Hugh Marsh (born June 5, 1955) is a violinist from

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, known for his

electric violin An electric violin is a violin equipped with an electronic output of its sound. The term most properly refers to an instrument intentionally made to be electrified with built-in pickups, usually with a solid body. It can also refer to a violin fi ...

sound. Marsh was nominated for a 2007 Juno Award in the best contemporary jazz album category.

Early days

Marsh was born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

and brought up in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, where he learned to play the violin from the age of five but it was when he tried playing the saxophone while at Canterbury high school that led to him exploring

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

and

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

. With his father's encouragement, he transferred these improvisation skills to the electric violin. He is the brother of musician Fergus Marsh.

Career

In 1978, Marsh was invited by jazz musician

Moe Koffman Morris "Moe" Koffman, Order of Canada, OC (28 December 1928 – 28 March 2001) was a Canadians, Canadian jazz saxophonist and flautist, as well as composer and arranger. During a career spanning from the 1950s to the 2000s, Koffman was one of Cana ...

to perform with him in a concert series at the

Art Gallery of Ontario The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO; french: Musée des beaux-arts de l'Ontario) is an art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The museum is located in the Grange Park neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, on Dundas Street West between McCaul and Beve ...

in Toronto. This led to gigs at top Toronto jazz club George's Spaghetti House and to performances with Canadian jazz musicians Marsh had long admired such as

Doug Riley Douglas Brian Riley, CM (April 12, 1945 – August 27, 2007) was a Canadian musician, also known as Dr. Music. He spent two decades with the Famous People Players as its musical director, besides his participation on over 300 album projects ...

, Claude Ranger,

Sonny Greenwich Sonny Greenwich, (born January 1, 1936) is a Canadian guitarist. He has played in major Canadian and American cities including a concert at Carnegie Hall. He has performed with musicians such as Charles Lloyd, Wayne Shorter, Pharoah Sanders, Mc ...

and Don Thompson. After meeting

Bruce Cockburn Bruce Douglas Cockburn ( ; born May 27, 1945) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist. His song styles range from folk to jazz-influenced rock and his lyrics cover a broad range of topics including human rights, environmental issues, po ...

in 1979, Cockburn invited Marsh to join his band for recordings and tours. In 1984, Marsh recorded his independent album ''The Bear Walks'' which was later distributed by Duke Street Records. He was supported on the album by Doug Riley (keyboards), Peter Cardinali (bass, production), and

Michael Brecker Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Berklee College of M ...

(tenor sax). The album sold well and was distributed by Verabra Records in Germany, Austria and Switzerland in 1986. Marsh recorded a follow-up album in 1987. ''Shaking The Pumpkin'' featured

(on "How the Violin Was Born"),

Dalbello Lisa Dal Bello (born 22 May 1959), also known as Dalbello, is a Canadian musician. She released three albums in the pop and pop/rock genre in her late teens, from 1977 through 1981 under her full name. In 1984, she re-emerged as Dalbello, wit ...

(on "Rules Are Made to be Broken") and singer Robert Palmer on a version of

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

's "

Purple Haze "Purple Haze" is a song written by Jimi Hendrix and released as the second single by the Jimi Hendrix Experience on March 17, 1967. The song features his inventive guitar playing, which uses the signature Hendrix chord and a mix of blues and Ea ...

". Marsh's collaboration with Robert Palmer on "Purple Haze" became a radio hit in Canada and the United States. Since 1990 Marsh has recorded and toured with

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

songstress

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 ...

, contributing to six multi-platinum albums and a number of world tours. From 1998, he began working with Turkish Sufi DJ

Mercan Dede Mercan Dede (born Arkın Ilıcalı, 1966), also known as DJ Arkin Allen, is a Turkish-Canadian composer, ney and bendir player, DJ, and producer. He is a world music artist, playing a fusion of traditional acoustic Turkish and other oriental ...

, resulting in contributions to three albums and other touring projects. Marsh has also worked with Turkish artists Ihsan Ozgen, Kani Karaca, Goksel Baktagir and Ozcan Deniz. In 1992, Marsh, along with

Jonathan Goldsmith Jonathan Goldsmith (born September 26, 1938) is an American character actor. He began his career on the New York stage, then started a career in film and television. He appeared in several TV shows from the 1960s to the 1990s. He is best known ...

, Martin Tielli and Rob Piltch, provided backup for a track on the album

Back to the Garden ''Back to the Garden'' is a tribute album to Joni Mitchell, released in 1992. It was released on Intrepid Records, after the Canadian chart success of their 1991 Bruce Cockburn tribute, ''Kick at the Darkness''. The album's first single was Slo ...

; these four later formed the band Nick Buzz and produced two albums and an EP."Nick Buzz: Nick Buzz"
Vue Weekly, July 23, 2009 In 2000 Marsh performed with former

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 200 ...

singer Peter Murphy on his international ''Just For Love'' tour. The album ''Alive Just for Love'' was a live recording of a set from the tour's El Rey show in Los Angeles. This was followed by the studio album ''

Dust Dust is made of fine particles of solid matter. On Earth, it generally consists of particles in the atmosphere that come from various sources such as soil lifted by wind (an aeolian process), volcanic eruptions, and pollution. Dust in homes ...

'' and a subsequent North American tour. Marsh collaborated on film scoring projects with composers Harry Gregson Williams and

Don Rooke Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

, with compositions featured on such films as ''Armageddon'', ''Whatever Happened to Harold Smith'', ''Spy Game'', ''Sinbad, Legend of the Seven Seas'', ''The Rundown'', ''Veronica Guerin'', ''Man on Fire'', ''Shrek 2'', ''Return to Sender'', ''Domino'', ''Kingdom of Heaven'', ''The Chronicles of Narnia'', ''

Still Mine ''Still Mine'' is a 2012 Canadian romantic drama film. The film had a limited release under its original title ''Still'' at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival;Hans Zimmer Hans Florian Zimmer (; born 12 September 1957) is a German film score composer and music producer. He has won two Academy Awards, Oscars and four Grammy Awards, Grammys, and has been nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards, Emmys and a Tony Awar ...

on scores for ''Tears of the Sun'' and ''The Da Vinci Code''. In 2004 Marsh joined clarinetist

Don Byron Donald Byron (born November 8, 1958) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist. He primarily plays clarinet but has also played bass clarinet and saxophone in a variety of genres that includes free jazz and klezmer. Biography His mother w ...

's new quartet "Swiftboat", along with Kermit Driscoll on bass and

Pheeroan Aklaff Pheeroan akLaff (born Paul Maddox January 27, 1955) is an American jazz drummer and percussionist. He began playing in his hometown of Detroit, Michigan and Ann Arbor, with R & B keyboardist Travis Biggs, funk keyboardist Nimrod “The Grinder” ...

on drums. Marsh toured as part of trumpeter

Jon Hassell Jon Hassell (March 22, 1937 – June 26, 2021) was an American trumpet player and composer. He was best known for developing the concept of "Fourth World" music, which describes a "unified primitive/futurist sound" combining elements of various w ...

's new quartet with bassist Peter Freeman and percussionist

Steve Shehan Steve Shehan (born 18 January 1957 in Fort Eustis, Virginia) is a French-American percussionist and music composer. Early life Steve Shehan was born in the United States of an American (Cherokee) father and a French mother. Discography Steve Sh ...

. Marsh is a four-time winner of the Jazz Report Award for violinist of the year and a three-time recipient of the National Jazz Award for violinist of the year. Marsh's recording ''Hugmars'' was released in November 2006 and was nominated for a 2007 Juno Award in the best contemporary jazz album category. Marsh also performs with the Toronto-based band 'Three Metre Day' featuring Michelle Willis on pump organ and vocals, Hugh on violin and Don Rooke on slide guitar. Since September 2015, Marsh regularly performs with the

Rheostatics Rheostatics are a Canadian indie rock band. They were formed in 1978, and actively performed from 1980 until disbanding in 2007. After a number of reunion performances at special events, Rheostatics reformed in late 2016, introducing new songs a ...

Discography

Singles

*1984 "Versace"/"Znefu For Y'all" (Duke Street/WEA) *1987 "Purple Haze" (Duke Street/WEA), with Robert Palmer *1989 "Purple Haze" re-issue (Soundwings – US), with Robert Palmer

Albums

*1984 ''The Bear Walks'' (Duke Street/WEA) *1987 ''Shaking The Pumpkin'' (Duke Street/WEA) *1989 ''Shaking The Pumpkin'' re-issue (Soundwings – US) *1996 ''Songs for my Mother and Father'' (Cool Papa) *2006 ''Hugmars'' (nominated for 2007 Juno Award, Contemporary Jazz Album of the Year) *2019 ''Violinvocations'' (Bandcamp)

Compilations/Other

* 1996 cut on ''Sweet Relief II'' compilation * 1997 cut on ''Carols of Christmas, Vol. 2'' compilation

Contributions

*with Peter Murphy – "Alive Just for Love", "Dust" *with

– "Humans", "Inner City Front", "Mummy Dust", "The Trouble With Normal", "World of Wonders", "Big Circumstance", "Waiting for a Miracle", "Christmas", "You've Never Seen Everything". *with Don Ross – "Bearing Straight". *with

– "The Visit", "The Book of Secrets", "A Winter Garden", "The Mask and Mirror", "Live in Paris and Toronto", "An Ancient Muse", "Nights from the Alhambra", "The Wind That Shakes the Barley", "A Mediterranean Odyssey". *with The

Barenaked Ladies Barenaked Ladies is a Canadian rock band formed in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario. The band developed a following in Canada, with their self-titled 1991 cassette becoming the first independent release to be certified gold in Canada. They reach ...

– "Born on a Pirate Ship" *with Brian Hughes – "Straight to You" *with

Alannah Myles Alannah Myles (née Byles; born December 25, 1958) is a Canadian singer-songwriter who has won both a Grammy and a Juno Award for the song " Black Velvet". The song was a top-ten hit in Canada; it was also a number one hit on the US ''Billboar ...

– "Arrival", "Alannah" *with Steve Bell *with

Mary Margaret O'Hara Mary Margaret O'Hara is a Canadian singer-songwriter, actress and composer. She is best known for the album ''Miss America'', released in 1988. She released two albums and an EP under her own name, and remains active as a live performer, as a con ...

– "Miss America, "Christmas EP" *with

Raffi Raffi Cavoukian, ( hy, Րաֆֆի, born July 8, 1948), known professionally by the mononym Raffi, is a Canadian singer-lyricist and author of Armenian descent born in Egypt, best known for his children's music. He developed his career as a " ...

– "Evergreen, Everblue" *with Brooks Williams – "Knife Edge", "Seven Sisters" *with Roberto Occhipinti – "Trinacria", "The Cusp" *with

The Henrys The Henrys is a Toronto-based, "nearly instrumental" quartet. Their music features the sound of an antique slide guitar called a kona (and other slide guitars), along with various other instruments, including pump organ, conch shell, guitars, vo ...

– "Joyous Porous", "Puerto Angel" *with

– "Seyhatname", "Nar", "Su", "Nefes". *with

Nick Buzz Nick Buzz is a Canadian band composed of pianist Jon Goldsmith, violinist Hugh Marsh, guitarist Rob Piltch, and singer/songwriter Martin Tielli. History Goldsmith, Marsh, Piltch and Tielli came together in 1992 to collaborate on a cover of Joni ...

– "Circo" *with Montuno Police – "Touch", "The Call", "Nomads" *with The MRC Trio – "Tribal Dance", "That Magic Thread" *with Random Access – "Random Access 3, "No Soap Radio", "Accidental Beef". *with

Hans Zimmer Hans Florian Zimmer (; born 12 September 1957) is a German film score composer and music producer. He has won two Academy Awards, Oscars and four Grammy Awards, Grammys, and has been nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards, Emmys and a Tony Awar ...

– "Tears of the Sun", "The Da Vinci Code" *with Harry Gregson Williams – "Armageddon", "Whatever Happened to Harold Smith?", "Spy Game", "Veronica Guerin", "The Rundown", "Shrek 2", "Return to Sender", "Kingdom of Heaven", "Man on Fire", "The Chronicles of Narnia", "Seraphim Falls", "Deja Vu", "The Number 23" and "The Taking of Pelham 123", "The Town", "Unstoppable", " Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time". *with

The Stooges The Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, also known as Iggy and the Stooges, was an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Dave ...

- "Ready to Die" *with Sora - "Heartwood"

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marsh, Hugh 1955 births Anglophone Quebec people Canadian classical violinists Male classical violinists Canadian jazz violinists Canadian rock violinists Living people Musicians from Montreal Musicians from Toronto Electric violinists 20th-century classical violinists 21st-century classical violinists 20th-century Canadian male musicians 21st-century Canadian male musicians Canadian male jazz musicians Canadian male violinists and fiddlers 20th-century Canadian violinists and fiddlers 21st-century Canadian violinists and fiddlers