2023 Opening Night Jazz Concert with Phil Dwyer’s Connections Quartet

Start the 2023 festival with an unforgettable concert! Featuring Phil Dwyer’s Connections Quartet with opening act, the Ethan Lawrence Quartet

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Phil Dwyer's Connections Quartet

Phil Dwyer's Connections Quartet brings together premier musicians in a one-of-a-kind concert including jazz legend and JUNO award winner, saxophonist, pianist, and composer/arranger Phil Dwyer, Juno-Award winner Brad Turner on trumpet and piano, renowned international drummer Alan Jones and Phil’s son, Ben Dwyer on bass. Phil has been playing with Brad and Alan since the mid-1980s.

The quartet will perform new and other works from over 40 years of playing jazz together in various configurations around the world, particularly in the hotbeds of jazz in Canada, the US, the UK and Europe.

This illustrious group of artists will perform as two trios and a quartet … all in one. Phil and Brad will take turns at the piano with their alter egos performing on saxophone and trumpet. Ranking as one of America and Europe’s most creative jazz drummers, composers, and multi-instrumentalists, Alan Jones will be keeping the beat with the nimble Ben Dwyer on upright bass.

Phil Dwyer, JUNO-Award winner, Multi-Instrumentalist

Phil has appeared at major festival and concert venues in over forty different countries and is one of the most recorded musicians in Canada, taking part in hundreds of recording sessions for albums, film, radio, television, and commercials. Over thirty of his recordings have either received or been nominated for JUNO Awards.

He is a Member of the Order Of Canada, an honorary fellow of the Royal Conservatory of Music and the winner of many notable awards and prizes, including multiple Juno Awards and the K.M Hunter Artist Award. Phil is a practicing lawyer, with his own firm in Qualicum Beach. As a musician, he remains an active performer, writer, and recording artist. He curates “Phil Dwyer’s Jazz Canada” for CBC Radio Music, programs music for The Old School House in Qualicum Beach, and is a partner in SeaWind Musical Instruments.

Brad Turner, Piano, Trumpet, Composer and Jazz Educator

Jazz Master, JUNO and National Jazz Award-winning pianist/trumpeter/composer Brad Turner has been an enormously influential figure on the Vancouver jazz scene since 1997 and is one of Canada’s most in-demand jazz musicians. After receiving his Master's degree in Jazz Performance from the University of North Texas in 1992, Brad returned to Vancouver, and was hired as an instructor of trumpet at Capilano University. He is also the artist in residence at the Langley Community Music School where he first began his journey with music. As a leader, Brad has released ten albums, eight as a trumpeter with the Brad Turner Quartet, and two as a pianist with his trio. As a founding member of the multiple Juno award-winning group Metalwood, he has released six albums.

Alan Jones, Drummer, Composer Jazz Educator

Born from humble Pacific Northwest roots, Alan Jones has enjoyed a rich performing career both in Portland and across Europe. Beginning his touring career at just 16 years old with Amsterdam-based organist Count Dutch, Alan’s performing career has since travelled into an escapade involving some of jazz’s greatest living artists. As a performer, Alan’s discography ranges from local legends such as Jim Pepper and Ralph Towner to international phenomena like Kenny Wheeler and Lee Konitz. His own band, the Alan Jones Sextet, has recorded four albums to date and performs regularly. In addition to maintaining a steady performing career, Alan has established himself as one of Portland’s premier jazz educators.

Ben Dwyer, Bassist

Toronto bassist Ben Dwyer joins forces with his renowned jazz musician father Phil Dwyer for this special collaboration. Drawing from broad experience—he leads his own group in Toronto as well as being a co-founder of the geographically-divergent collective Nomad—Ben provides a contrastingly complementary voice to Phil’s powerful, virtuosic saxophone and piano playing.

Ethan Lawrence

Ethan Lawrence, a Vancouver-based jazz musician and film composer, won the Fort Langley Jazz & Arts Festival 2023 Rising Jazz Star award in the post secondary category. He is currently approaching his final year in the Capilano University Jazz Studies program. Ethan teaches trumpet at a variety of levels and he writes film music at a professional level for numerous teams and directors based within and outside of Vancouver.

Lizete Dureault, Artist Exhibit

Make sure to stop at the art exhibit by Lizete Dureault in the theatre lobby before the concert begins. Lizete is a local Langley artist whose art piece was selected for this year’s Fort Langley’s Jazz and Arts Festival image.