Canadian Jazz Guitar Summit
The Canadian Jazz Guitar Summit brings together the guitar talents of Reg Schwager and Andrew Scott. Backed by one of the finest rhythm sections in jazz (Pat Collins—bass and Barry Elmes—drums), the summit swings on strings through bossas, bebop, ballads and blues.
Reg Schwager (Guitar):
Reg Schwager is one of Canada’s leading jazz guitarists. His reputation has led to him performing with internationally acclaimed jazz artists such as Mel Tormé, Pepper Adams, Hank Jones, Junior Mance, Jimmy McGriff and Zoot Sims, and such celebrated Canadian jazz musicians as Diana Krall, Rob McConnell, Peter Appleyard, Oliver Jones, Dave Young and Don Thompson. Highlights include television, concert and club performances in the US, Japan and the Bahamas with master jazz pianist George Shearing.
Reg has been the recipient of the Guitarist of the Year award from Canada’s National Jazz Awards for three consecutive years (2005, 2006 and 2007). He appears on over 90 commercially released recordings with such artists as Junior Mance, Gary Burton, George Shearing and Mel Tormé. Recordings released under his own name include Resonance, Border Town and Live at Mezzetta.
Andrew Scott (Guitar):
Toronto native and Sackville recording artist Andrew Scott has become the standard bearer for the next generation of great Canadian jazz musicians. His many accomplishments include graduating from York University with a PhD in Musicology/Ethnomusicology, but there is nothing academic about the way Andrew plays the guitar. His “clean, boppish style” (Geoff Chapman, Toronto Star) has found him compared to everyone from Barney Kessel to Wes Montgomery. His fans include listeners the world over, including legendary musicians Sonny Greenwich, Gene DiNovi and George Benson.
“Canadian scholar, journalist and historian Andrew Scott also plays a swinging mean guitar, dedicating this one to Barney Kessel. Every selection on this set is successful and enjoyable, showing that when straight-ahead jazz is played with enthusiasm, high musicianship and subtle creativity, bebop definitely lives.”
- Scott Yanow
All Music Guide
Pat Collins (Bass):
Pat Collins was raised in Qualicum Beach, B.C. Since moving to Toronto in 1988, Pat has performed with such great musicians as Oscar Peterson, Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Henderson, Herb Ellis, Lee Konitz, Jimmy Cobb, Ed Bickert, Rob McConnell, Moe Koffman, Oliver Jones, Peter Appleyard, Diana Krall, Don Thompson, and many others. He has appeared as a sideman on approximately fifty recordings.
Collins’s own CD (“In The Moment”) features some of Canada’s premier jazz musicians—Mike Murley, Reg Schwager and Barry Elmes. The record received rave reviews, including “In The Moment is a CD that’s very easy to like,” (Richard Bourcier, JazzReview.com), and “This is a classy contribution to the jazz canon,” (Geoff Chapman, Toronto Star). The Pat Collins Quartet was nominated for a 2005 National Jazz Award as “Acoustic Group of the Year,” “Album of the Year” in 2006, and Pat was nominated as “Acoustic Bassist of the Year” in 2005 and 2006.
Barry Elmes (Drums):
International performer, drummer, composer, record producer, educator and multi-award winning Barry Elmes is a mainstay of the Canadian jazz scene. His work has been documented on over 60 jazz CDs and he has performed and/or recorded with many renowned jazz artists including: Tommy Flanagan, Charlie Haden, Hank Crawford, Diana Krall, Joe Henderson, John Abercrombie, Oliver Jones, Cedar Walton, Phil Nimmons, Dizzy Gillespie and the Moe Koffman Quintet.
In 1991 he formed the Barry Elmes Quintet, featuring a “who’s who” of the best in Canadian jazz. A success from the beginning, this group has released four notable recordings, the first of which, the critically acclaimed Climbing, featured Barry’s own compositions and received a Juno nomination for Best Jazz Recording. The most recent CD The Five Minute Warning received an Indie Award nomination for Best Jazz Recording 2001. The Barry Elmes Quintet won Acoustic Jazz Group of the Year at the 2002 National Jazz Awards and Time Warp’s latest release Warp IX won the 2003 Indie Award for Best Jazz Recording.
Barry is a professor of music at York University and is currently Chair of the Music Department.