Brian Hughes (born 5 May 1955) is a Canadian guitarist whose work draws from

smooth jazz Smooth jazz is a genre of commercially-oriented crossover jazz and easy listening music that became dominant in the mid 1970s to the early 1990s. History Smooth jazz is a commercially oriented, crossover jazz which came to prominence in the 19 ...

and

Latin music Latin music (Portuguese language, Portuguese and es, música latina) is a term used by the music industry as a catch-all category for various styles of music from Ibero-America (including Music of Spain, Spain and Portuguese music, Portugal) ...

. Hughes also plays

oud , image=File:oud2.jpg , image_capt=Syrian oud made by Abdo Nahat in 1921 , background= , classification= * String instruments *Necked bowl lutes , hornbostel_sachs=321.321-6 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded with a plectrum , ...

bouzouki The bouzouki (, also ; el, μπουζούκι ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', from Greek ), also spelled buzuki or buzuci, is a musical instrument popular in Greece. It is a member of the long-necked lute family, with a round body with a flat top and ...

, and

balalaika The balalaika (russian: link=no, балала́йка, ) is a Russian stringed musical instrument with a characteristic triangular wooden, hollow body, fretted neck and three strings. Two strings are usually tuned to the same note and the thir ...

. For over twenty years, he has worked in the studio with singer-songwriter

Loreena McKennitt Loreena Isobel Irene McKennitt, (born February 17, 1957) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer who writes, records, and performs world music with Celtic and Middle Eastern influences. McKennitt is known for her ...

. He co-produced many of her recordings and leads her touring band.

Music career

Hughes grew up in Alberta, Canada and studied at Grant MacEwan College (now

MacEwan University , mottoeng = , type = Public University , established = , closed = , founder = , parent = , academic_affiliations = AUCC, ACCC, AACTI ...

) in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

and the

Banff School of Fine Arts Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, formerly known as The Banff Centre (and previously The Banff Centre for Continuing Education), located in Banff, Alberta, was established in 1933 as the Banff School of Drama. It was granted full autonomy as ...

with jazz guitarists

Ed Bickert Edward Isaac Bickert, (November 29, 1932 – February 28, 2019) was a Canadian guitarist who played mainstream jazz and swing music. Bickert worked professionally from the mid-1950s to 2000, mainly in the Toronto area. His international reputat ...

and

Gene Bertoncini Gene J. Bertoncini (born 6 April 1937) is an American jazz guitarist. Biography Bertoncini was born in New York City, where he was raised in a musical family. His father, Mario Bertoncini (1901–1978), played guitar and harmonica. Gene began pl ...

. In 1981 he moved temporarily to Los Angeles where he studied at the Guitar Institute with

Pat Martino Pat Martino (born Patrick Carmen Azzara; August 25, 1944 – November 1, 2021) was an American jazz guitarist and composer. Biography Martino was born Patrick Carmen Azzara in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, to father Carmen "Mickey" ...

Joe Diorio Joseph Louis Diorio (August 6, 1936 – February 2, 2022) was an American jazz guitarist. He performed with Sonny Stitt, Hal Crook, Eddie Harris, Ira Sullivan, Stan Getz, Pat Metheny, Horace Silver, Anita O'Day, and Freddie Hubbard. In recent ye ...

, and

Robben Ford Robben Lee Ford (born December 16, 1951) is an American blues, jazz, and rock guitarist. He was a member of the L.A. Express and Yellowjackets and has collaborated with Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, George Harrison, Larry Carlton, Rick Springfield ...

. In 1987 Hughes moved to Toronto where he began working with harpist

. In 1990 he recorded ''Between Dusk...and Dreaming'', his first album as a leader, for

Justin Time Records Justin Time Records is a Canadian record company and independent record label founded in Montreal by Jim West. It was established in 1983 and specialises in jazz and blues. Although Justin Time initially recorded Canadian musicians such as Olive ...

, followed by ''Under One Sky'', two years later. He started his label, Sylvan House Music, which was distributed by

Warner Music Canada Warner Music Canada is the Canadian division of Warner Music Group. The label previously operated as WEA Music of Canada, Ltd. (French: ''WEA Musique du Canada, Ltée''), often shortened to WEA Canada, the Canadian subsidiary of WEA Internationa ...

and licensed to

Higher Octave Music Higher Octave Music is a sub-label imprint of Narada Productions. Since 2013, it is part of Universal Music Group's Capitol Music Group, which is located in Los Angeles. History Higher Octave was acquired by Virgin Records on behalf of EMI in 199 ...

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

in the U.S. and abroad. He recorded three more albums (''Straight to You'', ''One 2 One'', and ''Shakin' Not Stirred'') under this arrangement before releasing ''Along the Way'' with A440 Music Group in 2003. He returned to his Sylvan House Music imprint for the release of ''Live'' (2007), ''No Reservations'' (concert DVD, 2009), and ''Fast Train to a Quiet Place'' in 2011. He moved to Los Angeles in 2000. Many of his works can be heard on

The Weather Channel The Weather Channel (TWC) is an American pay television channel owned by Weather Group, LLC, a subsidiary of Allen Media Group. The channel's headquarters are in Atlanta, Georgia. Launched on May 2, 1982, the channel broadcasts weather forecas ...

's ''Local on the 8's'',

Sirius XM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sat ...

's ''

Watercolors Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

'' channel, and on the

Music Choice Music Choice (abbreviated as MC) is an American television music service that digitally broadcasts audio-based music channels and video-related content to cable television providers in the United States. Music Choice reaches 65 million househol ...

''Smooth Jazz'' channel.

Awards and honors.

Hughes received the Society of Canadian Authors and Composers (

SOCAN The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) is a Canadian performance rights organization that represents the performing rights of more than 135,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers. The organization collects ...

) Jazz and Instrumental Composer of the Year award from 1997–2001 and in 2006 and 2008. He was nominated for a

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

as Producer of the Year in 1991 for Loreena McKennitt's album ''The Visit''.

Discography

* 1990 ''Between Dusk...and Dreaming'' ( Justin Time) * 1992 ''Under One Sky'' (Justin Time) * 1996 ''Straight to You'' (Higher Octave, reissue on Sylvan House) * 1998 ''One 2 One'' (Higher Octave, reissue on Sylvan House) * 1999 ''Shakin' Not Stirred'' (Higher Octave, reissue on Sylvan House) * 2003 ''Along the Way'' (A440 Music Group, reissue on Sylvan House) * 2007 ''Live'' (Sylvan House) * 2009 ''No Reservations'' – concert DVD (Sylvan House) * 2011 ''Fast Train to a Quiet Place'' (Sylvan House)

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, Brian Canadian jazz guitarists Canadian male guitarists Smooth jazz guitarists Jazz fusion guitarists 1955 births Living people Canadian male jazz musicians Justin Time Records artists