Josh Warren’s interview
by Frankie Pfeiffer
Editor in chief – PARIS-MOVE
August 26th, 2026
The Path is a remarkably accomplished first recording, displaying a level of maturity, confidence and musical vision that many artists take years to achieve.
Josh Warren’s interview
Frankie Pfeiffer: Josh, you are an award-winning Canadian bassist, composer and arranger based in Toronto. Can you introduce yourself to the readers of Paris-Move?
Josh Warren: Hi!! I’m Josh! I’m originally from Victoria BC, on Canada’s west coast! I miss it tons (it’s so beautiful out there), but I was very lucky to have some amazing mentors in my formative years who pushed me on the idea of studying and learning in a big city, where I could be pushed, inspired, and cut my teeth musically! 4 years later, I’m fresh out of Humber College with my BMus, and I play all over Canada – you can find me at jazz clubs, festival stages, orchestra pits, church services, weddings and more!
Frankie Pfeiffer: What is your musical background? What bands have you played in?
Josh Warren: My musical background is all over the map – but what really inspired me to take this seriously and take my learning into my own hands was getting put onto soul music by a guy named Glenn Whitney! He was one of my high school music teachers, and a huge reason why I’m a musician now. On top of running an R&B band at my school (which I’m so grateful to have had at such a musically formative age), Glenn has such a passion for what he does, and it was so infectious for 14-year-old Josh. Later in my high school years, I would start studying with a bassist in Victoria named Louis Rudner, who would introduce me more seriously to the jazz tradition, give me invaluable insights into what being a working musician was like, and most importantly – grill me HARD about getting off Vancouver Island and into a big city where I could be challenged more and have a diverse peer group! Since then, I’ve lived in Toronto, where I’ve met even more amazing mentors, and quite a few lifelong musical friends and collaborators – this city, and the people making music here, never cease to inspire me.
Frankie Pfeiffer: Who are the musicians who influenced you?
Josh Warren: Again, it’s ALL over the map – but I always come back to Stevie Wonder. Besides the melding of genres (which is something I try to do in my own music) and the lyrical and harmonic genius, there’s just such a sense of pure, unfiltered joy in his music. Aside from that, I love Joshua Redman, Snarky Puppy, Led Zeppelin, James Brown, PJ Morton, and Theo Katzman – that’s a wild list in terms of stylistic whiplash, but that’s just what’s been in rotation lately!
Frankie Pfeiffer: The Path is your debut album as a bandleader. Can you introduce us to the musicians who accompany you on this album?
Josh Warren: Yes!! These guys are some of my favourite players anywhere.
On Trumpet and Flugelhorn is Christian Antonacci – I met him out in the wild at a jam session when I first moved to Toronto in 2022. He’s one of the busiest horn players in the city with a huge range of projects, and his time feel/rhythmic approach, language and sound concept make him utterly irreplaceable. I’ve yet to meet another horn player whose pocket is as filthy as his.
On Tenor Sax is Ethan Zabarylo – I was lucky to meet him just prior to his move to Europe! He’s been in Amsterdam the last couple years, and he had JUST moved back to Canada at the time I was organizing the recording sessions for this album. He’s an absolute gem, and such a fiery soloist – the solo he takes on “The Path” is just earth-shattering. It might be my favourite solo on the record.
On Guitar is Miles Cakebread-Kraus – We crossed over for 2 years at Humber, and his sensitivity and versatility across styles was such an asset on this record. He only takes one solo, on “What Remains”, but there’s so many little sonic intricacies from him on every tune – especially on “Spirits (for Jinx)” and “Everything, in time”, he adds SO much flavour and texture that really makes the tunes shine.
On Piano is Emmett Hodgins – a fellow Vancouver Islander, and one of my favourite pianists anywhere! He’s such a beautiful and versatile player, and he’s also so cheeky and interactive in his comping – especially on “Gratitude”, you can just hear him throwing phrases back at Christian and Ethan left and right. If you see this band live, I’m always grinning listening to the way he interacts.
On Drums is Matteo Romaniello – commonly known as my #1 Brampton baddie! Matteo is my favourite drummer on planet earth, and my rhythmic partner-in-crime of many years, going all the way back to first-year improv class at Humber! Besides that, I’m unbelievably lucky to call Matteo one of my best friends anywhere. He’s one of the most joyful human beings I’ve ever met, and reminds me at every turn to lead with that sense of love, joy, and optimism.
Also featured on Percussion (on “What Remains”) is Miles Johnson! Miles is another great friend who I’ve been so lucky to meet in Toronto, and he’s an absolutely brilliant musical mind across drums, percussion, synths, production, and so much more – honestly, I just brought him into the room and told him to throw the kitchen sink at me for percussion. It was perfect and really brought the track together.
Frankie Pfeiffer: In what state of mind did you compose the different tracks for this album? How do you compose? With which instruments do you write your compositions? …because I think you don’t compose using only your bass… or do you?
Josh Warren: You’re dead on – I actually wrote 0 of these tunes with a bass in my hands! It’s a long story, but I dealt with a pretty rough repetitive strain injury at age 19/20, and while I’m in a better place with it now I still tend to write most of my music sitting at a piano! It varies for sure, but every track on this record started at a piano. This album also contains a wide range of headspaces – I’ll give you some context on each tune one-by-one!
As far as the overarching theme/headspace of this record – At 22, this record is my musical coming-of-age. While I didn’t plan for it to become the title track of the album when I wrote it, I ended up realizing that the core idea of “The Path” really represents my last few years since making the leap and leaving home to move to Toronto – not just becoming who I am now as a musician but growing into who I am as a person. In that, there’s been a lot of lessons, ups and downs, and learning about myself, the things I value, the people I want to be around, and the vision of myself that I’m ultimately working towards. I wouldn’t be there without the perspective and influence of so many of my close friends, loved ones and mentors along the way – you can read more about that below!
01 – Gratitude: This is a fun, bluesy, happy tune that I wrote during the summer of 2025! I was 21 years old, and working as a full-time bass player again for the first time since getting injured in 2023. As much as life is always a work in progress, I have so, SO much to be grateful for – this tune is my reminder to myself that 18 year old me would be over the moon to see where I am in life now and all the things I’ve been a part of musically. The older I get, I’m realizing more and more how important it is for me to maintain that sense of childlike wonder!
02 – Spirits (for Jinx): This tune is dedicated to my first dog, Jinx. She died during the summer of 2023, and it hit my whole family pretty hard. I hadn’t initially planned to write a piece of music for her, until she showed up in one of my dreams! It was a really nice dream – she was cuddled up on the couch with me and my little sisters on our mom’s couch in Victoria, and we all got another moment to be with her. Eventually, she got up and started walking away, and my youngest sister Cara went “Bye Jinx! Thanks for stopping by…”
After that, I woke up, sobbed for a bit (it was a VERY visceral dream), and started writing this tune. My first instinct had been to write something more somber, but that’s not Jinx. She was always fierce, loud, and so full of love and energy, and this tune represents her the way my family and I remember her in life.
03 – Everything, in time: This tune represents the gradual acceptance I’ve come to over the last few years that not everything I want and aspire to is going to fall into my lap right away, or on the same timeline as anyone else. I’ve grappled and spiralled so much over the years with feeling like I’m not “doing enough” in so many ways, and Jon Maharaj’s influence in my third year of undergrad was a big reason that I started to settle into a sense of acceptance with this – Jon always reminds me that “music is a marathon”, and it’s something I still have to remind myself from time to time.
04 – The Path: This tune represents the journey forward – the ups, downs, and making peace with the ebb and flow of all that comes with growth and evolution. I wrote this about a year ago as I was starting to think more about all of that, and come to terms with the fact that in many ways, it’s going to be a never-ending cycle. Especially as musicians, we have to commit to being life-long students at every turn! As much as it can be terrifying, this tune is a reminder to myself that there’s always going to be a “next thing” to work towards, and that’s what keeps me growing.
05 – What Remains: In January 2025, I was coming back from a trip to the west coast that had my heart feeling very very full. Despite that, the trip also left me with a feeling of mourning – I have so many good friends from Vancouver Island who are now spread across so many different places, and even though I’m so proud of everything we’re achieving and building for ourselves in new cities, I’m also deeply sad that I’ll never be able to have everyone I love in one place.
In the midst of this, I had a conversation with a friend who now lives in Montreal, and she reminded me that as hard as it is to grapple with not having the people I love all in one place, I’m so unbelievably lucky to love and be loved by so many amazing people in so many different parts of the world. That conversation really shook something loose in me, and as soon as I got off that phone call, I sat down at a piano and started writing this tune. There’s a lot of people in a lot of places that I really miss, but the love and influence is what always remains – I carry that with me wherever I go.
Frankie Pfeiffer: How is the process of recording the tracks you have composed?
Josh Warren: For this record, I was incredibly lucky to have Thomas Mordaunt producing, and JUNO award-winner Patric McGroarty engineering – they made it so easy on me, being the brilliant technical minds that they are. Thomas also had some crazy stuff to say during the sessions, that I wouldn’t have thought of myself. When we were tracking “What Remains”, he told us “guys, you’re playing this tune like you’re at The Rex (one of Toronto’s jazz clubs). This is a rock ballad. I want you to play this next take like you’re in an arena, and everyone’s waving their phone flashlights along.” Needless to say, THAT’s the take you hear on the record.
Frankie Pfeiffer: What instructions do you then give to other musicians when you record your compositions? How much freedom to play and improvise do you give/offer them?
Josh Warren: Honestly, other than the occasional articulation nitpicks with melodies and horn lines, as well as determine who I want to solo where for the record, I don’t dictate too much! I hand-picked this band because this rhythm section works together SO effortlessly (we all play together a lot across different projects), and not a lot needs to be talked about when we go to play. Add Christian and Ethan to that mix, and it’s just disgusting. Every single one of these guys is such a brilliant listener.
Frankie Pfeiffer: How do the recording sessions take place? What role do the other musicians have? Do they have an influence on the recording of your compositions?
Josh Warren: This record was composed and arranged entirely by me, but Matteo especially has been a huge part of this music developing into what it is – he’s played and workshopped all of these tunes from first draft to studio time, and our lockup and his musical approach has become so woven into the DNA of my music! Everyone else definitely contributes too – no lineup would have sounded exactly like this, and to me that’s the beauty of improvised music, when everyone has a chance to leave their mark on a tune.
Frankie Pfeiffer: You are still young… How do you see your music evolving?
Josh Warren: That’s a great question – I’ll let you know when I get there! I’m working on some new music for quartet at the moment that’s more modern jazz-adjacent, and simultaneously writing some more electric-sounding stuff for quintet and sextet that’s more fusion-y. The beauty of being 22 is that I’m still constantly learning, evolving, and getting to wrap my ears around new styles and influences, so in some ways I’m just as curious as you are about what I’ll end up creating in the next 10 years!
Frankie Pfeiffer: Which famous musician(s) would you like to play with? …and have them play on one of your next albums?
Josh Warren: Bob Reynolds! If you’re somehow reading this, hi Bob! Let’s play!! Pretty please!!!! I’m a huge fan of his writing, and his work with Snarky Puppy. Also, Nate Smith. I’d love to just hang out with that guy and talk about music and composing – he’s absolutely a modern master. I could go on forever with these. There are so many, but those 2 come to mind first!
Frankie Pfeiffer: How do you imagine your next album? With the same musicians? Will it be in the same spirit as this first album?
Josh Warren: That’s in the works, with my quartet! I recorded 3 tracks a while back with JUNO award-winners Allison Au (saxes), and Jeremy Ledbetter (piano), and Matteo on the kit. Since then, we’ve been able to play more live as well, and I’ve been writing and developing more material specifically for that band – I’m hard at work finishing the tunes and trying to secure the funding for another session, so stay tuned!
Frankie Pfeiffer: Congratulations, in any case, for this first album! It gets the highest mark on Paris-Move, ‘A must have’!
Josh Warren: Thanks!