to say, I can share this with people. I can encourage, as he did with Denise Pelly. And she became the vocalist that she became. Really because of him. I've only got about 30 seconds here. I appreciate you telling us the stories here, but still playing? Do we still watch? Unfortunately, John suffered a stroke a number of years ago. And... It's really sad because he's unable to play. And I remember having a quick conversation, I'll jam this in, with Garth Hudson shortly after the stroke. And I mentioned that, he asked me about John and I mentioned that John had a stroke and Garth teared up. He was that hurt and that upset to hear that news. So he's still with us, but unable to play. But a reminder that we can go find his music, find ways to support the folks around him, live the legacy that John left. Yeah, exactly. Okay. Mario, thank you so much for coming in here. I really appreciate it. Thanks for having me and welcome to London.