Nick Maclean with Brownman Ali

November 21st 2019

Following the recent blowout performances by Vancouver Island-based bands including record attendances, Georgia Straight Jazz Society presents a totally different modern jazz quartet. The Nick Maclean Quartet featuring Brownman Ali will be on stage this Thursday as the westernmost performance on its month-long national tour across Canada. The tour takes them from their hometown of Toronto all the way to the Pacific and everywhere in between.

Led by 26-year old fast-rising piano star Nick Maclean, a 6x Global Music Award winner, a graduate of the University of Toronto, and one of the most in-demand young jazz piano players in Toronto, this contemplative yet thrilling quartet delivers jazz which takes its influences from Herbie Hancock's primordial 1960's Blue Note era recordings, while paying tribute to some of the greatest improvisers in jazz history.

Maclean's quartet heavily features one of Canada's most provocative improvising trumpet players Brownman Ali, heralded as "Canada's pre-eminent jazz trumpet player" by New York City's Village Voice. Recognized as an internationally acclaimed jazz iconoclast, he currently divides his time between Brooklyn, NY & Toronto and is a 2x National Jazz Award winner. To complete the quartet, Ali & Maclean stand shoulder-to-shoulder with 2 of Toronto's top-tier 20-somethings: Ben Duff on upright bass, and Jacob Wutzke on drums.

Born in Ottawa, Nick Maclean is "one of the most gifted young Toronto pianists to come along in the last few years" (Adrean Farrugia, Juno winning jazz pianist) and has quickly become one of the most in demand piano players in Toronto's bustling jazz scene. Nick holds a B. Mus, from Humber College and a Master of Jazz Performance from the University of Toronto. From Miles Davis & Herbie Hancock to Weather Report & Snarky Puppy, Maclean's musical influences are diverse.

Trinidadian-born Brownman Ali stands at the forefront of innovation in the Canadian jazz community. He spent 4 years as the featured trumpet player with Guru's Jazzmatazz, doing 4 world tours, catapulting him into the hip-hop history books. He has since worked with a wide assortment of artists, including Beyonce, Paul Simon and Quincy Jones. In 2009 he launched his own record label: Browntasauras Records. Now, using the label as a breeding ground for new and visionary talent in the modern jazz realm, Browntasauras and Brownman himself are widely regarded as vanguards for the evolution of Jazz in Canada.

This will be a night to remember for modern jazz buffs, and you're encouraged to get down to The Av a little early to get the best seats. For more information about the jazz society, please browse the website and while you're there select the calendar tab to see the amazing schedule of acts we have already lined up between now and the end of 2020. Better still, develop a new habit of coming down to The Av every Thursday to discover why Comox Valley's jazz scene is the envy of Canada.

It is all rush seating, there are no reservations.

Thank you for your support of the jazz society's events over the past five months of 2019. It's been our most successful year, and it fulfills our goal of keeping jazz live in Comox Valley.

GSJS showcases jazz live in the Comox Valley, giving music lovers an opportunity to enjoys local, regional and internationally-known jazz musicians.