Piano great BRIAN DICKINSON arrived on the Toronto scene in 1979 and has remained active in Toronto jazz venues and recording studios ever since, performing with the crème de la crème of the jazz world including Pat LaBarbera, Kenny Wheeler, Jerry Bergonzi, Kirk MacDonald, Randy Brecker, Lee Konitz, Dave Liebman, Michael Brecker, Dave Holland, Kieran Overs, Maria Schneider, Steve Gadd, and Sonny Fortune.
Now head of the Keyboard Department at Toronto’s Humber College, Dickinson is a graduate of the Humber Music Program and holds a Masters in Music (with distinction) degree from the New England Conservatory in Boston. In addition, he has studied with Richie Beirach, Andy Laverne, and Paul Bley. He is also the author of a respected book on ear training, entitled The Ears Have Walls.
As a leader, Dickinson has released a number of records including the Juno Award-winning In Transition. In 2005, he released The Glenn Gould Sessions, in which he performs in a duo setting with alto saxophonist Lee Konitz. The release Soul Mission features Dickinson in a quartet setting with saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi. Dickinson and guitarist Ted Quinlan released the duo album, Around the Bend, in 2011. In addition to compositions by both artists, the album features songs by Thelonious Monk and Alex North. His 2012 recording Other Places, which also features a quartet with Jerry Bergonzi was nominated for a Juno Award in 2013. In 2014, Dickinson released Fishs Eddy, featuring bassist George Mraz and drummer Ethan Ardelli. The album was nominated for a Juno in 2015.
This evening’s all-star BRIAN DICKINSON TRIO features jazz masters JIM VIVIAN on bass and ETHAN ARDELLI on drums, entertaining in the up-close-and-personal ambience of The Home Smith Bar.