Russ LittleRuss Little www.russlittle.comwww.russlittle.com

“…Russ Little is one of the most virtuosic trombonists on the planet. He plays with an exuberance and honesty that both exude and generate the pure joy of jazz. His boundless instrumental fluency embodies the characteristics that also comprise the mettle of the man – thoughtful, intelligent, articulate, insightful – a rare combination of inherited and acquired attributes that keep his illustrious career soaring higher into the jazz stratosphere with every new recording, every performance…”

(Ross Porter – President and CEO, JAZZ.FM91)

Photo By Don Vickery

Veteran of some of jazz history's most illustrious big bands including both the Woody Herman and Count Basie Orchestras, musician / conductor / composer /

arranger Russ Little's enduring career spans more than four decades at the forefront of the North American entertainment industry. Through the early '70s, Little performed in Rob McConnell's renowned The Boss Brass, while also pursuing an enviable career as conductor / composer / arranger for the CBC, CTV and Global Television Networks in Canada. He wrote and conducted for NBC, ABC, General Motors, NFL Football, and the famed SCTV comedy series. He is a founding member of Lighthouse, Canada's preeminent rock orchestra, a band with which he continues to perform.

A consistently busy recording musician throughout his career, Russ Little shifted his creative focus in 2005 toward production of his own CDs. The much-lauded Snapshot was the first result of that decision. His Footwork album debuted in 2006, and with the first two CDs still ranking high on the international charts, Little released his On the Shoulders of Giants CD to "best yet" industry buzz in the Spring of 2008. Russ Little was named National Jazz Awards Jazz Trombonist of the Year in 2007, and nominated for the same honor again in 2008. After a series of triumphant appearances at leading Ontario jazz festivals throughout the summer (including a solo stint at the prestigious Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival, opening the Prince Edward County Jazz Festival with the Russ Little Quintet, and starring at the Port Hope All-Canadian Jazz Festival to rave reviews), he appeared before a crowd of thousands as a featured player in David Clayton-Thomas’s hit concert at the 2008 Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto. He was commissioned by JAZZ.FM91 to produce and conduct a 17-piece big band ‘Tribute to Tommy Dorsey’ to launch the radio station’s 2008 ‘Sound of Jazz’ live concert season at The Old Mill Inn in Toronto. The resulting concert was sold out in just weeks following its announcement, and the October performance met with standing ovations.

Photos By Don Vickery

MICHAEL STUART, saxophones – JUNO Award winner Michael Stuart has played, toured, and recorded with some of the finest musicians in the world including Duke Ellington, Doug Riley, Pepper Adams, David Clayton-Thomas, and Clark Terry. As a member of Elvin Jones’ The Time Machine, Stuart recorded and toured throughout the world. In 1991, he toured the Soviet Union as a featured member of The Dave McMurdo Jazz Orchestra. He is currently a member of David Clayton-Thomas’s band, and remains a vital part of the jazz scene in Toronto.

TOM SZCZESNIAK, piano - Multiple industry award winner (including an Emmy) Tom Szczesniak has performed as a musician on more than a hundred feature films and over a thousand commercials. As a player, he has been in demand by the finest international artists and ensembles including Gordon Lightfoot, Anne Murray, Little Richard, K.D. Lang, Lenny Breau, Joe Williams, Dionne Warwick, Smokey Robinson, Rob McConnell & The Boss Brass, Gil Evans, Thad Jones, “Nimmons ‘n’ Nine”, Bruce Cassidy’s Hotfoot Orchestra, Doctor Music, Moe Koffman, Hagood Hardy, Guido Basso, and Slide Hampton.

SCOTT ALEXANDER, bass – Outstanding bassist Scott Alexander’s professional playing career took off when he became the bassist with the eminent RCMP Band in Ottawa, remaining with that band for several years. As a prominent player in the nation’s capital, Alexander shared stages with visiting international jazz names including Oliver Jones, Herb Ellis, Clark Terry, and Zoot Sims. Relocating to Toronto, he quickly established himself as a first-call player there, working with Rob McConnell’s The Boss Brass, Moe Koffman, Guido Basso, and countless others. He remains one of the city’s busiest studio players.

BRIAN BARLOW, drums – Brian Barlow is one of Canada's most recorded musicians. Every year, for a consecutive 30 years, he has performed on JUNO Award-nominated and JUNO Award-winning recordings. He was percussionist for Rob McConnell & The Boss Brass band for 15 years, and has been featured in the studio and on stage with hundreds of major international artists, all of Canada’s major symphonies, the pit bands for most major touring musical theatrical productions, dozens of feature films, TV specials and series, several hundred commercials and jingles, and produced numerous successful recordings and concerts.

Photos by Don Vickery

“…Every new Russ Little album reveals more of this seasoned trombonist’s abundant skills, shown to great effect on his previous albums as leader, Snapshots and Footwork. On the Shoulders of Giants (2008) is even better, right up there as a candidate for the year’s best. Braced by a solidly supportive rhythm unit, ‘bone virtuoso Little shows off his exceptional tones, boppish penchant for bubbling runs, secure technique, crisply articulated phrasing, and ways to make the fiendishly difficult seem ridiculously easy…”

(Geoff Chapman – CODA Magazine, September 2008)

• Undecided • My One and Only Love • Where Can I Go Without

You? • Cold Duck Time • Out On A Limb • A Nightingale Sang In

Berkeley Square • Autumn In New York • Smile Please • Little Prince • More Than You Know • Exactly Like You • One Note Samba

• Footwork • The Boy Next Door • Midnight Sun • Nikki’s Grin • Four Brothers • Six Inch Spike • Peace • She • Up Jumped Spring • Things Ain’t

What They Used To Be

• Cottontail • Along Came Betty • Friday Night at the

Cadillac Club • Star Crossed Lovers • Sister Sadie • Memories Of You • I Remember Clifford • Django • Blue Monk • Song For My Father

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"…No matter how virtuosic his solos get, what comes across most strongly is the clarity of his melodic ideas…It's seldom obvious that what he's doing is spectacularly difficult...”

(J.D. Considine – The Globe & Mail, May 2006) “…stunning solo trombone passages of such delicacy and restraint as is seldom heard from that instrument……newly revealed capacity of the trombone to weave an intimate musical line we more often associate with the voice……confident leader’s generosity and respect for his band members according solo time amongst some of Canada’s finest…music anchored in tradition and craft but not constrained by it…”

(David Barnes – The Live Music Report, April 2006) “…(Little) charges into bluesy territory inhabited in earlier days by Horace Silver…a rollicking frolic…this seriously talented leader explores sound possibilities and different stylistic approaches…”

(Geoff Chapman – The Toronto Star, 2006 when naming ‘Footloose’ ‘one of the Toronto Star’s 10 Best Albums of 2006’)

“…In Russ Little’s hands, the trombone transforms into a musical magic lamp capable of granting anything your heart desires…uncanny precision…extremely versatile…”

(Frank Nakashima – ‘Whole Note’ Magazine, February 2007) “…(Russ Little’s) virtuoso performance on the albums Snapshot and Footwork could not be denied…”

(J.D. Considine – The Globe & Mail, April 2007) “…The (On the Shoulders of Giants) CD reflects the tight, clean playing that these seasoned professionals bring with them everywhere they go…Russ Little’s playing is stellar throughout…another reminder why he has been first call for the likes of Woody Herman and The Boss Brass…”

(Brad Barker, JAZZ.FM91 Music Director – April 2008)