Acrpost: A Project of the Pacific Association of Artist Run Centres

Event Description

Juno Award Winning Composer, pianist, leader and Toronto's National Jazz Awards 2008 Trombonist of the Year, Hugh Fraser's Jazz Masters is the next installment of his concerts series at Hermann's jazz club after the sold out standing ovation crowd
witnessed Purple Haze, the music of Jimi Hendrix arranged by Canadians
Gil Evans and Hugh Fraser.

The Jazz Masters is Hugh's gathering of 6 musicians from across B.C. that represent almost 400 years of international recording and performing in the North American Improvised Concert Music tradition called Jazz.

In the spirit of Norman Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic series that raised American awareness that indeed a new Classical music had been born on this continent, Hugh wants to create a forum in which some of the most experienced and creative contributors to this art form, including Gerry Bryant, piano; Don Clark, trumpet and Ed Philp, tenor
sax, can relax and spin webs of melodic art on top of the swinging team of Ken Lister, bass; and Buff Allen, drums.

All of these artists epitomize good taste, creativity and mentorship. Hugh's life has been touched deeply by all of the above -

Gerry Bryant, originally from Kansas City, plays piano with the blues influenced space of Count Basie. But it was Jerry's inclusive attitude in the 60's that allowed Hugh to gain a world of musical experience when he was allowed to join the Esquimalt Jazz Band, even though Hugh was attending a different school that was without a jazz band. Esquimalt still is the proud inheritor of Jerry's efforts to introduce jazz to the Canadian school system at a time when the official term for
jazz ensembles was "Stage Bands" as the word jazz wasn't allowed in the formal curriculum. We've come a long way, baby!! The seeds Jerry sowed
in the 60's resonate across Canada and internationally with Esquimalt grads contributing a far greater number of musical artists to the most
exclusive Eastern and U.S.A. post secondary institutes than any other secondary school.

Don Clark is one of the most versatile and creative trumpet artists to constantly contribute for 5 decades in musical situations such as the Vancouver Opera Orchestra, The Dave Robbins' Big Band, countless C.B.C. radio and television broadcasts, and as a key member of the influential
Vancouver group, Pacific Salt. It is this group that as a pre teen, Hugh saw live in Victoria and took up the trombone after experiencing the brass velocity of Canadian Jazz greats Ian McDougall and Don Clark.

Ed Philp has played with many of North America's jazz greats during his years with the U.S. and Canadian collaborative ensemble, the NORAD
Band. His longtime friendship with Canadian greats, Rob McConnell and Phil Nimmons harkens back to a time when a handful of artists like
themselves pursued creative musical progress and contribution long before jazz festivals and jazz institutions in Canada existed. Ed always offered support to younger musicians like Hugh and recently released a classic c.d. "Mighty Fingers" on Hugh's Boat House Records. Consisting of Ed's quirky Thelonius Monk like compositions for jazz
sextet, he remains a futurist and uncompromising artist.

Buff Allen moved to Toronto from his home in Vancouver in the 70's and toured international with Moe Koffman and many other greats. Upon relocating out west again, he became a founding member of the Hugh Fraser Quintet which in their first year together won the Alcan 1987 Concurs du Jazz du Montreal, toured Europe and won a Juno Award for their debut release, "Looking Up" in 1988.

Ken Lister is a current member of the Hugh fraser Quintet, and won a Juno Award with the Quintet's 4th release, "In The Mean Time" in 1998. Ken leads his own sextet and is a professor at Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo.

Don't miss what will surely be an ecstatic evening of acoustic North American composition classics as interpreted by Western Canada's most experienced jazz greats!

All Ages Welcome!! For reservations call (250) 388-9166