Ralph Eppel

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Ralph Eppel (born March 8, 1951 in Bradford (Yorkshire) ) is a British- Canadian jazz and improvisation musician ( trombone , trumpet , composition ).

Live and act

Eppel learned the trombone from 1963 when he attended King George Secondary School in Vancouver . During this time he played in the UBC Alumni Big Band, then for three years in the Vancouver Junior Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Simon Streatfield and in the Kerrisdale Kiwanis Concert Band under Carl (Bud) Kellett. At the age of 17 he founded the formation Gastown together with Bill Buckingham , Paul Cram and Tony Genge , with which he performed four Jashren in clubs in Vancouver, and in 1970 in Montréal and Quebec. After graduating from high school, he attended Douglas College , where he had classes with Len Whitely, Wally Robertson, and Bill Trussel. He then studied at the University of British Columbia , where he had lessons from Sharman King and Gordon Cherry; In 1979 he obtained a Bachelor of Music .

During this time he belonged to the formation Sunshine , which was led by Bruce Fairbairn. In 1977 he founded the Now Orchestra Quintet and the New Orchestra Workshop (NOW) Society with Paul Cram, Paul Plimley , Lisle Ellis and Gregg Simpson . With the quintet, the musicians combined hard bop grooves with improvisational techniques in their compositions . The NOW Society received a grant from the Canada Council to establish CORD ( Community Orchestra Research and Development ). The NOW Orchestra emerged from this 17-person ensemble . In this context, collaborations with Günter Christmann and Karl Berger emerged ; In 1979 the quintet recorded the album Up 'til Now .

The album Music for the Living was created in 1981 with the formation ESB (Eppel, Simpson, Bob Bell) . In the following years Eppel worked with the Paul Plimley Octet, The Flying Undercups and Roger Baird's Sirius Ensemble. In 1987 he co-founded the Musart Cultural Society , an organization that offered music events. Eppel belonged to the NOW Orchestra until the mid-2000s, was also involved in its cooperation with Barry Guy and René Lussier and toured in North America and Europe. He has also worked in theater orchestras on productions such as Guys and Dolls , My Fair Lady and the West Side Story . In 1978 he toured with the rock band Prism and in 1981 with the band Salsa Brava . After the Slipper event center ended , Eppel worked on cruise ships. In the field of jazz, he was involved in 15 recording sessions between 1977 and 1999.

Discographic notes

  • Now Orchestra Quintet: Up 'til Now (NOR, 1979; CD 2004, with Paul Cram, Paul Plimley, Lisle Ellis, Gregg Simpson)
  • Ralph Eppel: Gravity Boots (NOR, 2004, with Oldrich Zitek, Rob Armus, Tony Wilson, Gordon Koch, Danny Parker / James Young / Paul Blaney, Gregg Simpson)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e biography
  2. ↑ Tom Lord : The Jazz Discography (online, accessed February 1, 2019)
personal data
SURNAME Eppel, Ralph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British-Canadian jazz and improvisation musician (trombone, trumpet)
DATE OF BIRTH March 8, 1951
PLACE OF BIRTH Bradford (Yorkshire)