Reg Schwager

Bio:

Reg Schwager was born in the Netherlands in 1962. When he was three his family moved to New Zealand where he studied Suzuki violin. When he was six his family moved again, this time to Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. There he took music lessons in recorder, flute and piano before settling on the guitar as his main instrument. By age fifteen he was playing jazz gigs in big band and small group settings and in duet with his sister Jeannette.

It was at two jazz workshops conducted by Phil Nimmons - at the University of Toronto (1978) and the Banff Centre (1979) that Reg met some of the musicians he would begin working soon after he moved to Toronto in 1979. These included fellow students Renee Rosnes and Ralph Bowen and faculty members including Nimmons, Dave McMurdo, Herbie Spanier and Pat Labarbera. Since then he has been working steadily on the Toronto jazz scene and in other musical areas including new music (New Music Concerts, Hemispheres and Sound Pressure, among others) and improvised music (with musicians such as Misha Mengelberg and Han Bennink).

Reg has toured extensively across Canada and worldwide with George Shearing, Diana Krall, Peter Appleyard, Rob McConnell and many others. He appears on over 80 commercially released recordings with such artists as Junior Mance, Gary Burton, George Shearing and Mel Tormé. CDs released under his own name include "Resonance", "Border Town" and "Live at Mezzetta".

Reg has written written hundreds of jazz compositions, some with lyrics by Jeannette Lambert. His arrangements for big band have been recorded by the Dave McMurdo Jazz Orchestra. His arrangements for string orchestra and jazz ensemble appear on Mike Murley's CD "The Melody Lingers On" (CBC Records).

Reg has been the recipient of the Guitarist of the Year award from Canada's National Jazz Awards for four consecutive years (2005-2008) .

For seven years Reg maintained a popular weblog devoted to news about Brazilian music at bmth.blogspot.com. He has attended workshops and classes with such Brazilian masters as Guinga, Dori Caymmi, Marcos Silva, Jovino Santos Neto, Paulo Sergio Santos and Hamilton de Holanda - mainly at the California-Brazil Camp.

See Reg's discography here.

See reviews here.

Member Since:

February 25, 2007

Members:

On "Make Me A Pallet On The Floor" and "Wonderful One":
Reg Schwager - guitar
Michel Lambert - drums
Jon Maharaj - bass

On "Journey To Enkhuisen"" and "Less Is Less":
Reg Schwager - guitar
Don Thompson - vibes
Luis Deniz - alto (soprano solo on "Journey To Enkhuisen")
David French - bass clarinet (soprano solo on "Less Is Less")
Perry White - flute
Jon Challoner - trumpet
Darren Sigesmund - trombone
Jon Maharaj - bass
Ethan Ardelli - drums

On "Kiki-San" and "When I Grow Too Old To Dream":
Reg Schwager - guitar
Michel Lambert - drums
Dave Young - bass
(from Border Town)

On "What News":
Reg Schwager - guitar
Brian Murphy - organ
Michel Lambert - drums
Live at George's Spaghetti House - December 1991

On "For Guinga":
Reg Schwager - guitar
Michel Lambert - drums
Jon Maharaj - bass
Kevin Turcotte - trumpet
Darren Sigesmund - trombone
Luis Deniz - alto saxophone
Quinsin Nachoff - tenor saxophone & clarinet
Perry White - baritone saxophone & bass clarinet

Influences:

George Shearing, Ed Bickert, Sonny Greenwich, Lenny Breau, Joe Pass, Kenny Burrell, Jim Hall, Clifford Brown, Fats Navarro, Dexter Gordon, Lucky Thompson, Art Farmer, Eric Dolphy, Thelonious Monk, Herbie Nichols, Charles Ives, Misha Mengelberg, Han Bennink, Herbie Spanier, J.R. Monterose, Pepper Adams, Bob Mover, Jimmy McGriff, René Thomas, Grant Green, Tal Farlow, Toninho Horta, Hank Jones, Rosa Passos, Fatima Guedes, Erik Satie, Coleman Hawkins, Guinga, Hélio Delmiro, Lula Galvão, Marcos Silva, Tom Jobim, Elis Regina, Warne Marsh, Henry Brant, Cecil Taylor, Jimmy Rowles, Robert Farnon, Bill Holman, Don Sebesky, Richard Manuel, Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, Booker Little, James Taylor, Tom Rush, Jards Macalé, Ruth Crawford, Derek Bailey, Thad Jones, Irene Kral, Shirley Horn, Edu Lobo, Horace Parlan, George Benson, Jimmy Raney, Kenny Wheeler, Julian Priester, Roy Haynes, Elvin Jones, Robert Creeley, Romero Lubambo, Wanda Sá, Roberto Menescal, Maurício Einhorn, Dori Caymmi, Sarah Vaughan, Joyce, Louis Andriessen, Frederik Rzewski, Frank Sinatra, Rob McConnell, Phil Nimmons, Henri Matisse, Marc Chagall, Piet Mondrian, Georges Braque, Robert Lowell, John Collins, Oscar Moore, Nat Cole, Simone Guimarães, Célia Vaz, Milt Jackson, Sam Brown, Morton Feldman, Jovino Santos Neto, Dave Frishberg, Paulo Sérgio Santos, Hamilton de Holanda, Carlos Oliveira, Hampton Hawes, Gil Evans, John Warren, Barney Kessel, Herb Ellis, Marty Paich, Nelson Riddle, Pat Martino, Jimmy Jones, Tommy Flanagan, João Lyra, Ceumar, Moacyr Luz, Mario Gil, Monica Salmaso...

Sounds Like:

An excerpt from "Journey To Enkhuisen"

Record Label:

Jazz from Rant