Fraser MacPherson
Encyclopedia
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
(10 April 1928 - 27 September 1993) was a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
jazz musician born in St. Boniface, Manitoba.
He moved to Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
as a child, where he learned piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
, alto
Alto saxophone
The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
and tenor saxophone
Tenor saxophone
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
s. After moving to Vancouver to continue a commerce degree, he played in bands led by Ray Norris, Dave Robbins
Dave Robbins
Dave Robbins was an influential American-Canadian trombonist, composer, arranger and teacher. Born in Greensburg, Indiana, Robbins studied music education at Sam Houston State Teachers' College and the University of Southern California. After a stint in the US Marine Corps Robbins worked as a...
, Paul Ruhland and Doug Parker as well as leading his own groups and eventually taking over the leadership of the Cave supperclub band. He took a year's leave in 1958 to study in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, adding the flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
to his list of instruments. He played on the CBC
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
and won a Juno Award
Juno Award
The Juno Awards are presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music...
for Best Jazz Album in 1983. He was awarded the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
in 1987.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s MacPherson was a first-call studio player in Vancouver, as well as leading the house band at the Cave supperclub. He also taught briefly in the Jazz and Commercial Music department at Vancouver Community College, where his students included future Powder Blues Band
Powder Blues Band
The Powder Blues Band is a Canadian blues/pop/jazz band formed in 1978 in Vancouver. Its first album Uncut went double platinum in Canada. The second album Thirsty Ears was similarly popular...
baritone saxophonist Gordie Bertram
Powder Blues Band
The Powder Blues Band is a Canadian blues/pop/jazz band formed in 1978 in Vancouver. Its first album Uncut went double platinum in Canada. The second album Thirsty Ears was similarly popular...
and New Orleans based saxophonist and jazz educator John Doheny
John Doheny
John Steven "Pip" Doheny , is a jazz tenor saxophonist and band leader, who also plays flute, clarinet, and alto saxophone....
. MacPherson's first album as leader of a small jazz group, Live at the Planetarium, was originally recorded for broadcast on the French-language CBC radio network. MacPherson leased the master tapes and released them on his own independent label, West End Records. The album was subsequently picked up and re-released on the Concord label, and MacPherson went on to record several other releases for them. He also recorded for Toronto's Sackville records and Montreal's Justin Time label.
In the summer of 1993, Pacific Music Industry Association (PMIA) created the Fraser MacPherson Scholarship Fund which annually awards grants of $2000 to four to eight aspiring music students. Later that year MacPherson died in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, aged 65.