Jason Kodie Interview
Jason Kodie is an award-winning multi-instrumentalist, musical director, and educator based in Edmonton, Alberta. An accomplished accordionist, he has performed regularly in live shows throughout Western Canada with a cast of characters and bands including Allez Ouest, Captain Tractor, Hookahman, les Fistons, and Le Fuzz. Among his many projects, Kodie has also worked as musical director at L’UniThéâtre in Edmonton, contributes regularly to CBC Radio Active’s In Crowd program, and has been the musical curator for the Flying Canoe Volant Festival in Edmonton since its inception. He is an integral part of the francophone scene in Alberta, facilitating music workshops for the Centre de Développement Musical (CDM) and teaching French with the Edmonton Public School Board in between his musical gigs.
Career Highlights
The band Allez Ouest is made up of four Franco-Albertan singer/songwriters: Joel Lavoie, Robert Walsh, Mireille Moquin, and Jason Kodie.
Kodie performed with Allez Ouest at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington DC, and has performed solo with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.
Kodie has released two full-length albums: Hybride with Allez Ouest (2008), and A Blessed Curse (2010).
Hybride was nominated for “Francophone Album of the Year” at the Western Canadian Music Awards in 2009.
In 2004, Kodie received the Sterling Award for “Outstanding Musical Director” for The Winter’s Tale Project in 2004.