Rob McConnell

All Music Guide:

Although it was usually a part-time venture (working maybe 30 days a year, counting an annual recording), Rob McConnell's Boss Brass was one of the finest big bands of the '70s, '80s, and '90s. An excellent soloist, McConnell played valve trombone in Toronto (both in the studios and in jazz settings) for a long time. During 1965-1969, he was in Nimmons 'n' Nine Plus Six (led by Phil Nimmons) and in 1968 formed Boss Brass. Originally, the group was comprised entirely of brass instruments, plus a rhythm section, and emphasized pop music. Although it added a saxophone section in 1971, Boss Brass did not record much jazz until 1976. Comprised of many of Toronto's top musicians (including Sam Noto, Guido Basso, Ian McDougall, Moe Koffman, Eugene Amaro, Rick Wilkins, Ed Bickert, Don Thompson, and Terry Clarke, among others), the orchestra mostly plays McConnell's swinging but surprising charts. For a period in the late '80s, McConnell moved to Los Angeles and the group broke up, but by 1991, it was back together again. Rob McConnell, who also cut a few small-group dates for Concord, recorded with his Boss Brass for Pausa, MPS, Dark Orchid, Innovation, and Concord. He died of cancer in Toronto on May 1, 2010.

Wikipedia:

Robert Murray Gordon "Rob" McConnell, OC (February 14, 1935 – May 1, 2010) was a Canadian jazz valve trombonist, composer, arranger, music educator, and recording artist.

Biography

McConnell was born in London, Ontario and took up the valve trombone in high school, and began his performing career in the early 1950s, performing and studying with Don Thompson, Bobby Gimby, and later, with fellow Canadian Maynard Ferguson. He also studied music theory with Gordon Delamont. In 1968 he formed The Boss Brass, a big band that would become his primary performing and recording unit through the 1970s and 1980s.

McConnell assembled the original Boss Brass from Toronto studio musicians. The instrumentation of the band was originally 16 pieces, consisting of trumpets, trombones, french horns, and a rhythm section, but no saxophones. McConnell introduced a saxophone section in 1970, and expanded the trumpet section to include a fifth trumpet in 1976, bringing the total to 22 members.

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 1997, McConnell 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 both as a performer and educator, running clinics around the world and performing as both a leader and a guest artist. The Rob McConnell Tentet, a scaled down version of the Boss Brass, featuring many Boss Brass Alumni, has been quite successful, producing three major records, The Rob McConnell Tentet (2000), Thank You, Ted (2002), and Music of the Twenties (2003).

Over the years, Rob McConnell & The Boss Brass became one of Canada's most popular jazz ensembles, performing live and recording for Concord Jazz and a variety of other labels. Mel Tormé said, of his first recording session with the Boss Brass in 1987, "Making this record was one of the two or three greatest musical experiences in my long and checkered career." He died on May 1, 2010 in Toronto, Ontario, aged 75, from cancer.