Midnight Channel’s “Celebration” Pushes Jazz to Its Emotional Edge

Midnight Channel, the boundary-pushing Lethbridge-based jazz collective, unleashes their boldest and most emotionally raw track to date with “Celebration.” A turbulent and overwhelming composition that fuses frenzied percussion with spiritual depth, the piece encapsulates both chaos and serenity—an unrelenting storm that somehow resolves into peace.

“‘Celebration’ is celebrating that you’re still here. There’s nothing more important than that,” shares bassist Matthew Erdmann. “It’s about overcoming dark times/suicidal thoughts and accepting yourself. It’s about celebrating missed opportunities, as well as the ones you’re risking everything to take. It’s also about celebrating the end of another album, which always leaves me feeling empty but at peace.”

The track is deliberately abrasive, a noisy and almost confrontational work that gradually reveals itself as meditative and restorative. Built on the back of chaotic drumming, free-form improvisation, and an unshakable spiritual core, “Celebration” asks listeners not just to hear it, but to sit with it, to wrestle with its intensity until they find solace within it.

Written as both a personal anthem and a collective ritual, “Celebration” takes cues from church hymns and the spiritual jazz lineage of Pharoah Sanders, Cecil Taylor, and Zach Hill. The intention was to create something overwhelming on first listen, a piece that engulfs rather than eases, before ultimately opening up into comfort and recognition. The result is a track that reflects both the messiness and the beauty of survival, mirroring the tumultuous process of healing itself.

Erdmann notes the interplay between melody and percussion as central to the piece’s design. The drums are compressed yet chaotic, a tidal wave of sound that frames the melody’s more tranquil energy. “If you separate the drums and melody,” he explains, “you’d have two completely different songs.” This duality—abrasion and peace, chaos and clarity—is what gives “Celebration” its force.

But despite its intensity, the song is ultimately about joy in its rawest form: the simple yet profound act of continuing. “This single is for the freaks,” Erdmann adds. “We chose it because it hits people over the head right away – that this is what we’re doing, and we’re not sorry for it.”

This embrace of intensity and refusal to apologize reflects Midnight Channel’s ethos as a collective. They are not interested in playing it safe or replicating the familiar. Instead, they aim to embody the restless spirit of 1960s cosmic free jazz while infusing it with the energy of today’s jazz revival. Their sound weaves together threads of post-bop experimentation, Japanese fusion, and neo-soul grooves, offering music that feels both rooted in tradition and bracingly modern.

“Celebration” continues a trajectory established with the group’s 2023 debut album Gemini Sunrise, which reached #10 on the National Earshot! Jazz Charts and established Midnight Channel as a formidable new voice in Canadian jazz. Where Gemini Sunrise introduced their eclectic palette and exploratory approach, “Celebration” goes further, stripping away polish and diving headlong into emotional rawness.

The ensemble itself reflects this commitment to fluidity and risk-taking. With a rotating lineup, Midnight Channel ensures no two performances are alike, cultivating an ecosystem where improvisation thrives. This ever-shifting dynamic not only keeps the musicians responsive and alert but also creates performances that live uniquely in the moment—true to the ethos of jazz as an evolving, living art form.

In many ways, “Celebration” functions on multiple levels: as a song, as a ritual, and as a statement of identity. It is about survival—personal survival, collective survival, artistic survival. It acknowledges despair while refusing to succumb to it, instead transforming pain into joy, confusion into clarity, chaos into catharsis.

By channeling overwhelming emotions into sound, Midnight Channel offers listeners not just a piece of music but an experience of resilience. It may begin as noisy and confrontational, but by its end, “Celebration” leaves space for stillness, for peace, and for the quiet realization that being alive is itself worth honoring.

With “Celebration,” Midnight Channel proves themselves unafraid to confront the extremes of feeling and sound. They continue to stretch the definition of what a jazz collective can be: unpredictable, boundaryless, and unflinchingly human.

MIDNIGHT CHANNEL FALL TOUR DATES:

Sept 5–7 – Regina, SK

Swamp Fest

Sept 12 – Lethbridge, AB

Initial Album Release Show

The Owl w/ Rinthy

Start: 9:00 PM

Sept 13 – Calgary, AB

CJSW Live Performance

Set time: 3:00 PM

Sept 13 – Calgary, AB

King Eddy w/ Joel Jeschke & Nate Waters

Highlight show at the prestigious King Eddy alongside Joel Jeschke — a drummer and composer celebrated for his debut album Time & Place.

Also featuring a notable Calgary saxophone quartet with Nate Waters.

Tickets: $15 advance / $25 door

Start: 8:00 PM

Sept 19 – Edmonton, AB

The Aviary w/ Joel Jeschke & Social Eyes

Tickets: $15 advance / $25 door

Doors: 7:30 PM | Music: 8:15 PM

Sept 20 – Canmore, AB

Tavern 1883

Free show | 9:00 PM–12:00 AM

Oct 17 – Regina, SK

O’Hanlon’s w/ Koyot & Burrow

Free show | Start: 10:00 PM

Oct 18 – Saskatoon, SK

Amigos Cantina w/ Funkjoint & Moon Runners

Tickets: $15 advance / $20 door

Doors: 8:00 PM | Show: 10:00 PM