Mike Downes | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | Winnipeg, Manitoba |
| Origin | Canada |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Instrument(s) | Bass |
Mike Downes is a Canadian jazz musician, composer, arranger and educator who specializes on the upright bass, composition and arranging. Downes has appeared on JUNO award-winning and nominated recordings, including his own Ripple Effect, which won a 2014 JUNO Award for Traditional Jazz Album of the Year,[1] and "Root Structure", which won the 2018 JUNO Award for Jazz Album of the Year:Solo.[2]
Downes began performing in his native Winnipeg, where he was named "Jazz Musician of the Year" at Silver Heights Collegiate high school. He was chosen as a member of the Canadian All-Star stage band (trombone) in the 1982 MusicFest Canada competition. Following high school he studied at Nova Scotia's St. F.X. University[3] and completed a Bachelor of Music degree at McGill University in Montreal. During this time he began recording and touring internationally as a sideman with Canadian and visiting international artists.
In 1990 Downes moved to Toronto and began frequently performing in jazz clubs such as the Top O' the Senator and the Jazz Bistro, as well as concert venues such as Roy Thomson Hall, Massey Hall, CBC's Glenn Gould Theatre and the O'Keefe Centre. "Forces," his first recording as a leader, was released in 1995 on Polygram. Following that release Jazz Report magazine noted "Bassist Mike Downes is one of Canada's immensely talented young giants."
Downes has since continued to perform worldwide. He has performed with Canadian artists including Molly Johnson,[4] Oliver Jones, PJ Perry, Don Thompson, Seamus Blake, Guido Basso and Pat LaBarbera and with international jazz artists including Pat Metheny,[5] Chris Potter, John Abercrombie, Peter Erskine, Kenny Wheeler, John Taylor, Dave Liebman and others.
Mike was appointed Bass Department Head at Humber College in Toronto in 2000.[6] In 2008 Downes completed a master's degree in music composition at York University in Toronto.
Publications include The Jazz Bass Line Book[7] published by Advance/Schott Music and Jazz and Contemporary Music Theory. He became a Yamaha artist in 2004 and helped in the design of the Yamaha SLB-200 Silent Bass.[8]
Juno Awards
Juno Award nominations
Montreal Jazz Festival Prix de Jazz winner
Other
