Drummer, composer and improviser Joe Sorbara has developed a reputation as a diverse and musical presence on Toronto's growing jazz and improvised music scene. His own projects include the Pickle Juice Orchestra and the sextet Other Foot First. Joe also co-leads a number of ensembles including Remnants Trio (with Evan Shaw and Ken Aldcroft) and PST (with Scott Thomson and Nilan Perera). Joe also performs on a regular basis in ad hoc improvised settings and with Ken Adcroft's Convergence Ensemble, Ronda Rindone's Quorum, and Geo's Fast Trip, amoung others.
Joe's playing can be heard on recordings by Aldcroft/ Shaw/ Sorbara ("Remnants" 2006 Oval Window Records), Squash Recipe ("Squash Recipe" 2005 Babel Records), Glen Hall's Trio Muo ("Angles" 2005 Tarsier Records), Ken Aldcroft ("The Great Divide", 2006, "From Our Time", 2003; "Kirby Side Road", 2004 Trio Records) Peter van Huffel ("Mind Over Matter", 2003 Independant) as well as on a number of Done Records releases. In addition to the above, he has had the pleasure of sharing the stage with John Abercrombie, Wilbert de Joode, Jean Derome, Dave Douglas, Dominic Duval, Hugh Fraser, Lori Freedman, Malcolm Goldstein, Stephen Grew, Andy Haas, Peggy Lee, Lee Pui Ming, Sook Yin Lee, Marilyn Lerner, Joe Lovano, Joe Mcphee, Nicole Mitchell, Michael Moore, John Oswald, William Parker, Jesse Stewart, Ron Samworth, Dylan van der Schyff, Reiner Weins and Kenny Werner. He has performed for audiences all over Canada as well as in the US and the United Kingdom.
Sorbara has a strong sense of community and has dedicated himself to applying his energies to the organizing and building of the scene in Toronto. In addition to his activities as a performing musician, Sorbara is involved with two record labels. He runs Oval Window Records himself and is a partner in the CDR label, Done Records, with live recording engineer, Blair Langley. Joe also serves the Toronto music community as the co-curator of the weekly Leftover Daylight series. He sits on the board of the Canadian New Music Network and is a founding board member of AIMToronto (the Association of Improvising Musicians Toronto) which, among other things, produces the quarterly Interface series presenting concert events featuring visiting improvisers with members of the local community.
"...exceptionally talented and fascinating..." -- Evan Davies, NOW
"Joe Sorbara demonstrated the fact that anything, in the right context, can be a percussion instrument... Inventive." -- Joyce Corbett, the Live Music Report
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