Otter Crest 1989

Here's another set from the Otter Crest (Oregon) jazz party from May, 1989. It features Vancouver's Fraser MacPherson on tenor sax with five American musicians: Spike Robinson also on tenor sax, Roger Kellaway on piano, Joe Beck on guitar, Jay Leonhart on bass, and John Guerin on drums. I've got five tunes. For some reason, the first one is squished again. But the others are fine.

"It's You or No One"

"Gone With The Wind"


"All My Life" (MacPherson & Kellaway only)


"There Is No Greater Love"


"There Will Never Be Another You"

More Bobby Hales

Here's the Bobby Hales Big Band again from their 1976 TV special hosted by Monty McFarlane. It's a Hales arrangement of "Watch What Happens" and features Fraser MacPherson on the tenor solo.

Once again, here's the line-up, left to right. Trumpets: Blaine Tringham, Laurie Sayler, Stew Barnett, Carse Sneddon, Don Clark. Trombones: Sharman King, Mike Revely, Bob Hamper, Bill Trussel. Saxes: Al Wold, Wally Snider, Dave Quarin, Jack Stafford, Fraser MacPherson. The rhythm section is: Bobby Doyle (piano), Oliver Gannon (guitar), Tony Clitheroe (bass), George Ursan (drums), percussionist Kenny Moore. Hales is conducting on this number but also plays trumpet and flugelhorn.

Rob McConnell

The recent death of Rob McConnell inspired me to head to the video closet and dig out some old VHS tapes I had. McConnell, of course, is best known for his Grammy Award-winning big band, the Boss Brass. What I've got for you is two clips from a Canadian all-star show at Otter Crest, Oregon, in May of 1989. McConnell, always the funnyman as well as brilliant musician, is in full force here both comedically as well as musically.

The line-up consists of McConnell on valve trombone, Fraser MacPherson on tenor sax, Ed Bickert on guitar, Oliver Jones on piano, Don Thompson on bass, and Terry Clarke on drums.

I've got more footage from that festival from other groups that I'll be putting up in the weeks to come.

"How Deep Is The Ocean?"

"Crazy Rhythm"

Fraser MacPherson Quartet, 1991

Jazz impressario Willi Germann recently gave me a recording he made of Fraser MacPherson at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival, recorded at the BC Pavilion at the Plaza of Nations in 1991. Considering he just sat in the audience and filmed on a little hand-held camera, it's pretty good quality. Here's the quartet, featuring MacPherson on tenor sax, Oliver Gannon on guitar, Torben Oxbol on bass, and Norm Jeffries on drums. The tune is There Is No Greater Love.

"There Is No Greater Love"

Bobby Hales Big Band, 1976

I have great memories of the Bobby Hales Big Band. The Hales band used to play the PNE every day when I was a kid. When visiting my dad, who was in the band, we got to go hang out at the fair and I loved sitting and watching the group. They were the coolest. They also released a great album called One of My Bags, which, unfortunately, has never been re-released on CD. That's okay. I still have the vinyl. In 1976, the CBC put this band on the air. For an hour, yet! Can you imagine that today? At least we've got clips. I hope to get more up from this special soon.

Here's the line-up, left to right. Trumpets: Blaine Tringham, Laurie Sayler, Stew Barnett, Carse Sneddon (solo), Don Clark. Trombones: Sharman King, Mike Revely, Bob Hamper, Bill Trussel. Saxes: Al Wold, Wally Snider (solo), Dave Quarin, Jack Stafford, Fraser MacPherson. The rhythm section is: Bobby Doyle (piano), Oliver Gannon (guitar), Tony Clitheroe (bass), George Ursan (drums), percussionist Kenny Moore. Hales is conducting on this number but also plays trumpet and flugelhorn.

(Hit the play button below and the video will magically appear. If it doesn't start right, give the tracker a little nudge with your mouse.)

Fraser MacPherson documentary

Here's a half-hour documentary on Fraser MacPherson from 1967 called Diary of a Musician. It's basically a day-in-the-life of MacPherson, showing him in the studio with his quintet, featuring Ian McDougall, Doug Parker, Cuddles Johnson and Jimmy Wightman, then playing dance music at the Cave Supper Club, talking about his childhood, travelling to Victoria to take his kids out to the park (that's me singing in the car), rehearsing with comedian Jack Carter, then playing behind Carter that night, and rolling dice in the band room. You'll see Stu Barnett, Frank Mansell, Don Clark and others in the Cave band. It's really well done, I think you'll agree. It's available elsewhere on the internet, but maybe you've never stumbled across it before.

Susan Jacks

Here's another stretch, jazz-wise. But as one regular reader told me, he likes that these clips show the kinds of jobs working musicians had to do. Here the Doug Parker orchestra backs up Susan Jacks on Ode to Billy Joe in 1968. Jacks is backed up by the New Morality Singers. That's some handle! Anyway, the Parker band was filled with serious jazz musicians who had to do this kind of work to get by. Reminds me of an interview Gary Barclay did with Jake Hanna, who was the drummer on the Merv Griffin Show. That band featured such musicians as Herb Ellis, Ray Brown, Plas Johnson, Jack Sheldon and I'm probably missing more. Hanna didn't have much respect for the show. He said that having these world-class musicians playing for the likes of Sonny and Cher was, and I'm paraphrasing, "like having Secretariat, Sea Biscuit and Man o'War, hooking them up and getting them to pull a milk truck around." In this clip, Terry David Mulligan briefly interviews Parker and asks him what he thinks of today's music. Parker claims to love it, but I'm hoping that was just the case of having to say it. I mean, what else could he say?

Incidentally, when this clip was up on YouTube, it received the most hits of any of them. There are a lot of Susan Jacks fans out there. It also received some extremely negative comments, too. Feel free to comment below. Get the discussion going again.

Henry Young with Nina Simone

Got a note from North Vancouver's own Henry Young today, leading me to a link of a fantastic (looking) DVD that came out last September. If you click on the 'watch preview' link, you'll see a young Mr. Young at the tender age of 26 in the song "Ain't Got No" accompanying Nina Simone on guitar. I don't have the video so I'll just put the link here for you:

http://jazzicons.com/ji3_simone.html

Steve Garrick

I really like this clip, but then again I'm a sucker for jazz accordion. The graphic up front says The Steve Garrick Septet, but there are eight of 'em. Maybe that's how they roll in Montreal, where the band was based. And damned if I can't find even a hint of a Vancouver connection to this one. But hey, let's not be so provincial. We're all Canadians, afterall. Even Montrealers. The musicians are Garrick on piano, Herbie Spanier on trumpet, Gordie Fleming on accordion, Al Baculis on clarinet and alto sax, Nick Ayoub on tenor sax, Fred Nichols on baritone sax, John Lanza on bass, and Bob Malloy on drums. It's from 1959. If you know of a Vancouver connection, put it in the comments section. Lord knows this blog could use a comment. We've received nary a one to date.

Ron Collier

Ron Collier is another Toronto guy who got his start in Vancouver. Specifically the Kitsilano Boys' Band. Here he is with his quintet in 1959 playing the Norman Symonds' composition, Gently. The quintet features Collier on trombone, Bernie Pilch on alto sax, Ed Bickert on guitar, Carne Bray on bass, and Ron Rully on drums.