| The term "legendary" gets thrown around pretty loosely. One of the few
Canadian musicians that merits the epithet is pianist, composer, visual
artist, and author, Al Neil. Born in Vancouver in 1924, Neil began
playing Bud Powell-inspired bop in the forties and was a central figure
in the musician-run Cellar in its original incarnation. Aside
from sideman gigs with visiting artists like Carl Fontana, Art Pepper,
Sonny Red, etc., he led his own groups, including the quartet with Dale
Hillary, Lionel Chambers, and Bill Boyle that recorded the LP Kenneth Patchen Reads with Jazz,
also legendary. In the mid-sixties, mainly in a trio with Gregg Simpson and Richard Anstey, Neil took his music in a wholly original direction in performances that included multi-media components. At the time he was also producing visual art and published two books of semi-autobiographical prose, Changes, and Slammer. |
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