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(Past Event) Lorne Lofsky Trio – Jazz Benefit Concert

St. Paul’s Anglican Newmarket will be hosting a very special jazz benefit concert with internationally renowned guitarist, Lorne Lofsky. All proceeds from the concert will fund the church’s community outreach programme.

The concert will take place on February 21st at 7:30 pm (doors open at 7:00 pm) and tickets are only $15.00 ($10.00 for seniors and students). There will be a wine bar for refreshment, as well. To get tickets, please call the church office at 905-853-7285.

This will be a unique opportunity to hear three truly exceptional musicians perform in an acoustically excellent and esthetically pleasing venue. It will be a fabulous experience that you do not want to miss.

Lorne Lofsky is a Canadian guitarist who began his formal study of music while attending York University, in the mid 70’s (’74/75), focusing on jazz theory and performance. He spent two years under the guidance of John Gittins and Bob Witmer.

Lorne started to work frequently at the famous Toronto jazz venues “George’s Spaghetti House”and “Bourbon Street” playing with a who’s who of the jazz world including Chet Baker, Pepper Adams, Bob Brookmeyer, Carl Fontana and many others.During one week at George’s as a sideman with trombonist Butch Watanabe, Lorne met the jazz legend Oscar Peterson. A few weeks later Lorne received a phone call from Oscar who offered to produce a record on the prestigious Pablo record label. The result was Lorne’s debut album entitled “It Could Happen To You”. Lorne continued to work extensively in the Toronto area, including an appearance at the Ontario Place Forum as a featured guest with Oscar Peterson. Lorne also played with Oscar in Edmonton, Alberta for a week in ’82. In 1983 Lorne did an extended tour of the East coast of Canada with renowned saxophonist Pat LaBarbera. Also, in 1983 to 1991 Lorne played in a quartet with legendary jazz guitarist Ed Bickert. This quartet played frequently in and around the Toronto area. This collaboration yielded two recordings (one of which was for the prestigious Concord label entitled “This Is New”) and a tour of Spain in 1991.

In the early 80’s, Lorne began an important musical association with saxophonist extraordinaire Kirk Macdonald leading to the formation of a quartet that has continued to perform extensively in the Toronto area. Various versions of this quartet have played numerous dates outside of Toronto, including the Atlantic Jazz Festival, Montreal’s Upstairs Club, Vancouver’s Cotton Club and others. From ’94-’96, Lorne was a member of the Oscar Peterson Quartet. The group performed at Carnegie Hall in N.Y.C., the Montreal Jazz Festival, Sao Paolo, Brazil and played numerous concerts throughout Europe. In addition, Lorne was featured on 3 CDs with Oscar. One of them was a double CD recorded live in Paris. In addition, Lorne has, over the years taught many clinics on jazz guitar and improvisation. Lorne has been a jazz instructor at York University, in Toronto, since the late 70’s. As well, Lorne has taught for several years at the University of Toronto and has an extensive private teaching practice.Lorne continues to teach and perform in the Toronto area where he remains a mainstay of the jazz scene.

Lorne will be joined by Kieran Overs on upright bass, and Robin Claxton on drums.

Toronto-born bassist Kieran Overs has been active on the Canadian music scene since 1970, first on guitar and electric bass, and for the past34 years on acoustic bass. Overs holds an Honours Diploma from HumberCollege, a B. Mus. from Humber/BCOU and an M. Mus. from McGill University (Montreal). He has also studied privately with renowned Danish bassist Neils-Henning Orsted-Petersen and arranger Rick Wilkins. He has toured internationally with Moe Koffman/Dizzy Gillespie, Jane Bunnett, Sophie Milman,Carol Welsman and Emilie-Claire Barlow, among others. Having worked in Toronto as a sideman with such artists as Zoot Sims, Chet Baker, Bill Charlap,Harold Mabern Jr., Carol Sloane/ Bill Mays, Brian Dickinson, Pat Labarbera,Alex Dean and Kirk MacDonald, Overs has established a solid reputation inCanadian jazz. Overs is currently a member of The Nancy Walker Quartet, Ted Quinlan Trio and Inside Out (with Lorne Lofsky and Barry Romberg). To his credit Overs has 4CDs as leader/producer and more than 80 as a sideman. He was one of only 8 jazz artists selected to represent Canada on the 4CD/50-artistbox set “Here and Now – A Celebration of Canadian Music “, produced by the Canada Council to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations(released world-wide in October 1995). A profile of Overs’ career can be found in Mark Miller’s book “The Miller Companion to Jazz in Canada”. He is an adjunct faculty member of the music departments at Humber College (Toronto) and Mohawk College (Hamilton), and is active as a freelance musician, clinician and bandleader. His current band is an all-star lineup of Canadian musicians, Overs’ Eleven.

Robin Claxton is a freelance drummer based out of Toronto. He is also a graduate of The University of Toronto, where he attained a Bachelor of Music Degree with a Major in Jazz Performance. He studied with legendary Canadian jazz drummer Terry Clarke, as well as other pre-eminent musicians such as Mark McLean, Terry Promane and Chase Sanborn. Through his studies and performances with a wide variety of ensembles, Robin has become an extremely versatile musician, with tremendous fluidity in Jazz, Funk, R&B, Afro-Cuban, Pop/Rock, Soul and Musical Theatre. Robin has been performing since the age of nine, and has shared the stage with iconic jazz figures such as Dame Cleo Laine, the late Sir Johnny Dankworth, Matt Dusk, Guido Basso, Lorne Lofsky, the late Peter Appleyard, Maria Schneider, and Jackie Richardson. Robin has recorded on several albums to date, as well as toured Canada’s West Coast during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics with saxophonist Taylor Cook and most recently Nevada and California with singer-song writer JP Saxe and Anthony Hall.

Comment(1)

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    Phil C says:

    Excellent trio! This should be a fabulous night!

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