“a jazz genius to call our own” “refreshingly

DAVID
BRAID
PIANO
“A JAZZ GENIUS TO CALL OUR OWN”
“REFRESHINGLY UNCATEGORIZABLE”
DAVIDBRAID.COM
DAVIDBRAID.COM
Available from iTunes
9. DAVID BRAID SEXTET
David Braid Sextet
8. VIVID
David Braid Sextet Live
7. ZHEN
David Braid Sextet Live Vol. II
6. MNEMOSYNE’S MARCH
Murley/Braid Quartet
5. BEGINNINGS
Nimmons’n’Braid
4. TWOTET/DEUXTET
Brubeck/Braid
“REFRESHINGLY
UNCATEGORIZABLE”
“A JAZZ GENIUS TO
CALL OUR OWN”
DAVID BRAID:
BIOGRAPHY
Touted as one of Canada's most gifted young
pianists and composers, David Braid is among a
new generation of Canadian artists making his
mark on international stages. Braid has performed
across Western Europe, Scandinavia, Asia,
Australia, Brazil, the United States and Canada.
Combining harmonic intricacies fundamental to his
training in European classical music and the spontaneity of American jazz, Braid's original music
engages audiences with a quiet, thoughtful, lyrical
voice that does not conform neatly to any one
musical genre. His work has been described as
“refreshingly uncategorizable” (Paris Transatlantic),
“wide-ranging, exploratory” (South China Morning
Post), “une force poétique” (Le Soleil) and "elegant" (Ottawa Citizen).
“BRAID’S TONE, TOUCH, CHORD VOICINGS
AND IMAGINATION MAKE HIM ONE OF THE
MOST INTERESTING NEW PIANISTS I'VE
ENCOUNTERED IN A LONG TIME.”
D O U G R A M S E Y, R E C I P I E N T O F J A Z Z J O U R N A L I S T S
A S S O C I AT I O N ' S L I F E T I M E A C H I E V E M E N T AWA R D
Recently awarded 2009 Jazz Pianist of the Year in
Canada, Braid is also a recipient of SOCAN
Composer of the Year (2007), recognizing his output of over seventy works including compositions
for solo piano, jazz ensembles and symphony
orchestras. He is a Juno Award Winner, multiNational Jazz Award Winner and a recipient of the
Canada Council for the Arts' "JazzID Award."
Born in Hamilton Ontario, Braid graduated from
the University of Toronto in 1998 and was nominated for the Canadian Governor General's Academic
Medal. Since that time, he has produced seven
recordings, garnering four Juno nominations with
five ensembles: The David Braid Sextet, Murley
Braid Quartet, Brubeck Braid, Nimmons'n'Braid
and Davidson/Murley/Braid Quintet (DMBQ).
Braid's most recent focus is on his solo piano compositions and will release his first solo piano
recording in 2011. He is profiled in Daniel
Berman's "Solos: the Jazz Sessions" (Original Spin
Media) along with pianists Brad Mehldau, Ethan
Iverson and Jacky Terrason.
In addition to performing and composing, Braid is
on faculty at the University of Toronto, and is an
honorary guest professor at Xinghai Conservatory.
VERSATILITY,
DIVERSITY
jazz recordings in 2006 by The Toronto Star
(top 10), Ottawa Citizen (#1) and All About Jazz
(Best of 2006). The Sextet has received numerous
endorsements by the Canadian Department of
Foreign Affairs to tour Japan, China and Hong
Kong in 2006; and Brazil in 2007.
and 2006. In the fall of 2006, the quartet expanded to include saxophonist Tara Davidson to create
DMBQ (Davidson/Murley/Braid Quintet). In
January 2008, the quintet released its first recording made live in Vancouver.
NIMMONS'N'BRAID
This duo of Phil Nimmons, the Canadian Dean of
Jazz, and David Braid performs spontaneous
music, structured improvisation without any initial
conception of structure. Their debut recording,
"Beginnings," documents their first performance
together. This album is a rare, unedited recording
of acoustic jazz created spontaneously by two
Canadian composers separated in age by 52 years.
Recorded live in concert in November 2004,
Nimmons sat in St. Paul's United Church in
Dundas, Ontario, and began to play spontaneously. Braid, gifted with perfect pitch, was quick to
join in to complement Nimmons to produce seven
improvisations which are abundant in melody, harmony and form.
Braid's musical curiosity and open-mindedness has
spawned unexpected collaborations with such
diverse instrumentalists as Holland's ZAPP String
Quartet, Indian classical musician Vineet Vyas
(tabla), China's Chang Jing (guzheng), Nexus and
the popular jazz/rock group, Metalwood. In a completely different setting, he has appeared as a
soloist with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and
Northumberland Orchestra performing George
Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. Braid was also invited
to write for classical soloists including a cello concerto for one of the world's leading cellists in contemporary classical music, Shauna Rolston. Most
recently, he was commissioned to write a set of
compositions for brass quintet, which he performed
and recorded with the renowned Canadian Brass.
Braid also performs and records with a number of
other ensembles including Mike Murley Septet,
The Rex Hotel Orchestra, Hideaki Tokunaga, Kelly
Jefferson Quintet, Mark McLean Quintet, Nehring
Koller & Braid, William Carn Quintet, Catalyst,
Sundar Viswanathan, Artie Roth Quintet, Dave Neil
Quartet, Andy Ballentyne Large Ensemble, Tyler
Summers Quartet, Stockton Helbing Ensemble,
Chip McNeill Quintet, Mike McClennan Octet, Tara
Davidson Group and Gene Smith Quintet.
“IT WASN'T THE COMFORTABLE JOY OF A
TUNE YOU COULD HUM ALONG WITH, BUT THE
ECSTASY OF BEING IN THE PRESENCE OF DARING GENIUSES WHO LET US HEAR THEIR INNERMOST THOUGHTS, AND THE PUREST MUSIC,
FOR A FEW UNIQUE MOMENTS.”
BRANTFORD EXPOSITOR
“HEARING THE DAVID BRAID SEXTET PROVED
THEIR WORLD-CLASS METTLE.”
JACK CHAMBERS, CODA MAGAZINE, AND AUTHOR OF
' T H E M U S I C A N D T I M E S O F M I L E S D AV I S '
ENSEMBLES and
COLLABORATIONS
3. DMBQ LIVE
Davidson/Murley/Braid Quintet
2. SPIRIT DANCE
David Braid + The Canadian Brass
1. VERGE
David Braid Solo
DISCOGRAPHY
DAVID
BRAID
PIANO
The Quartet's first recording, "Mnemosyne's
March, featuring the compositions of Murley and
Braid, was heralded as one of the top jazz recordings in 2006 and was nominated for a 2007 Juno
Award. The Quartet toured across Canada in 2004
The Sextet's second album, "VIVID," won the 2005
Juno Award for Traditional Jazz Album of the Year.
Its third album, "ZHEN" (the last recording made
at the historic 'Top 'O The Senator'), was nominated for a Juno Award and was voted one of the top
THE MURLEY BRAID QUARTET & DMBQ
Awarded "Acoustic Group of the Year" at the
National Jazz Awards 2007, this ensemble is a collaborative effort between multi-Juno-award-winning
saxophonist Mike Murley and pianist David Braid.
The Murley-Braid Quartet brings together musicians
with a unique affinity for one another developed
from an extensive history of performing together in
The Mike Murley Quintet, The David Braid Sextet,
Mike Murley Quartet (featuring Dave Liebman) and
Metalwood. Bassist Jim Vivian and New York-based
drummer Ian Froman complete this ensemble.
THE DAVID BRAID SEXTET
Since the beginning of his career a decade ago,
Braid has moved from performing with large
ensembles to smaller, intimate collaborations. He
first established himself on the Canadian scene in
2001 with the formation of the David Braid Sextet,
composing fifty works for jazz greats Terry Clarke,
Steve Wallace, Mike Murley, John MacLeod and
Gene Smith.
“IF ANY TWO PEOPLE REPRESENT THE PAST,
PRESENT AND FUTURE OF CANADIAN JAZZ,
IT HAS TO BE THE INSPIRED DUO OF
CLARINETIST PHIL NIMMONS AND HIS
FORMER PUPIL, DAVID BRAID.”
JAZZFEST INTERNATIONAL, VICTORIA
BRUBECK BRAID
American cellist/composer Matt Brubeck and
Canadian pianist/composer David Braid formed this
duo in late 2006. Classically trained but steeped in
jazz, Braid Brubeck can easily segue between genres with fluid versatility. Their music blurs the distinctions between jazz, classical and new music. The
duo format provides a unique opportunity to showcase the intimate interplay of these like-minded
musicians. The duo's debut CD, "Twotet/Deuxtet,"
has received much critical acclaim and was nominated for a 2008 Juno Award.
“THIS GIFTED DUO DELIVERS NEW MUSIC THAT
GLOWS WITH CLARITY AND DEPTH...”
CODA MAGAZINE