Genre: Jazz
Styles: African Jazz, World Music, New Age, Ancient Music
Born in Fredericton, New Brunswick he left his university studies and moved to Montreal to study trumpet. After a period of study at Berklee College of Music in Boston he moved Halifax, Nova Scotia, finished his B.Sc. in experimental psychology at Dalhousie University and then moved to Toronto. He was soon performing at Torontos main jazz venues and in studios, including the first seven albums released by Rob McConnells Boss Brass.
He started out with trumpet as his first performance instrument and is today also one of the worlds foremost performers on the Electronic Valve Instrument (EVI), a wind synthesizer invented by Nyle Steiner. He wrote and recorded the first orchestral concerto for this instrument and with the EVI has performed the Ondes Martenot solo part in Olivier Messiaens Turangulila Symphony with the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra.
His love of variety led to extended playing, recording and touring with Doug Rileys Dr. Music, Lighthouse and, the fusion band Blood, Sweat and Tears (BS&T) for which he contributed compositions and arrangements for their last two albums. Artists with whom he has appeared in concert include Duke Ellington, Quincy Jones, Dionne Warwick, Anne Murray, Marvin Gaye, Chucho Valdez, and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
After a world tour with BS&T in 1980 Bruce moved to South Africa and immersed himself in the African music scene. He wrote and produced music for orchestral concerts, film, television and international dance competitions. Under the auspices of the South African Department of Arts and Culture he composed and produced an opera based on African Xhosa folklore, The Clay Flute, and produced a number of concerts for European artists and the SA internationally renowned opera singer Sibongile Khumalo. His latest album production in South Africa was Our World, a modern orchestral/jazz outing for the renowned Soweto String Quartet. In 1995 he was contracted to return to South Africa to lead an international big band at the National Arts Festival there.
His own projects in South Africa include:
TIMELESS, an award winning duo which combined the EVI, with the ancient instrument specialist Pops Mohamed which toured Scandanavia and central European countries
6006676000492
MBCCD W001
Music BC, 1997
SOUTH AFRICA
Good condition
C07
