Bossa Darégno

G. Gordon Nicholson, has always played jazz piano among other instruments and is known in Canadian music circles as simply Gordon Nicholson. He was born in Alberta, Canada in 1942, received his B. Mus. from Berklee College of Music in 1970, a M. Mus. degree from the University of Alberta studying modern composition, and Ph.D. (Saybrook University, San Francisco, 1998, with a dissertation on the creative process of musical composition. He has life-long experience as a professional musician, playing piano, flute and saxophone, and as a composer, arranger, performer, and professor, with compositions performed in Canada on ACCESS Network (Alberta Educational Communications Corporation), CBC national radio, CTV, ITV, the Banff Center for the Arts, and in numerous concerts.
Since 1973, he held the post of Instructor in the music program at Grant MacEwan University in Edmonton, Canada from where he retired from teaching composition and arranging in 2002.
Commissions have been written for the Canadian Music Conference, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the RCMP concert-band, Ottawa (including special commissions for their appearances at Expo '86 in Vancouver, BC, and Expo '88 in Brisbane, Australia), the Edmonton Composers' Concert Society; for Edmonton school ensembles, and the Alberta Band Directors) association (A.B.A.) where he conducted a "Composer in the Classroom" series in which he did workshops as part of this project with students (age 14-15) on the creative musical process. He has composed much music for radio and television, and has also done work as a commercial arranger for many years.

Major works include "L.A. Suite" (for CBC); "Fox Drive" (for the RCMP concert band), "Edmonton Suite 1" (For Edmonton recorder quintet "The Plumber's Union" commissioned by CBC): "Edmonton Suite II" (For Radio Canada); "Spiders Jaws" (For the A.B.A); "Tricerasuite" (For the brass trio "Triceratops" and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts–A.F.A.); "Hammersuite" (for the Hammerhead Consort and the A.F.A); Nine Miniatures (Neuf Miniatures) for alto sax and piano, for the group Swiss group "Duo Dilemme."

In 1989-1990, he was granted sabbatical leave from Grant MacEwan University to travel and research the musical creative process and how it may be stimulated. This included extensive travel and consulting in Europe, India, Southeast Asia, particularly Bali, Java and Thailand; with especially an interest in the music of Rajasthan, India and the Gamelan music of Bali and Java. In 1991 he received Alberta Arts Foundation (A.F.A.) commission for a fifteen-minute work for the Canadian Brass Trio, "Triceratops." The work, "Tricerasuite" which was premiered in the November of 1992 as part of a complete concert of personal chamber and jazz works presented by the composer. As well, in 1992 he received commission to compose a major work for Edmonton ensemble "Hammerhead Consort" which was premiered in May, 1993 and broadcast on CBC radio ("Two New Hours") "The Hammerhead Consort" recorded the work on their award-winning CD in June, 1993.
Latest projects include two Alberta Foundation for the Arts commissions; (1) "Sonatine Les Fleurs", a five-moment work for solo piano commissioned by Sylvia Shadok-Taylor and premiered at the University of Alberta in late April, 2001. Sylvia has subsequently played the work for New Music Calgary in May 2001, and at a concert featuring all some of my new music at Grant MacEwan College (the J.L. Haar Theatre) in November 2002. Following that, a suite of solo guitar pieces for Edmonton guitarist Lyall Steel, was premiered in in 2003, another A.F.A. commission. Some of his concert music is published by Lantro Music in Belgium and can be heard at the following site: http://www.lantromusic.be/index.php?page_id=-1&news_id=34

Dr. Nicholson is a founding member of the ECCS (Edmonton Composers Concert Society in 1986, later becoming Tonus Vivus and now New Music Edmonton), and is an Associate Composer of the Canadian Music Center (CMC), and holds a membership of the Canadian League of Composers (C.L.C.), with memberships in the AFM (American Federation of Musicians) and SOCAN (Society of Canadian Composers, Authors and Publishers of Canada). He is married to Elisabeth Rinsoz, formerly of Vevey, Switzerland where he is currently residing in Switzerland where he is composing, recording and playing jazz piano. Latest project: mounting several single compositions for solo piano which he played and recorded in Switzerland soon to be mounted on CDBaby an independent distributor, in Portland, OR, USA. This album, “Gordon Nicholson, Solo Piano, “Something For Bill” [dedicated to jazz pianist Bill Evans] will be released some time in 2013. For more information, Google: G. Gordon Nicholson.
There have already been some positive feedback on this album: 1. “Splendid, nice, calming, yet simple and clean;" 2. “Contemplative, meditative a musical reflection of your view of reality;” 3 You gave me a copy of Something For Bill. I like it. It's very soothing - lovely. My father was called Bill. He would have loved it!