Steve Kaldestad - Three Big Moves
Steve talks with me about moving from Regina to Montréal, then to London, and finally to Vancouver as a saxophonist.

On the Rhythm Changes Podcast, Steve Kaldestad talks with me about his decisions in moving from Regina to Montréal, then to London, and finally to Vancouver as a jazz saxophonist and educator.
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Rhythm Changes Podcast topics
- Recording live with Steve’s quartet, featuring Chris Gestrin on piano, Conrad Good on bass, and Jesse Cahill on drums
- Getting drawn to play saxophone while growing up in Regina
- Why Steve chose McGill
- Being stuck in the 1950s as a jazz student
- The impact of the late pianist and teacher Jan Jarczyk at McGill
- Steve’s 30-year history of collaborating with Jesse, who studied at the same time with pianist André White at McGill
- How Steve builds his gigs from the drums out with Jesse, Dave Laing in Montréal, and other drummers
- Steve teaching the pianist Patrick Watson during a stint on faculty at Lower Canada College in Montréal
- Going to NYC and seeing Kurt Rosenwinkel, Mark Turner, Chris Potter, and other all-timers of Steve’s generation live every night in clubs before they became superstars
- Getting the late Terry Deane to help Steve sell an instrument to buy another month-and-a-half in New York
- Studying with the late Lee Konitz
- Why Steve decided to go to London after Montréal and NYC
- How long it takes to get gigs in a new city
- The bizarrely high quantity of people you carry in your social scene in a huge city like London
- Cory Weeds' and Jodi Proznick’s roles in getting Steve to BC, along with the album Foundations by Jodi Proznick Quartet
- My favourite tune on Foundations and how Tilden Webb got it while studying with the late Wray Downes
- Blow-Up, Steve’s first solo album with Jesse, Jodi, André White, and Kevin Dean
- Two wonderful rhythm sections Steve has played with: Mike LeDonne / John Webber / Joe Farnsworth and Renee Rosnes / Peter Washington / Lewis Nash
- Why Steve is a huge fan of Renee
- A near-disaster while recording Steve’s album New York Afternoon
- Kofi Gbolonyo joining the Capilano University faculty
- A time when Steve gave a student audience the invitation to be more raucous in enjoying a concert
- A particular moment on a Miles Davis recording that Steve and I both love