Wray Downes

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Rupert Arnold "Wray" Downes (born January 14, 1931 in Toronto , † March 19, 2020 in Montréal ) was a Canadian jazz musician ( piano ).

Live and act

Downes received classical piano lessons from the age of twelve. He was the first Canadian to study with a British Empire (Overseas) Scholarship at Trinity College of Music in London, where he was taught by Kinloch Anderson. In 1952, while studying with Lazare Lévy and Henri Lauth at the Paris Conservatory , he became interested in jazz. In 1953 he took lessons from Dizzy Gillespie and Mary Lou Williams . During his remaining time in France he played with Sidney Bechet , Buck Clayton and Bill Coleman ( Jazz à Pleyel ). After returning to Canada in the middle of the decade, he was tutored by Oscar Peterson and Neil Chotem. He then worked as a resident pianist at the Town Tavern in Toronto, where he played with Roy Eldridge , Coleman Hawkins , Clark Terry and Lester Young . For many years he was in the bands of Peter Appleyard and Dave Young ; he also worked with Archie Alleyne - Frank Wright , Pete Magadini ( Bones Blues ), Buddy Tate ( The Buddy Tate Quartet , 1980) and Dave Turner. He toured the United States with Terry in 1980. He also accompanied Ed Bickert and Reg Schwager and also appeared with Don Thompson .

1978/79 Downes recorded the album Au Privave for Sackville (with Ed Bickert and Dave Young). In 1995 his album For You ... E was created for Justin Time Records , on which Dave Young and Archie Alleyne participated. According to Scott Yanow ( Allmusic ) you can tell from his interpretations of "Falling in Love with Love" and "Teach Me Tonight" that Oscar Peterson was his most important role model. In the field of jazz he was involved in 17 recording sessions between 1952 and 1996, according to Tom Lord . a. also with Moe Koffman and Charles Biddle .

From 1990 he taught at Concordia University .

Lexical entry

Mark Miller, Wray Downes . The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz. 2nd edition, ed. Barry Kernfeld.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Obituary. Celebrity Deaths, March 19, 2020, accessed on March 21, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Review of the album For You ... E at Allmusic (English). Retrieved March 21, 2020.
  3. ↑ Tom Lord : The Jazz Discography (online, accessed March 21, 2020)
personal data
SURNAME Downes, Wray
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Downes, Rupert Arnold
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian jazz musician (piano)
DATE OF BIRTH January 14, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH Toronto
DATE OF DEATH March 19, 2020
Place of death Montréal