Rob McConnell Born in London, Ontario, McConnell took up the valve trombone in high school and began his performing career in the early 50’s performing with saxophonist Don Thompson Edmonton, Bobby Gimby and fellow Canadian Maynard Ferguson. He also studied arranging and composition with Gordon Delamont. In 1968, Rob formed The Boss Brass, a big band that would become his primary performing and recording unit through the 1970’s and...
Rob McConnell & The Boss Brass - Canada's Own!
Rob McConnell & The Boss Brass - A Legendary, World-Class Big Band from Toronto, Canada
Steve Wallace (bassist) was born in 1956, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and is today regarded by many as the most powerful bass player that Canada has produced. He is almost cetainly the most experienced, having begun working with visiting jazz greats in Toronto clubs such as Bourbon street, Lytes, and George’s Spaghetti House while he was still in his twenties,...
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Brad Warnaar (french horn) was principal horn player with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra. He attended the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y. He was principal horn player in the Eastman Wind Ensemble and at 19 became a member of the Rochester Philharmonic. He was a former member of the Rochester Brass Quintet and the Toronto Symphony. Brad Warnaar also played...
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Ted Warren (drummer) was born in 1965, in Saskatchewan. He studied Music at Montreal’s Mcgill University, and received a certificate in Jazz Studies from St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. He teaches in the Jazz Studies programs at both Humber College in Toronto and Mohawk College in Hamilton, Ontario, and is also a well-regarded clinician...
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Jiro “Butch” Watanabe (trombonist) was born June 7, 1923 in Fraser Mills, British Columbia, Canada. He passed away November 5, 2002 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Butch Watanabe was an accomplished trombonist who worked with Oscar Peterson, Lionel Hampton, Rob McConnell and The Boss Brass, Peter Appleyard, Phil Nimmons, Ron Collier, and Anne Murray....
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