Jazz in Canada: Fourteen Lives

Patrick Van Mil was a freelance writer in Banff, Alberta.

Readers of the entertainment section of the Toronto Globe and Mail willbe familiar with Mark Miller’s reviews of jazz concerts and albums. The limitations of newspaper journalism, however, prevent him from doing in-depth articles; this is certainly not the case in this well-researched and fascinating account of the lives of 14 musicians who have played a major, albeit often poorly paid, role in Canadian jazz.

The men in this volume are not the famous personalities of Canadian jazz such as Oscar Peterson or Maynard Ferguson. Although they are for the most part obscure, these men are well respected within the jazz community. All have contributed significantly to Canadian jazz. The spectrum of personality types ranges from the energetic extroverts like Herbie Spanier and Guy Nadon to the retiring Wray Downes and the spiritual Sonny Greenwich.

The tales of these men succeed brilliantly when Miller allows the musicians themselves, or their friends, to do the telling. Only when the author himself narrates events does the reader become tired; Miller is a knowledgeable jazz critic but he is not a story teller. For example, the chapter about Trump and Teddy Davidson suffers from a notable lack of energy; Miller must tell their story because there are few musicians alive still who played with them and thus could give first-hand information. Those chapters featuring verbatim reports and anecdotes are much more lively.

Of course, the anecdotes, replete with nostalgia, may cause the truth to be distorted somewhat. Miller prevents this by contrasting different anecdotes and by adding occasional comments. Also, information about some of the harsh experiences of the musicians’ lives does much to temper the glow surrounding their stories: Ron Park’s drug addiction is anything but romantic.

The stories of these fourteen men are the story of jazz in Canada. With their music, they struggled to make a place for themselves in Canadian culture. They have, however, remained obscure, just as jazz is obscure in most regions of Canada. Let us hope this book will help to change this condition.