Pianist Phil Dwyer Trio

Originally from Canada’s West Coast, PHIL DWYER burst on the jazz scene in Canada, and internationally, in his late teens as a saxophone prodigy and by his early 20s was, to quote former Globe and Mail journalist Mark Miller, “startling jazz audiences with his unprecedented command of both tenor saxophone and piano” and with his “extraordinarily authoritative playing….set the country on its ear”.

His full time music career started in 1985 and from 1989-2004 Dwyer lived in Toronto, where he was a key fixture in the major jazz clubs, concert halls and recording studios. During that time Dwyer led his own various groups, and co-led bands with bassist Dave Young, multi-instrumentalist and composer Don Thompson, and pianist/organist Doug Riley. Bassist Young, well known for his long tenure with Oscar Peterson. Don Thompson had this to say about Phil Dwyer: “I’ve been a working professional musician for fifty years. I’ve played with a lot of the worlds’ greatest musicians and I can honestly say I’ve never known a better musician than Phil Dwyer. He’s a saxophonist, pianist, composer, arranger, producer and teacher and he does all these things at the highest possible level. He is a constant inspiration to everyone who knows him”.

While keeping a busy schedule as a performer and ‘first call’ studio musician in Toronto scene Phil also found time to travel and perform across North America, Europe, South America, and Asia, including tours with pop music icon Gino Vannelli, trumpet star Ingrid Jensen and with his own groups.

In the mid-1990s Dwyer began developing his craft as a composer and arranger, studying composition and orchestration with the eminent composer Michael Colgrass. Subsequent to those studies Dwyer’s work was commissioned and recorded by the Gryphon Trio, Amici, Roberto Occhipinti, CBC Orchestra, Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, Hard Rubber Orchestra, the Art Of Time Ensemble and Duke Trio. A 2010 commission from Mark Fewer and McGill University led to the creation of a major work “Changing Seasons”, a 40 minute concerto for jazz and string orchestras accompanying violin soloist Fewer. The 2011 recording of that piece, featuring Fewer with the Phil Dwyer Orchestra, won a Juno Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album. Among other Juno winning recordings in Dwyer’s discography are collaborations with Guido Basso, Don Thompson, Molly Johnson, Hugh Fraser, Joe Sealy, Terry Clarke, Diana Panton, and Dave Young.

As evidenced by his Order of Canada citation, Dwyer has also been active as an educator. In addition to his work from 1989-2001 as a sessional instructor at York University in Toronto he has also been a guest lecturer/clinician for leading music programs in Canada, the U.S., and Europe. From 2005-2014 he owned and operated the Phil Dwyer Academy Of Musical And Culinary Arts on Vancouver Island. This innovative program brought together some of Canada’s top young music students with an illustrious faculty comprised of many of the leading names in contemporary jazz music.

In the spring of 2017 Dwyer graduated from the Faculty of Law at University of New Brunswick. He continues to remain active as a musician and also as an advocate for increased public awareness of mental health issues.

On Dec. 30, 2013 Phil Dwyer was appointed as a Member of the Order Of Canada. He was cited for “his contributions to jazz as a performer, composer and producer, and for increasing access to music education in his community.” In January 2015 he was recognized by the Royal Conservatory of Music as an Honorary Fellow. These distinctions arise from an illustrious thirty year career collaborating with a storied roster of great musical artists, crossing stylistic and geographic borders. Phil has appeared on ten Juno Award-winning recordings, and over thirty nominated recordings. He is also a recipient of the prestigious K.M. Hunter Prize, for excellence in the arts.

Phil is a practicing lawyer, with his own firm in Qualicum Beach. Phil is a litigator, working primarily in family, estate, and environmental law, and appears regularly in Provincial and Supreme Courts. He is currently a member of the Law Society of British Columbia mental health task force. Prior to being called to the bar he participated in a pilot project with Toronto-based social services agency Sound Times and Legal Aid Ontario and assisting noted activist lawyer Peter Rosenthal. As a musician he remains an active performer, writer, and recording artist. He curates “Phil Dwyer’s Jazz Canada” for CBC Radio Music, programs music for The Old School House, in Qualicum Beach, and is a partner in SeaWind Musical Instruments.

A Portland native, ALAN JONES ranks as one of America and Europe’s most creative jazz drummers, composers, multi-instrumentalists and teachers. He has performed, toured and recorded with a long list of jazz legends, including his very own Sextet! He also runs his own successful Portland school, the Alan Jones Academy of Music.
Alan began playing the drums at a young age. In high school, he toured with organist Count Dutch and saxophonist Jim Pepper. After graduating from Berklee College of Music, he studied with Alan Dawson and spent 2 summers at the Banff Center for the Fine Arts in Canada. Alan has also studied with Elvin Jones, Art Blakey, Tony Williams, Jaco Pastorius, Roy Haynes and Billy Higgins.

Alan has worked with some of music’s greatest artists including Esperanza Spalding, Andrew Hill, Leroy Vinnegar, Red Mitchell, Kenny Wheeler, David Friesen John Abercrombie, Jim Pepper, Miroslav Vitous, John Clayton, Cecil Taylor Bud Shank, Randy Brecker, Denny Zeitlin, Dave Liebman, Airto Moriera, George Cables, Lee Konitz, Ralph Towner, Ingrid Jensen, Dave Holland, Charles McPherson, Chuck Israels, and John Hicks.

In high school Alan began teaching private lessons. He worked with children ages 6-17 at the Krebs School for the Learning Disabled in Boston teaching music and music therapy. He has held positions at The American Institute of Music in Vienna, Austria (1990-1992) and at Portland State University (1993-Present). Alan has presented Master Classes and Clinics in exciting places like:
Paris Conservatory of Music, France Hochschule fur Musik Graz, Austria The New School NY, USA Berklee College of Music Boston, USA Amsterdam Conservatory of Music Geneva Conservatory, Switzerland Pacific National University, Siberia Musik Conservatory Hamburg, Germany Khabarovsk Col. of Arts & Comm, Russia Venice Conservatory, Italy Stockholm Institute of Music, Sweden Hochschule fur Musik, Berlin, Germany Freiburg Music Institute, Germany Shanghai JZ School, China Far Eastern Academy, Vladivostok Russia Basel School of Music, Switzerland Music Institute of Technology, and Los Angeles Vienna Conservatory of Music

Alan’s love and understanding of music and his ability to communicate, both as a player and a teacher led him to the creation of The Alan Jones Academy of Music. AJAM is an innovative education system focused on personal and collective improvisation from grade school through retirement and prompted the city of Portland to honor him with an award for “Outstanding Achievement in Jazz”. Students have been involved in projects ranging from collaborating with Michael Curry on multimedia stage presentations to balancing on tightropes to playing in International Jazz Festivals.

Alan’s sextet CD’s, “Unsafe”, The “Leroy Vinnegar Suite” and “Climbing” were recorded and produced by pop/rock legend Gino Vannelli and highlight his turbine playing as well as his extensive and cutting-edge composing. Recordings with his band The Bridge Quartet on the CD’s “Day” and “Night” reflect a hard-hitting live performance vibe on standard tunes, whereas the soundtrack composed for Michael Curry’s massive stage production “Spirits” shows the jazz influenced, world music side of Alan. Then there’s the highly creative chord-less quartet The Fensters represented on two recordings “Jazz Music Vol 1” and “Jazz Music Vol X” where each instrument plays an equal role in delivering groove, humor, jabs and knockouts.

Alan’s recording with Francois Theberge, “Another View”, is an ambitious work three years in the making and features over 20 musicians and 3 vocalists. “...this is thoughtful material that reaches something deeper than the usual vocal Jazz Session, an experiment in songwriting and arranging that deserves attention.” - Jerome Wilson Cadence

Alan just released a new sextet album, “Storyline.” The new Sextet is a multi-generational band (2, 20 somethings, 3, 30 somethings…and a 50 something) and by anyone’s estimation John Nastos, Nicole Glover, Charlie Porter, Greg Goebel, and Jon Lakey are among the finest musicians there are. “Storyline”, by way of Alan’s new compositions and the band’s improvisations, aims to capture the essence of the spoken narrative, in hopes of carrying on the traditions of storytellers, musicians and listeners alike.

BEN DWYER (bass) is a bass and saxophone phenom who grew up in a musical household on Vancouver Island. The son of Phil Dwyer, Ben has recently moved to Toronto from Montreal. Though very much rooted in jazz, Ben is a versatile bassist with a strong sense of feel, melody, and sound production. This has led him to perform around the world with some great artists of different genres.