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Fraser MacPherson, CM, tenor and alto saxophonist, flutist, clarinetist (born 10 April 1928 in Winnipeg, MB; died 29 September 1993 in Vancouver, BC). A prominent member of Vancouver’s jazz scene in the 1950s and 1960s, Fraser MacPherson began his career playing saxophone in CBC orchestras and local nightclubs. Known for his controlled, elegant tenor style, he emerged internationally in the late 1970s with a trio that included guitarist Oliver Gannon. Among the 10 albums MacPherson released, a duet album with Gannon — I Didn't Know About You — won a Juno Award in 1983. As the first Canadian to record with the Concord Jazz label, and through his extensive tours, MacPherson contributed much to the international profile of Canadian jazz musicians. He was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1987 and received FIJM’s Prix Oscar Peterson for lifetime achievement in 1993.
Early Life and Education
Raised in Victoria, BC, Fraser MacPherson played clarinet as a youth under the influence of traditional New Orleans jazz. He then took up alto and tenor saxophone, adopting for the latter a mainstream style in the lineage of Lester Young. MacPherson lived after 1948 in Vancouver, except for a period in 1956–57 when he studied in New York with Vincent James Abato (saxophone) and Henry Zlotnick (flute).
Career Highlights
Fraser MacPherson worked for 20 years in Vancouver nightclubs, among them the Palomar (1950–54, in turn with the bands of Chuck Barber, Bob Reid, and Lance Harrison) and the Cave (with Chris Gage 1961–63 and leading his own band 1964–70). At the same time, MacPherson was a first-call studio musician (saxophone, flute and clarinet). Beginning in 1958, he occasionally played saxophone with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.
For many years, MacPherson pursued his jazz career largely on CBC Radio and TV. Beginning around 1951, he was a member of the Ray Norris Quintet. He was later a featured sideman with Gage, Bobby Hales, Ian McDougall, Doug Parker, Dave Robbins and others on such shows as Jazz Workshop. MacPherson was heard on alto saxophone as the leader of a nonet in the so-called West Coast style on Jazz Workshop and in 1963–64 with a string orchestra in a CBC series of his own.
In 1975, MacPherson formed a trio with Oliver Gannon (guitar) and, initially, Wyatt Ruther (bass). Its first LP, drawn from a CBC broadcast that year at the MacMillan Planetarium, was issued under MacPherson's own West End label. It sparked wider interest in his controlled, elegant tenor style, leading to a belated, if modest, career on the international jazz stage.
In 1978, under the aegis of Overture Concerts, MacPherson made the first of an unprecedented four tours in the USSR. The others followed in 1981, 1984 and 1986. MacPherson also performed under Radio Canada International (RCI) sponsorship in Europe in 1979. In Canada, he made several national club and/or concert tours and performed at most of the major festivals: e.g., the FIJM in 1982 and 1984, Jazz City in 1984 and 1986, and regularly at the du Maurier Ltd International Jazz Festival Vancouver. He also appeared on occasion in the US and in 1986 performed in Australia. Until 1993, he appeared frequently in Vancouver, on Salt Spring Island and at other BC venues. He recorded his album In the Tradition (1992) with his quintet in November 1991.
Other Activities
Fraser MacPherson remained a favourite on CBC Radio jazz shows, among them Jazz Radio-Canada and Jazz Beat. In the summer of 1977, he hosted the former program's series devoted to the history of jazz. He also taught at Douglas College in New Westminster, BC, and at Vancouver Community College.
Honours and Awards
Fraser MacPherson shared a Juno Award in 1983 with Oliver Gannon for best jazz album (I Didn't Know about You) and was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1987. In 1993, at the Festival international de jazz de Montréal (FIJM), he was awarded the Prix Oscar Peterson for lifetime contribution to jazz. That same year, the Fraser MacPherson Scholarship Fund was initiated by the Pacific Music Industry Association. The Fund supports young instrumentalists under the age of 25 who play jazz music and wish to further their musical education.
(See also Jazz in Canada; Music in Vancouver.)
A version of this article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada.
