Robert Murray Gordon (Rob)
McConnell, OC (born
February 14, 1935,
London,
Ontario
) is a Canadian
jazz valve trombonist,
composer, arranger, music educator and recording
artist.
Rob McConnell took up the valve trombone in high school, and began
his performing career in the early 1950s, performing and studying
with Don Thompson, Bobby Gimby, and later, with fellow Canadian
Maynard Ferguson. In 1968 he formed
The Boss Brass, a
big band that
would become his primary performing and recording unit through the
1970s and 1980s.
In 1988, McConnell took a teaching position at the Dick Grove
School of Music in California, but gave up his position and
returned to Canada a year later. In 1997, McConnell was inducted
into the
Canadian Music Hall
of Fame, and in 1998 was made an Officer of the
Order of Canada. Since that time he has
remained active, touring internationally both as a performer and
educator, running clinics around the world and performing as both a
leader and a guest artist. The newly formed Rob McConnell tentet
has been quite successful, producing three major records,
The
Rob McConnell Tentet (2000),
Thank You, Ted (2002),
and
Music of the Twenties (2003).
The Boss Brass
McConnell assembled the original Boss Brass from Toronto studio
musicians. The instrumentation of the band was originally 16
pieces, consisting of
trumpets,
trombones,
french horns,
and a
rhythm section, but no
saxophones. McConnell introduced a
saxophone section in 1970, and expanded the
trumpet section to include a fifth trumpet in 1976, bringing the
total to 22 members.
Over the years, Rob McConnell & The Boss Brass became one of
Canada's most popular jazz ensembles, performing live and recording
for Concord Jazz and a variety of other labels.
Mel Tormé has said, of his first recording
session with the Boss Brass in 1987, "Making this record was one of
the two or three greatest musical experiences in my long and
checkered career." Recordings made by Rob McConnell & the Boss
Brass include:
LPs
- The Boss Brass (1968)
- Boss Brass Two (1969)
- The Sound of the Boss Brass (1970)
- Rob McConnell & The Boss Brass (1971)
- Rob McConnell's Boss Brass 4 (1972)
- The Best Damn Band In The Land (1974)
- The Jazz Album (1976)
- Nobody Does It Better (1977)
- Big Band Jazz (1978)
- Boss Brass Again, Vol. 1 & Vol. 2 (1978)
- Singers Unlimited With Rob McConnell & The Boss Brass
(1978)
- Are Ya Dancin' Disco (1979)
CDs
- Live in Digital (1980)
- Tribute (1980)
- Present Perfect (1981)
- All In Good Time (1982)
- Atras Da Porta (1983)
- Old Friends, New Music (1984)
- Boss Brass & Woods (1985)
- Mel Tormé/Rob McConnell & The Boss Brass (1987)
- The Brass Is Back (1991)
- Brassy & Sassy (1992)
- Our 25th Year (1993)
- Overtime (1994)
- Don't Get Around Much Anymore (1995)
- Velvet & Brass - Mel Tormé/Rob McConnell & The Boss
Brass (1995)
- Three For The Road (1996)
- Even Canadians Get The Blues (1996)
- Play The Jazz Classics (1997)
- Big Band Christmas (1998)
- Concord Jazz Heritage CD (1998)
External links
Wikis
Map
Search
