Nick Maclean Quartet featuring Brownman Ali

The West End Cultural Centre strongly encourages all of our patrons to continue wearing facemasks in our venue. Touring artists are disproportionately affected by COVID-related health issues, and we want to give them every opportunity to continue to perform and tour. By wearing your mask in the venue, you’re helping keep our artists healthy so that they don’t need to cancel shows and tours.

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This show is presented by the West End Cultural Centre in partnership with Jazz Winnipeg.

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This spring, the multi-award-winning NICK MACLEAN QUARTET feat. BROWNMAN ALI embarks on their extensive, two month national tour across Canada, bringing them from their hometown of Toronto all the way to the Pacific coast and everywhere in between. Led by fast-rising piano star NICK MACLEAN — an 8x Global Music Award winner and one of the most in-demand young jazz piano players in Toronto — this contemplative yet thrilling quartet delivers jazz between the two poles of thoughtful introspection and powerhouse conveyance, taking influences from Herbie Hancock’s primordial 1960’s Blue Note era recordings. Maclean’s quartet heavily features one of Canada’s most provocative improvising trumpet players — BROWNMAN ALI — an internationally acclaimed, multi-award winning jazz iconoclast who has been heralded as “Canada’s preeminent jazz trumpet player” by New York City’s Village Voice and is best known globally as the last trumpet player to play in the legendary jazz-hip-hop group GURU’s JAZZMATAZZ. For this show, Ali & Maclean stand shoulder-to-shoulder with 2 of Canada’s top-tier rhythm section players: BENNETT YOUNG on upright bass (in for Ben Duff), and MIKE RAJNA on drums (in for Jacob Wutzke).

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Come witness these four in full flight, this tour features many nights of deeply exploratory, hard-swinging modern-jazz audiences nation-wide will not want to miss.

This contemplative and often thrilling quartet’s explorations of modern, original repertoire is led by fast-rising piano star NICK MACLEAN – an 8x Global Music Award winner, a Toronto Independent Music Award winner, and one of the most in-demand young jazz piano players in Toronto. The group delivers jazz between the two poles of thoughtful introspection and powerhouse conveyance, taking influences from Herbie Hancock’s primordial 1960’s Blue Note era recordings, while paying tribute to some of the greatest improvisers in jazz history.

Maclean’s quartet heavily features one of Canada’s most provocative improvising trumpet players – BROWNMAN ALI, heralded as “Canada’s preeminent jazz trumpet player” by New York City’s Village Voice. Recognized as an internationally acclaimed jazz iconoclast, he currently splits his time between Brooklyn, NY & Toronto, Canada and is a 2x National Jazz Award winner. This jazz veteran is best known globally as the last trumpet player with the legendary jazz-hip-hop group GURU’s JAZZMATAZZ, having replaced Donald Byrd in that seminal ensemble. Ali & Maclean stand shoulder to shoulder with two of Toronto’s top-tier rhythm section 20-somethings: BEN DUFF on bass and JACOB WUTZKE on drums. The synergy of the 4 is always palpable in concert.

The group has toured across Canada as well as internationally and has been featured in numerous festivals and concert series including the Regina Jazz Society, the Altrincham Jazz Festival, and multiple appearances at the Toronto Jazz Festival both as a featured ensemble and an often requested backing band. In addition to their original material, the ensemble has also mounted several popular tribute series to jazz masters including Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard, Clark Terry & Cole Porter.

The quartet’s debut 11-track full-length album “Rites Of Ascension” features 6 Maclean-penned compositions, 1 Brownman original and 4 re-imagined Herbie Hancock classics, all recorded at the renowned Canterbury Studios in Toronto. Produced by Brownman Ali, this debut disk was released on October 31st, 2017 and was nominated for CJSF’s ‘2018 Julian Award of Excellence’, it won 3 ‘Gold’ Global Music Awards in the ‘jazz’, ‘band’, and ‘album’ categories, and was featured as one of the Global Music Awards’ ‘Top 5 Albums of Spring 2018’. The group is hard at work on their next studio album slated for release on Browntasauras Records in winter 2023.

The group is anticipating the release of their highly anticipated next studio album ‘Convergence’ which is slated for release on Browntasauras Records in 2023.

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ABOUT JAZZ WINNIPEG

Jazz Winnipeg is a charitable, non-profit organization promoting the art of jazz and creative music through concert presentations and community engagement. As producers of the annual TD Winnipeg International Jazz Festival as well as concerts and workshops throughout the year, Jazz Winnipeg is a vibrant and essential organization dedicated to the enrichment of Winnipeg’s cultural community. The 2023 TD Winnipeg International Jazz Festival takes place June 14-24, 2023 at various venues throughout the Exchange District and downtown Winnipeg. Stay up to date at jazzwinnipeg.com.