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Hugh Alexander Fraser (October 26, 1958 – June 17, 2020) was a Canadian jazz musician known for his work as a pianist, trombonist and composer.King, B. N. (2008)
Fraser, Hugh
. Encyclopedia of Music in Canada. Historica Foundation of Canada.


Early Life and Education

Born in Victoria, British Columbia, Fraser studied with Dave Robbins in Vancouver,
Slide Hampton Locksley Wellington Hampton (April 21, 1932 – November 18, 2021) was an American jazz trombonist, composer and arranger. As his nickname implies, Hampton's main instrument was slide trombone, but he also occasionally played tuba and flugelho ...
in New York, and Kenny Wheeler in London. He also attended the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.


Career

Fraser began teaching at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in 1986 and was appointed head of the jazz program in 1991. He also held teaching appointments in jazz education at the
Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke of ...
, the University of Ulster, University of Victoria, and the Victoria Conservatory of Music. Early in his career, Fraser formed the Vancouver Ensemble of Jazz Improvisation (VEJI), a big band that went on to win the open class at the Canadian Stage Band Festival in 1981. The Hugh Fraser Quintet, a hard-bop band which drew members from VEJI, toured widely and appeared frequently at Canadian and International jazz festivals. Fraser performed with Jaki Byard,
Clark Terry Clark Virgil Terry Jr. (December 14, 1920 – February 21, 2015) was an American swing and bebop trumpeter, a pioneer of the flugelhorn in jazz, and a composer and educator. He played with Charlie Barnet (1947), Count Basie (1948–51), Duke ...
,
Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but addi ...
,
Maynard Ferguson Walter Maynard Ferguson CM (May 4, 1928 – August 23, 2006) was a Canadian jazz trumpeter and bandleader. He came to prominence in Stan Kenton's orchestra before forming his own big band in 1957. He was noted for his bands, which often served ...
,
Billy Eckstine William Clarence Eckstine (July 8, 1914 – March 8, 1993) was an American jazz and pop singer and a bandleader during the swing and bebop eras. He was noted for his rich, almost operatic bass-baritone voice. In 2019, Eckstine was posthumously ...
, and many other well known jazz musicians.


Personal life

In 2017, Fraser was diagnosed with cancer, but continued to perform. He died on 17 June 2020 in Vancouver, British Columbia at the age of 62.


Awards

*
Looking Up Looking is the act of intentionally focusing visual perception on someone or something, for the purpose of obtaining information, and possibly to convey interest or another sentiment. A large number of troponyms exist to describe variations o ...
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1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...
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 ...
for Best Jazz Album (winner) *
Pas de Problem PAS or Pas may refer to: Companies and organizations * Pakistan Academy of Sciences * Pakistan Administrative Service * Pan Am Southern, a freight railroad owned by Norfolk Southern and Pan Am Railways * Pan American Silver, a mining company in ...
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1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...
Juno Award for Best Jazz Album (nominated) *
In The Mean Time IN, In or in may refer to: Places * India (country code IN) * Indiana, United States (postal code IN) * Ingolstadt, Germany (license plate code IN) * In, Russia, a town in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast Businesses and organizations * Independ ...
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1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...
Juno Award for Best Mainstream Jazz Album (winner)


Discography

Solo/The Hugh Fraser Quintet *''Looking Up'' (1987) *''Pas de Problemes'' (1988) *''The Sensorium Suite'' (1992) *''Trinity'' (1992) *''Sensorium Two'' (1993) *''Red and Blue'' (1995) *''In the Meantime'' (1997) *''Back to Back'' (1998) *''Stardust Suite'' (2000) *''A Night in Vancouver'' (2004) *''Hugh Fraser's Bonehenge'' (2005) *''Concerto'' (2012) With VEJI *''VEJI'' (1980) *''Classic VEJI'' (1986) *''VEJI Now!'' (1990) *''V'' (1999) *''Big Works'' (2002)


Compositions

Fraser composed over 200 jazz works. Over 100 of his compositions have been recorded.


References


External links


Hugh Fraser Bio

Hugh Fraser Discography
* * as The Hugh Fraser Quintet
Straight Interview
1958 births 2020 deaths Canadian jazz pianists Musicians from Victoria, British Columbia Juno Award for Traditional Jazz Album of the Year winners Canadian jazz trombonists Canadian jazz composers 21st-century Canadian pianists 21st-century trombonists {{Canada-composer-stub