Musicians Gallery
Dave Young
Dave Young (bassist) was born on January 29, 1940 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He began studying the guitar and violin when he was 10 years old, but a turn of events at his first gig (a university dance band) compelled him to pick up the bass. Educated as both a jazz and a classical player, Young’s elegant performances with the late guitarist Lenny Breau are legendary. He was a member of the Lenny Breau Quartet in live performance and recording for five years from 1961 to 1966. Dave Young’s professional relationship with jazz giant Oscar...
read moreDiana Krall
Diana Krall (pianist, vocalist, songwriter) was born in November, 1964 in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada. She began classical piano lessons at the age of four and in her high-school jazz band, but mostly from her father, a stride piano player with an extensive record collection. “I think Dad has every recording Fats Waller ever made,” she said, “and I tried to learn them all.” Krall attended the Berklee College of Music on a music scholarship in the early ’80s, then moved to Los Angeles, where she lived for...
read morePhil Nimmons
Phil Nimmons (clarinetist, saxophonist, composer, bandleader, educator) was born on June 3, 1923 in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada. He was raised in Vancouver and began playing clarinet in high school. He graduated in pre-Med from UBC in 1944, but soon turned his focus to Music. Through his post- secondary years at the University of British Columbia, he played in local dance bands and joined the jazz quintet of guitarist Ray Norris. He earned a scholarship to study at the Julliard School of Music in New York and later studied composition...
read moreRick Wilkins
Rick Wilkins (tenor saxophone, arranger, composer, conductor) was born in 1937, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He is widely recognized as one of the country’s most accomplished saxophonists, and among the most consummate arrangers and conductors in the world. In 2003, he was awarded both the Order of Canada and the Queen’s Jubilee Medal in recognition of his genius over more than five decades on the international music scene. He became one of the leading writers and arrangers for CBC-TV Variety, working with stars such as Tommy...
read morePeter Appleyard
Peter Appleyard (vibraphonist, percussionist, composer) was born on August 26, 1928 in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, England. As a youth, he studied piano but also became a proficient self-taught drummer. It was as a drummer he kicked off his performance career with Felix Mendelson’s Hawaiian Serenaders (the first band to appear on British television) and continued to gain notice in British dance bands and RAF bands in England. It was during his service in the Roya Air Force that his lifelong association with the great Robert Farnon had its...
read moreOliver Jones
Oliver was born and raised in Saint Henri, a predominantly working class area of Montreal, several blocks from Peterson, and young Oliver would sit on the Peterson porch, listening to the older boy practice. Oscar’s sister, Daisy Peterson Sweeney, became his first piano teacher, with lessons continuing for the next twelve years. These lessons solidified young Jones’ skills, which were already considerable; Oliver was performing publicly at age five, and by the time he had his first nightclub appearance, he was nine. Oliver...
read moreCharlie Biddle
Charles Reed “Charlie” Biddle (July 28, 1926 – February 4, 2003) was a Canadian Jazz Bassist and promoter. Born and raised in west Philadelphia, but lived most of his life in Montreal, Canada. After completing military duties in the US Armed Forces during World War II, serving in China, India and Burma, he went on to study music at Temple University in Philadelphia, where he started playing bass. In 1948, he arrived in Montreal while touring with Vernon Isaac’s Three Jacks and a Jill. Biddle was fascinated by the fact...
read moreTerry Clarke
Terry Clarke (drummer) was born in 1944, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He began displaying rhythmic aptitude at a very early age, and was just 12 years old when he began studying formally with noted drum teache and author, Jim Blackley, Blackley was, and remains, a primary figure in Clarke’s continuing development as a musician. In 1965, Clarke moved to San Francisco to work with the legendary saxophonist, John Handy III. He performed with Handy for the next two and a half years, during which time the Grammy nominated...
read moreReg Schwager
Reg Schwager (guitarist) was born in 1962, Leiden, The Netherlands. He is today, and has been for many years, one of Canada’s leading jazz guitarists. When he was three years old, his family moved from Holland to New Zealand where he studied Suzuki violin. when he was six, his family moved again, this time to Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. There he took music lessons in recorder, flute and piano before settling on the guitar as his main instrument. By the age of 15, he was playing jazz gigs in big band and small group settings and in duet...
read moreRobi Botos
Robi Botos (pianist) was born into a musical family in Nyíregyháza, Hungary, the mainly self-taught Robi Botos began his musical career when he was just a child, growing up in Budapest, playing drums, and percussion with his father and two brothers. It was at age seven when Robi first took up piano, the instrument he has since mastered and with which he has made his mark. Robi’s notable performances include: Concert at the Long Beach convention and entertainment centre. Opening concert for Bela Fleck, Stanley Clark, and Jean Luc Ponty, at the...
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