Jazz lecturer wins second Juno Award

Faculty of Music jazz lecturer David Braid has won another Juno Award: his solo recording, Verge, has been selected as the 2012 Traditional Jazz Album of the Year.

“It is very exciting to see our graduates develop international careers,” said Terry Promane, Director of Jazz Studies at the Faculty of Music. “We are very proud of David, not only for his flourishing career, but also his passion for teaching at U of T.”

This is Braid’s second Juno and his first in a solo role. Vivid, his recording with the David Braid Sextet was the 2005 Juno winner in the same category. Braid is among a number of musicians from the Faculty of Music’s Jazz Studies program to be nominated for the Juno Awards.

Since graduating from the Faculty of Music’s jazz program in 1998, Braid has released nine recordings, garnering six Juno nominations and two Juno awards.

“I feel extremely blessed to have enjoyed such a rewarding career,” said Braid. “My time at the University has been integral to my learning and growth as a musician, and I sincerely thank the Faculty and the students for the resource and inspiration they have been to me.”

Hailed by Maclean’s magazine as "A jazz genius to call our own", Braid is among a new generation of Canadian artists making his mark on international stages. He has performed across Western Europe, Scandinavia, Asia, Australia, Brazil, the United States and Canada.

When Braid is home from his international concert schedule, he maintains an active teaching and composition studio at the Faculty of Music.

In 1998, Braid was nominated for the Canadian Governor General's Academic Medal upon graduation from U of T. He was recently awarded Jazz Pianist of the Year in Canada, as well as SOCAN Composer of the Year, recognizing his output of over eighty works including compositions for solo piano, jazz ensembles, chamber ensembles, and symphony orchestras. He is also a multi-National Jazz Award Winner and a recipient of the Canada Council for the Arts' "JazzID Award."

Braid has collaborated with such diverse musicians as ZAPP4 (The Netherlands), Indian classical musician Vineet Vyas (tabla), China's Chang Jing (guzheng), and the popular jazz/rock group, Metalwood. He has appeared as a soloist with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra performing George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. Braid is also composing a cello concerto for one of the world's leading cellists, U of T faculty member Shauna Rolston. Most recently, he was commissioned to write a set of compositions for brass quintet, which he performed and recorded on 2011 Juno-Nominated, Spirit Dance, with the Canadian Brass.

Braid has been a faculty member at the University of Toronto since 2003, and is an honorary guest professor at Xinghai Conservatory in China. Artist's website: www.davidbraid.com