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He is a cornet and trumpet player, bandleader,
conductor, adjudicator and clinician brought up in Edmonton, Alberta who
performed with the Cosmopolitan Music Society and National Youth Orchestra.
In 1967 he became a member of the Canadian Forces and performed
as a soloist with Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry Band in
Calgary from 1967 to 1980. He was
also a musician in the Air Command Band in Winnipeg and following his
graduation from the Staff School in 1983 he became their Associatie
Director of Music followed by the Director of Music and Commanding Officer,
remaining in that position until 1986.
In 1987 he went to Ottawa and became the Assistant
Staff Officer at the Directorate of Ceremonial of National Defence Headquarters. This led to him becoming the Band
of the Ceremonial Guard’s Director of Music from 1987 to 1990.
He returned to Calgary and the Princess Patricia’s
Canadian Light Infantry Band in 1990 in the position of Commanding Officer
and Director of Music, staying with them for the next 4 years until their
disbandment in 1994. During
his tenure with them he was instrumental in the organisation of the
recording Celebration, which was produced by the conductors and
bandleaders Harry Pinchin and Tommy Banks. The recording has since been
acclaimed as being “the finest in Canadian Forces history”.
He retired from the Canadian Forces in 1994 and
continued as a musician and bandleader, forming his own Prime Time Big
Band. That same year he became
the director of The Band of Outriders of the Calgary Stampede and stayed
with them until 2002. During
this time he also joined the Calgary Stetson Show Band in 2000 as their
director for the next three years and co-founded the band Rhythm’s Edge with
the trumpeter Jim Murray, which became the house band at Calgary’s Spring
Meadows.
In more recent years he has continued to direct his
Prime Time Big Band and also been the Director of the University of Calgary
Big Band.
He has performed and/or conducted many Canadian
orchestras and ensembles including the Calgary Symphony, the Edmonton Wind
Ensemble, the Jazz Honour Band, the Victoria Symphony and the Winnipeg
Symphony and has also worked with bands that have accompanied many popular
artists. These include Paul
Anka, Bob Hope, Tom Jones. Gladys Knight & The Pips, Diana Krall, B.J.
Thomas and Dionne Warwick to name just a few.
Appearing on several CDs his work has featured on
Snake Fence Country by the Edmonton Wind Ensemble and For Our Friends
by the Prime Time Big Band.
Edmonton Wind Ensemble recordings
Snake Fence Country (Howard Cable)
CBC Records SMCD 5165
Conductor – Harry Pinchin
Sources:
- http://www.primetimebigband.com/band/jones.asp
- http://www.aibfestival.com/calgary/conductors.asp
- http://www.jim-murray.ca/bio.html
- CD
Liner Notes: Snake Fence Country
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