02May10 - Media Release - Big Bands on Stage at The Banff Centre

It’s May, the snow is melting, and that means one thing - the sweet sounds of jazz at The Banff Centre! This month, The Banff Centre presents two sizzling Jazz Orchestra Concerts. Wednesday, May 15, at 8 p.m. in the Margaret Greenham Theatre *Hugh Fraser, (click here for Hugh's BIO) Canada’s great trombonist and big band leader, leads the opening jazz orchestra concert. Hugh Fraser has been a positive force in the world of jazz music for over two decades. Twice voted Canadian Trombonist of the Year by Toronto's Jazz Report Awards, Fraser has recorded over sixty of his own compositions on 13 albums. Saturday, May 18, at 8 p.m. in the Margaret Greenham Theatre Maria Schneider* (click here for Maria's BIO) leads the second jazz orchestra concert. Schneider was assistant to the late famous composer/arranger Gil Evans and worked with him on music for the movie The Colour of Money as well as Sting’s 1987 European tour. Her album, Allegresse, received a Grammy nomination in 2000, and TIME magazine listed it as one of the top ten music releases of the year. Tickets are $15 adults, $12 seniors/students, and Arts Lover Passholders FREE. To reserve tickets, or for information on the Arts Lover Pass (see 60 events for $60!), call the Box Office at 762-6301 or email at:
BIOGRAPHIES: Hugh Fraser, trombone/piano/composition Hugh Fraser has been a positive force in the world of jazz music for over two decades. In 1980, he formed the 13 member Vancouver Ensemble of Jazz Improvisation (VEJI), and in 1986 created the Hugh Fraser Quintet. The Quintet tours Europe and North and South America annually. Twice voted Canadian Trombonist of the Year by Toronto's Jazz Report Awards, Fraser has recorded over sixty of his own compositions on 13 albums. He has won two Juno Awards and has many additional nominations for his recordings. He appears as a sideman on over twenty albums including recent releases by Cuban Chucho Valdes and Irakere on Bembe Records, Perspectiva on Egrem REcords, and Kenny Wheeler on ECM Records. As an educator, Fraser has served as the Program Head of Jazz at The Banff Centre; Head of Jazz Composition at the Royal Academy of Music in London, England; Head of the University of Ulster Summer Jazz Workshop in Ireland; and is much sought after as a guest clinician by many major progresive institutions. Fraser has performed and/or recorded with Jaki Byard, Dizzy Gillespie, Maynard Ferguson, Billy Ekstein, Slide Hampton, Frank Foster, Don Thompson, Shorty Rogers, Kenny Wheeler, Dave Holland, Muhal Richard Abrams, Robin Eubanks, Dave Liebman, Sheila Jordan, and Jean Toussaint. <Return to Top>
Maria Schneider, composer/arranger Maria Schneider earned a Bachelor of Music degree in theory and composition at the University of Minnesota, studied at the University of Miami, and received a Masters degree from the Eastman School of Music. In 1985, she became assistant to the late famous composer and arranger Gil Evans. Her work with him included music for the movie The Color of Money and Sting's 1987 European tour. At the 1993 Spoleto Music Festival, Maria Schneider conducted the Gil Evans Orchestra in a concert of selections from "Miles Ahead", "Porgy & Bess" and "Sketches of Spain" albums. In 1996, the Down Beat Critics Poll named Maria Schneider first as composer and arranger (TDWR) and her band was voted second. Its Readers Poll named her first as arranger and the orchestra was voted fourth. Jazz Times Readers Poll voted first Maria Schneider as arranger, and her orchestra as big band. Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra has been performing at Visiones in Greenwich Village every Monday night since March of 1993. Evanenscence, the band's debut recording, was released in 1994 on the Enja label, and nominated for two Grammy Awards in 1995. That CD has received the best reviews in Down Beat (4 and 1/2 stars), Jazz Times and Jazz Magazine. <Return to Top>
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