Nelson Symonds

Frederic Nelson Symonds (* September 24 1933 in Hammonds Plains, Nova Scotia; † 11 October 2008) was a Canadian jazz guitarist, although he mainly worked in the jazz scene of Montreal, a " legendary figure of Canadian jazz " was.

Life and work

Symonds grew up on a farm and brought up as a child, initially the game on the banjo at before moving to the guitar at age eleven. First experience was gained in 1951 in a duo with his uncle, with whom he also played in a carnival band, and in a traveling circus, which he drew from 1955 to 1958 by the United States. Upon his return to Canada he settled in 1958 in Montreal down and played in the band The stablemates, which was led by Alfie Wade Jr..

He was active in the jazz scene of Montreal since the early 1960s; so he went on with its own trio of Norman Villeneuve (drums) and Errol Walters ( bass), then in the Cafe La Boheme ( 1968-71 ) and at Rockhead 's Paradise ( 1977-80 ) in the Black Bottom ( 1963-68 ). He also accompanied gas animal musicians, such as Roland Kirk, Art Farmer, Sonny Red, Benny Golson, Jackie McLean, Jack McDuff, Jimmy Heath and Stanley Turrentine. With bassist Charles Biddle, he performed during the 1970s in the resort.

His only album under his own name, Getting Personal, released in 1992 on Justin Time Records. Between 1961 and 1993 Symonds participated in seven sessions; he played in live recordings by Dave Turner from the Resto Bar of the Governor (Live - Thank You For Your Hospitality and The Pulse Brothers, DSM Records) as well as in the band of Bernard Primeau ( Reunion - Featuring Nelson Symonds, 1990).

Symonds, whose playing is strongly reminiscent of the linear style of play in the tradition of Charlie Christian and his bebop - oriented successors, was heard in numerous broadcasts of CBC / Radio -Canada. His life was portrayed in two documentaries by Mary Ellen David in 1984. Symonds died in early October 2008 at the age of 75 of a heart attack after he had twelve years before undergoing bypass surgery, which ended his career.

Award

Symonds received the 1996 Oscar Peterson Prix de Jazz at the Montreal Jazz Festival.