Ottawa Artist Terry Gomes Releases New Single Video “Steen’s Reverie”

Submitted by Sandy Graham

Terry Gomes completed an Honours degree at the University of Ottawa, studying classical guitar and composition. He taught guitar for many years, played in several rock bands, and performed in a flute/classical guitar duo. Later on, he released three self-penned albums in singer-songwriter/pop/folk-rock genres. In 2013, his album SHH marked a major shift into guitar-based instrumental, smooth jazz. 

However, his last three releases, THE SAND IN MY SHOES and BLUE. GREEN. AQUAMARINE., and THE TROPICAL DREAM, found him moving much closer to home. 

“Growing up in a Guyanese family, I was exposed to a lot of music from the Caribbean, South America and Latin America. Although I write in several genres, this music is indelibly stamped on me.” His last outings were the singles, “RUMJARO 360”, a lively rumba crossover and more recently, “ELEGY”, a mournful and beautiful, solo piano piece. Gomes has had considerable airplay on CBC across Canada and has been in steady rotation on Stingray’s Smooth Jazz, The Jewel and JAZZ.FM91. He has had positive press in Exclaim!, Cashbox Canada, The Whole Note, and FYI Music News among others. Steen’s Reverie: 

“This piece was written for my wife back in March, 2020. It was my first composition into the pandemic. A daydream within a daydream, it explores what I imagined she was thinking and feeling at that time. This accounts for the opening dissonance and the various transitions throughout. Ultimately, it’s a piece of comfort and love for her. If you look closely at the artwork, you can see her image within the myriad of colour and textures. Hint: find the pink/red lips first.

Check out Steen’s Reverie on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/WIkn9A73-sQ

Cool stuff about Terry Gomes:

*Guyanese heritage

*studied classical guitar/composition at the University of Ottawa & graduated with an Honours degree

*taught rock and classical guitar for many years

*played in several rock bands and performed regularly in a flute/classical guitar duo

*was an elementary school teacher for 26 years

*began by mostly writing songs for others to perform

*released many self-penned, home demo projects

*starting 2006, released three albums in the singer-songwriter/pop/folk-rock genres

*2012–switched genres into mostly guitar-based, evocative, instrumental music (smooth jazz) with the release of SHH.

*2014’s instrumental release, THE SAND IN MY SHOES, I began using elements of Caribbean music I had grown up with
*2015’s instrumental EP release, BLUE.GREEN.AQUAMARINE. continued this newly forged path
*2018’s THE TROPICAL DREAM–concept album detailing a tropical vacation, written while recovering from a back injury
*2019 released an instrumental single, RUMJARO 360, combining elements of rumba, jazz and rock

For more on Terry Gomes visit: https://terrygomes.com/