Hugh Fraser (musician)
Hugh Alexander Fraser (* 26. October 1958 in Victoria , British Columbia ; † 17th June 2020 ) was a Canadian jazz - pianist , trombonist and composer .
Life
Hugh Fraser studied with Dave Robbins in Vancouver , then with Slide Hampton in New York and Kenny Wheeler in London. During his studies at the Banff Center , he worked as a teacher from 1986 and was director of the jazz program in 1991. Fraser later taught at the Royal Academy of Music , the University of Ulster , University of Victoria, and the Victoria Conservatory of Music .
At the beginning of his musical career, Fraser founded the big band Vancouver Ensemble of Jazz Improvisation (VEJI), with whom he performed at the Canadian Stage Band Festival in 1981 . He then worked with the Hugh Fraser Quintet , a hard bop band with which he played at Canadian and international jazz festivals. Fraser has also worked with Jaki Byard , Clark Terry , Dizzy Gillespie , Maynard Ferguson, and Billy Eckstine . In 1988 he made his debut album Looking Up with a quintet ; In 1989 the album Pas des Problèmes followed at CBC . He appeared primarily as a pianist, composer and arranger, as in the McCoy Tyner homage "Mode to McCoy".
In the 1990s Fraser worked on Kenny Wheeler's ECM album Music for Large and Small Ensembles ; In 1997 he worked with Graham Collier ( The Third Color , 1997). In 2003 he played in Slide Hampton's band ( Spririt of the Horn ).
In 2017, Fraser contracted cancer , but it continued to occur through 2019.
Honors
For two of the 17 albums that Fraser recorded under his own name, he received the Juno Award , 1989 for Looking Up and 1998 for In the Mean Time ; the album Pas de Problem was nominated for this award in 1990.
Discographic notes
- Hugh Fraser & The Vancouver Ensemble of Jazz Improvisation: VEJI Now! (1990)
- In the Mean Time (Jazzline Records / Jazz Focus, 1997)
- Back to Back (Jazzline / Jazz Focus, 1998)
- Red & Blue (Boathouse Records, 2003)
- Pas De Problemes (CBC Records, 2003)
- Big Works (Boat House, 2005)
- Bonehenge! (Boathouse, 2005)
Web links
- Hugh Fraser discography
- Straight interview
- Hugh Fraser ( English, French ) In: Encyclopedia of Music in Canada . published by The Canadian Encyclopedia .
Lexical entry
- Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings . 8th edition. Penguin, London 2006, ISBN 0-14-102327-9 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Jazz musician Hugh Fraser has died. CBC, June 17, 2020, accessed June 19, 2020 .
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Fraser, Hugh |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Fraser, Hugh Alexander (full name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Canadian jazz musician |
DATE OF BIRTH | October 26, 1958 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Victoria , British Columbia |
DATE OF DEATH | 17th June 2020 |