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| Jazz Vespers in Concert with Ian McDougall and Ron Johnston  Jazz Vespers with Ian Mcdougall and Ron Johnston will perform Saturday, January 20th at Sylvan United Church, Mill Bay. Trombonist Ian McDougall (see photo) was born in Calgary, Canada, and grew up in Victoria, leaving there in 1960 to tour in Great Britain with the John Dankworth Band. He returned to Canada in 1962 and began a lengthy career as a freelance player, composer and arranger in Vancouver and in Toronto where, until 1991, he was also the lead and solo trombonist with Rob McConnell's Juno and Grammy award-winning Boss Brass.Ian also was lead trombone and composer/arranger for The Brass Connection, who won the Juno award for best Jazz album in 1982. Since the early 1980s McDougall has become even more involved in composition, and his works have been performed by the CBC Vancouver Orchestra, the Lafayette String Quartet, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Rob McConnell Tentet, and the Toronto Cantata Chorus, among others. Ian now resides in Victoria, where he continues to play, compose, and teach. He taught trombone, composition, and jazz studies at the University of Victoria, leaving there in 2003 as Professor Emeritus. Ian was awarded the University of Victoria's "Distinguished Alumni" award in 2004. Ron Johnston's early piano influence was Canadian jazz pianist Tommy Banks. At age seventeen Ron studied with Oscar Peterson, and continues to be inspired the playing of Bill Evans, Ron Kenny Baron, Renee Rosnes and Fred Hersch. He has worked and recorded with many great musicians including Guido Basso, Moe Koffman, Fraser MacPherson, Dee Daniels, George Robert, Clark Terry, June Katz, Joanie Taylor, and Paul Horn, with whom he played and toured for seven years. He was also one of the original founding members of the west coast sextet, Pacific Salt, whose work inspired many of the next generation of west coast jazz artists. Ron performs regularly with his own trio and also with his long time friends Oliver Gannon and Ian McDougall in the Ian McDougall Sextet. He also works with his own quartet - the Johnston/Stafford Quartet - with his longtime collaborator Jack Stafford. A gifted and prolific composer, his self-produced solo and trio CD, Remembering Tomorrow, was released in 2004. write your comments about the article :: © 2007 Jazz News :: home page |