The Fraser MacPherson Quintet

“Jazz Prose”

This delightful record was a live recording from the Concord Pavilion at (naturally) Concord, California. Fraser, a tenor saxophone player from Vancouver BC, found a home on the Concord Jazz label, releasing a small number of albums there during his career. (It should be note that he has also released albums on other labels as well, but this article is about a Concord Jazz release).

The record features three Canadian jazz luminaries (Fraser himself, Ed Bickert and Steve Wallace) along with two well known American jazz musicians (Dave McKenna and Jake Hanna). For those not familiar with these artists, Ed is on guitar, Steve on double bass,  Dave on piano and Jake on drums). 

The music is classic Concord Jazz; inspired renditions of jazz standards both well known, and obscure. The quality of the recording is excellent, with a distinct balance between all of the instruments. Fraser’s style, based more on swing than bop, is reminiscent of a Zoot Sims, or more recently, a Scott Hamilton. Never in a hurry, he negotiates through melodies adroitly, and solos with aplomb. As an added treat, Ed is featured on “Happy Man” with Fraser laying out, and Dave displays his solo piano stylings on “I’ll Never Be The Same”. 

The recording took place in August of 1984 at the Concord Jazz Festival. As far as I can tell, this recording was only ever released on vinyl. I picked up my (used) copy at Alleycats Music and Art in Orillia. It can also be listened to on YouTube, although I’m not sure about other formats.