Hugh Fraser (musician)

Hugh Alexander Fraser (born 1958 in Victoria, British Columbia ) is a Canadian jazz pianist, trombonist and composer.

Life

Hugh Fraser studied with Dave Robbins in Vancouver, then at Slide Hampton in New York and Kenny Wheeler in London. During his studies at the Banff Centre, he worked from 1986 as a teacher and in 1991 was head of the jazz program. Later Fraser taught at the Royal Academy of Music, the University of Ulster, University of Victoria and the Victoria Conservatory of Music. At the beginning of his musical career Fraser founded the Big Band Vancouver Ensemble of Jazz Improvisation ( Veii ), with which he in 1981 on the Canadian Stage Band Festival occurred. He then worked with the Hugh Fraser Quintet, a Hardbopband, with whom he played on Canadian and international jazz festivals. Fraser also worked with Jaki Byard, Clark Terry, Dizzy Gillespie, Maynard Ferguson and Billy Eckstine. 1988 was quintet released his debut album Looking Up; In 1989 the album Pas des Problèmes at CBC. He appeared primarily as a pianist, composer and arranger in appearance, as in the McCoy Tyner Tribute "Mode to McCoy ."

Honors

For some of his so far 17 albums he has recorded under his own name, Fraser was awarded the Juno Award, the 1989 and 1998 Looking Up for In the Meantime