Fraser MacPherson Quintet release

Due for release next week (May 29), the Fraser MacPherson Quintet's Our Blues is sure to be one of the best and most important albums to come out in Canada this year. Regular visitors to this site know the high regard, verging on reverence, that we have for MacPherson, who passed away almost fourteen years ago. He was one of the greatest pure jazz players this country has produced and he achieved an international reputation with the release of his 1975 recording, Live at the Planetarium, his self-produced album which was later reissued on the Concord label. Although Fras is better represented on record than many Canadian jazz players there's not much currently in print. This release made up from two sessions from the early sixties adds some priceless music from what was probably Fraser's golden period. Adding even more excitement to this release is the presence on piano of the truly legendary Chris Gage who, till now, appears on no commercially available recordings. Gage ended his own life about a year after these recordings were made. Praise be to the CBC, which for many years recorded for broadcast some of this nation's great jazz musicians; praise be also that Fraser was so meticulous in obtaining tapes from those sessions and preserving them. And praise be to Justin Time Records for releasing what we hope is just the first of many of Fraser MacPherson's recordings. Fraser's son, Guy MacPherson (a freelance journalist and sometime contributor to this web site) deserves every award there is for preserving his dad's treasury of audio and video tapes and for his perseverance in seeing these sessions through to release. Comment by John Doheny This record is an absolute must have for anyone with the slightest interest in the development of jazz in Vancouver. Read full review... Read and post comments in the Jazz Forum LINKS: Fraser Macpherson Quintet "Our Blues" Justin Time Records Fraser MacPherson bio Fraser MacPherson: Diary of a Musician (Video) Fraser MacPherson interview (1976)