Nick Fraser 50th Birthday April 4th @ 5:00 PM
Nick Fraser - Drums
Tony Malaby - Saxophones
Ben Monder - Guitar
Cover at the door
$20 CAD
Nick Fraser (drums): has been an active and engaging presence in Canadian music for over 30 years. He has worked with a veritable “who’s who” of Canadian jazz and improvised music and with such international artists as Tony Malaby, Kris Davis, Marilyn Crispell, Roscoe Mitchell, Anthony Braxton, and William Parker. Nick’s recorded works as a leader include Owls in Daylight (1997), Towns and Villages (2013), If There Were No Opposites (2021), Farahser (2024), and Areas (2026). For 10 years, he co-led the co-operative group Drumheller, who released four critically acclaimed recordings between 2005 and 2013. Other projects that occupy Nick regularly are the Florian Hoefner Trio, his duo with John Kameel Farah, Ugly Beauties, Peripheral Vision, the Lina Allemano Four, and Titanium Riot.
“Fraser not so much plays the drums as hurls himself whole body and soul against skin and metal… truly talented.” Bill Stunt, CBC Radio
“The Toronto drummer is perhaps a little too progressive for the hidebound Canadian scene… Fraser is a deft and sensitive percussionist with a hint of an enigmatic streak, a feeling for economical gestures, and an innate sense of form.” Mark Miller, The Globe & Mail
Tony Malaby (saxophone): was born in Tucson, Arizona. He moved to New York City in 1995 and played with several notable jazz groups, including Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra, Paul Motian's Electric Bebop Band, Mark Helias's Open Loose, and Fred Hersch's Trio + 2. He also played with bands led by Mario Pavone, Chris Lightcap, Bobby Previte, Tom Varner, Marty Ehrlich, Angelica Sanchez, Mark Dresser, and Kenny Wheeler. Other collaborators include Tom Rainey, Ben Monder, Eivind Opsvik, Nasheet Waits, and Michael Formanek. The New York Times has called him one "of the best players of their generation."
Ben Monder (guitar): A musician in the New York City area for over 30 years, Ben Monder has performed with a wide variety of artists, including Jack McDuff, Marc Johnson, Lee Konitz, George Garzone, Paul Motian, Guillermo Klein, Maria Schneider, and Marshall Crenshaw. He also contributed guitar parts to the last David Bowie album, “Blackstar”. Ben conducts clinics and workshops around the world, and has served on the faculties of the New England Conservatory, NYU and the New School. He was the recipient of a Doris Duke Impact Award in 2014, and a Shifting Foundation grant in 2013. Ben continues to perform original music internationally in solo and trio settings, and in a long standing duo project with vocalist Theo Bleckmann. He has appeared on over 200 CDs as a sideman, and has released 8 as a leader.