Robert Murray Gordon McConnellOC (14 February 1935 – 1 May 2010)[1] was a Canadian jazz trombonist, composer, and arranger.[2] McConnell is best known for establishing and leading the big band The Boss Brass, which he directed from 1967 to 1999.
McConnell assembled the original Boss Brass from Toronto studio musicians. The instrumentation of the band was originally sixteen pieces, consisting of trumpets, trombones, French horns, and a rhythm section but no saxophones. He introduced a saxophone section in 1970 and expanded the trumpet section to include the fifth trumpet in 1976, bringing the total to twenty-two members.
In 1977, McConnell recorded a double LP called Big Band Jazz.[3] This was a 'direct cut' LP using Direct-to-disc recording. A small number of albums that recorded direct-to-disc began to appear on the market in the late 1970s and were marketed as "audiophile" editions, promising superior sound quality compared with recordings made using the more common multi-track tape recording methods. On McConnell's direct cut double LP, an entire side (15 minutes and 2 seconds) was devoted to a version of Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess". The double album won the Juno Award for Best Jazz Album in 1978. His 1983 All in Good Time album won the Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble recording.
In 1988, McConnell took a teaching position at the Dick Grove School of Music in California, but gave up his position and returned to Canada a year later. In 1992 he was presented with a SOCAN jazz award.[6] In 1997, he was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, and in 1998 was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. He remained active throughout the 2000s, touring internationally as both a performer and educator, running music clinics around the world and performing as a leader and guest artist. The Rob McConnell Tentet, a scaled-down version of the Boss Brass featuring many Boss Brass alumni, recorded three albums, The Rob McConnell Tentet (2000), Thank You, Ted (2002), and Music of the Twenties (2003).
McConnell died of liver cancer on May 1, 2010, in Toronto at the age of 75.[7][1]
Discography
The Boss Brass
The Boss Brass - Rob McConnell (1968), Canadian Talent Library
Rob McConnell's Boss Brass 2 (1969), Canadian Talent Library
The Sound Of The Boss Brass (1970), CBC Radio Canada
On a Cool Day (1971), Canadian Talent Library
Rob McConnell's Boss Brass 4 (1972), Canadian Talent Library
The Best Damn Band in the Land (1974), United Artists Records
The Jazz Album (1976), Attic Records
Nobody Does It Better (1977), Canadian Talent Library, Phonodisc
Big Band Jazz (1978), Umbrella Records
Again! (1979), Umbrella Records
Are Ya Dancin' Disco? (1979), New Ventures
The Singers Unlimited with Rob McConnell and The Boss Brass (1980), MPS Records
Present Perfect (1980), MPS Records
Tribute (1981), Pausa Records
Live in Digital (1982), Sea Breeze, Palo Alto Records
Nominee, Best Large Jazz Ensemble Performance, Even Canadians Get The Blues, Rob McConnell and The Boss Brass, 1997
Nominee, Best Instrumental Arrangement, "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?", Big Band Christmas, Rob McConnell and the Boss Brass, Rob McConnell, 1999
Nominee, Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album, Rob McConnell Tentet, Rob McConnell Tentet, 2002
Nominee, Best Instrumental Arrangement, "Autumn In New York", So Very Rob, Boss Brass Revisited, Rob McConnell And The SWR Big Band, Rob McConnell, 2004
Canadian National Jazz Awards
Arranger of the Year, Rob McConnell, 2002
Trombonist of the Year, Rob McConnell, 2002
Arranger of the Year, Rob McConnell, 2003
Trombonist of the Year, Rob McConnell, 2003
Acoustic Group of the Year, The Rob McConnell Tentet, 2003
Big Band of the Year, The Rob McConnell Tentet, 2003
Arranger of the Year, Rob McConnell, 2004
Trombonist of the Year, Rob McConnell, 2004
Big Band of the Year, The Rob McConnell Tentet, 2004
Big Band of the Year, The Rob McConnell Tentet, 2005
Trombonist of the Year, Rob McConnell, 2006
Big Band of the Year, The Rob McConnell Tentet, 2006
^Clifford Brown and a 20 year-old Rob McConnell played a jam session in Quebec City on June 28th, 1955. Six cuts can be found on Clifford Brown, "Complete Quebec City Jam Session," released on audio CD in 2009. Around the same time, Brown apparently made a home recording of "Strike up the Band" with McConnell of but this recording, while shared on the internet, has not been released commercially.
