Nelson Symonds

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Nelson Frederic Symonds (born September 24, 1933 in Hammonds Plains , Nova Scotia , † October 11, 2008 ) was a Canadian jazz guitarist who, although he mainly worked in the jazz scene of Montréal , was a "legendary figure of Canadian jazz".

Live and act

Symonds grew up on a farm and taught himself to play the banjo as a child before switching to the guitar at the age of eleven. He gained his first experience from 1951 in a duo with his uncle, with whom he also played in a carnival band, and in a traveling circus with which he traveled through the United States from 1955 to 1958. After returning to Canada, he settled in Montréal in 1958 and played in the band The Stablemates, which was led by Alfie Wade Jr.

He was active in the Montréal jazz scene since the early 1960s; so he appeared in Black Bottom (1963-68) with his own trio of Norman Villeneuve (drums) and Errol Walters (bass), then in Café La Bohème (1968-71) and in Rockhead's Paradise (1977-80). He has also accompanied guest musicians such as Roland Kirk , Art Farmer , Sonny Red , Benny Golson , Jackie McLean , Jack McDuff , Jimmy Heath and Stanley Turrentine . He gave concerts with bassist Charles Biddle in resorts during the 1970s .

His only album under his own name, Getting Personal , was released in 1992 on Justin Time Records . Between 1961 and 1993 Symonds participated in seven sessions; he played in live recordings by Dave Turner from the Resto Bar des Gouverneurs ( Live - Thank You For Your Hospitality and The Pulse Brothers , DSM Records) and in the band of Bernard Primeau ( Reunion - Featuring Nelson Symonds , 1990).

Symonds, whose game is strongly reminiscent of the linear style of play in the tradition of Charlie Christian and his bebop- oriented successors, was also heard in numerous broadcasts on CBC / Radio Canada . His life was portrayed in two documentaries by Mary Ellen David in 1984. Symonds died of a heart attack in early October 2008 at the age of 75 after undergoing bypass surgery twelve years earlier that ended his career.

Award

Symonds received the Oscar Peterson Prix De Jazz in 1996 at the Montréal Jazz Festival .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Canadian Encyclopedia gives Halifax as the place of birth .
  2. ^ Obituary in CBC News
  3. ↑ a b c d Nelson Symonds ( English, French ) In: Encyclopedia of Music in Canada . published by The Canadian Encyclopedia . Retrieved August 21, 2016.
  4. ↑ Portrait of the artist on Justin Time Records ( memento of the original from September 7, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.justin-time.com
  5. ↑ Tom Lord
  6. ↑ Nelson Symonds at Discogs (English)
personal data
SURNAME Symonds, Nelson
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Symonds, Nelson Frederic (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian jazz musician
DATE OF BIRTH September 24, 1933
PLACE OF BIRTH Hammonds Plains , Nova Scotia
DATE OF DEATH October 11, 2008