Jeff Reilly is a bass clarinetist, composer, improviser & music producer.

The virtuoso clarinetist Jeff Reilly extends his cadenzas across the history of sound, from monotony to modernism, in a performance that is dominant and often hypnotic”      Norman Lebrecht, La Scena Musicale

Jeff Reilly is a twice Juno award nominated musician who plays bass clarinet with the precision of gesture and clarity of focus that blurs any simple distinctions between improvisation and composition, and does so with a musicality and sensitivity that reminds us that such distinctions are moot.

Jeff’s focus is to develop a wide range of collaborative projects that exploit the full range of possibilities of this unique and powerful instrument.   Read more →

Latest Posts

Blackwood with India Gailey release new album: Passages

Sanctuary Concerts announces the release of Passages (SCCD 007), a new recording from Blackwood duo Peter-Anthony Togni (pipe organ) and Jeff Reilly (bass clarinet) with special guest India Gailey. The release date is set for October 18th, 2024.

Find out more and support the artists directly by ordering your digital or physical copy of the album on bandcamp here!

While their previous release Lost and Found featured exclusively tracks with Peter-Anthony Togni on piano, PASSAGES focus on the pipe organ. Recorded on 3 different organs across the maritime provinces of Atlantic Canada, the sound of PASSAGES is rich, mysterious and lyrical.

Inspired by plainchant, free improvisation and holy minimalism (think Arvo Part meeting up with Bram Stoker) Blackwood members Jeff Reilly and Peter-Anthony Togni join up with cellist India Gailey to release this new album PASSAGES.

Peter and Jeff are honoured and delighted to be joined by the cellist, composer, and improviser India Gailey, a rising star based in Kjipuktuk/Halifax, who appears on 2 tracks from this album. India adds her wonderful musicianship and powerful improvisations to the sound of this project.

“Sonically haunting, sophisticated, euro-jazz minimalism” Selwin Harris, Jazzwise UK

Blackwood’s lyrical approach to music straddles the mysterious boundary areas between jazz and classical. Over the past 25 years these musical soul searchers have released eight albums on labels like the ECM new series and Warner Classics and presented hundreds of concerts around the world. Along the way, they’ve garnered four JUNO nominations between them.  

Peter and Jeff are honoured and delighted to be joined by the cellist, composer, and improviser India Gailey, a rising star based in Kjipuktuk/Halifax, who appears on 2 tracks from this album.

Posted in Uncategorized on Oct 06, 2024

Blackwood BC Tour 2024

August 1st – Mataeda Café, Salt Spring Island 9:00 pm
August 2nd – Mosaic Festival, Pender Island (Ptarmigan Arts) 9:00 pm
August 3rd – Christ Church Cathedral 9:00 pm
August 4th – Duncan  39 Days of July Festival 4 pm

Posted in Uncategorized on Jul 07, 2024

Blackwood releases new album: Lost and Found

Blackwood released their first album LOST AND FOUND on September 24th, 2021! Available on all download and streaming sites. Support the artists here by ordering a physical copy or digital download on bandcamp.

Lost and Found is Peter-Anthony Togni and Jeff Reilly’s collection of compositions inspired by subjects ranging from the power of dreams, the birth of children and grandchildren, the natural world and medieval plainchant. They also include a transcendent take on the Miles Davis classic Blue in Green.

Recorded in the pristine acoustics and isolated environment of Trinity St-Stephen’s church in the small town of Amherst, Nova Scotia, Canada — the album has rich and inviting sonic atmosphere.

Watch Blackwood perform the title track to Lost and Found:

Posted in Uncategorized on Oct 20, 2021

© 2024 Jeff Reilly