Bio
Download PDFThe Phoenix Jazz Group performs jazz in a melodic fusion style. Group members are very versatile in a number of different styles. A review from The Jazz Society of Oregon stated " they're a Canadian quartet of musicians with impressive credentials whose program of all original music swings with ease ". Since their debut album " Extensions " was released in 2009, the music of The Phoenix Jazz Group has received ongoing airplay on Canada's Premier Jazz Station Jazz FM 91.1 in Toronto as well as on jazz radio in the U.S and over 60 countries worldwide. A review of the group's most recent album Amparo from Whole Note Magazine in Toronto states " It is in the fusion of myriad styles that the group's music speaks best.This can be felt throughout the album, but nowhere more strongly than in the profound beauty of Amparo, the title track itself."
PERSONNEL:
JOHN McLELLAND, Piano and Keyboards, has performed with many of Canada's jazz notables including singers Trish Colter, Jackie Richardson, Rita Di Ghent, Barbra Lica, Heather Bambrick and instrumentalists Phil Nimmons, Alex Dean, Rick Wilkins, Peter Appleyard, Dave McMurdo, Ted Warren, Duncan Hopkins and Mike Malone as well as American jazzers Louis Smith and Mike Grace. He has performed internationally at the Focsani Blues Festival in Romania with Barbra Lica and Chris Cigolea and at The Queenstown International Jazz Festival in New Zealand with Jason Thornton. He holds Bachelor of Music ( Honours ) and Bachelor of Education degrees from The University of Western Ontario, studied at The Banff School for the Performing Arts and spent three years in New Zealand teaching Jazz and Improvisation at James Hargest College.
JOHN GODDARD, Percussion, is very active in both the jazz and classical idioms. During his career as a jazz drummer he has performed with a variety of recording artists including Carol Welsman, Peter Appleyard, Phil Nimmons, Shirley Eikhard and Heather Bambrick. His experience in the classical field has included gigs with a number of orchestra and theatre companies in South-Western Ontario. In addition to maintaining a private percussion studio he enjoys his positions as Director of the University of Guelph Concert Winds and instructor of Applied Percussion.
GREG PRIOR, Bass, is a feelance bassist who has performed with the Waterloo Chamber Players, Big Band Theory, as well as Michael Wood, Ernie Kalwa, Andriy Tykhonov, Tim Moher and many other artists. Before he moved to Waterloo from Calgary he performed with The Lethbridge Symphony, The Red Deer Symphony, and the Symphony of the Kootenays. He has toured with many artists at Jazz festivals throughout Canada and at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. Greg studied and performed in Havana,Cuba with the Latin jazz ensemble Masacote. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from The University of Calgary and studied at the Banff School for the Performing Arts.
Visit www.phoenixjazzgroup.ca for more information.
PERSONNEL:
JOHN McLELLAND, Piano and Keyboards, has performed with many of Canada's jazz notables including singers Trish Colter, Jackie Richardson, Rita Di Ghent, Barbra Lica, Heather Bambrick and instrumentalists Phil Nimmons, Alex Dean, Rick Wilkins, Peter Appleyard, Dave McMurdo, Ted Warren, Duncan Hopkins and Mike Malone as well as American jazzers Louis Smith and Mike Grace. He has performed internationally at the Focsani Blues Festival in Romania with Barbra Lica and Chris Cigolea and at The Queenstown International Jazz Festival in New Zealand with Jason Thornton. He holds Bachelor of Music ( Honours ) and Bachelor of Education degrees from The University of Western Ontario, studied at The Banff School for the Performing Arts and spent three years in New Zealand teaching Jazz and Improvisation at James Hargest College.
JOHN GODDARD, Percussion, is very active in both the jazz and classical idioms. During his career as a jazz drummer he has performed with a variety of recording artists including Carol Welsman, Peter Appleyard, Phil Nimmons, Shirley Eikhard and Heather Bambrick. His experience in the classical field has included gigs with a number of orchestra and theatre companies in South-Western Ontario. In addition to maintaining a private percussion studio he enjoys his positions as Director of the University of Guelph Concert Winds and instructor of Applied Percussion.
GREG PRIOR, Bass, is a feelance bassist who has performed with the Waterloo Chamber Players, Big Band Theory, as well as Michael Wood, Ernie Kalwa, Andriy Tykhonov, Tim Moher and many other artists. Before he moved to Waterloo from Calgary he performed with The Lethbridge Symphony, The Red Deer Symphony, and the Symphony of the Kootenays. He has toured with many artists at Jazz festivals throughout Canada and at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. Greg studied and performed in Havana,Cuba with the Latin jazz ensemble Masacote. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from The University of Calgary and studied at the Banff School for the Performing Arts.
Visit www.phoenixjazzgroup.ca for more information.
