User:Thenewbarn/Duncan hopkins

Duncan Hopkins


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Duncan Hopkins (born 21 September 1967) is an English born jazz composer and musician, playing double bass and electric bass. Hopkins was born in Coventry, West Midlands, his parents both musicians (his father a trombone player and his mother a pianist). He started his musical education at Pattison's College in Coventry where his mother taught music. The family then moved to St. Catharines, ON Canada where he would remain until he finished formal studies. Lakeport S.S. (1982-87) Brock University (1987-1989) B.B.E


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After acquiring his Bachelor in Business Economics he moved to Montreal to study with bassist Michel Donato. Firstly within the confines of McGill University and then later privately. He then went to the Banff school of the Arts (1990) to study with Rufus Reid, Kenny Wheeler, Steve Coleman. This is where he first met Martin Speake who was later to become an important musician friend and peer.


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Then after returning briefly to St. Catharines he won an Ontario Arts Council Award to live and study in New York with Dave Holland. During this year (1992) however, his parents succumbed to cancer and he returned to Canada and moved to Toronto. Over the years Hopkins has performed with a host of visiting musicians such as Diana Krall, Peter Appleyard, Warren Vache, Rob McConnell, Lester Bowie, Sam Rivers, Kenny Wheeler, Don Thompson, Moe Koffman, Scott Hamilton, Edward Simon and many more.

He can be found on many recordings as a sideman. Partial review of Hopkins from the cd Bloor St, Secret Group.
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"Hopkins's seamless countermelodic flow beneath Speake and Iles is reminiscent of the late Bill Evans sideman Scott La Faro on the opening Time to Evolve, and (like much of the material on the album) this theme has an intricacy that nevertheless sounds unforced." John Fordham " The Guardian Thursday 11 March 2010

Selected Discography


 * 1993: Le Rouge - Hopkins, Kenny Wheeler, Lorne Lofsky, John Sherwood, Kevin Dempsey, John Hasselback jr (CPR 003)
 * 1996: KindRed Spirits - Hopkins, John MacLeod, Roy Styffe, David Restivo, Kevin Dempsey (UTY 196)
 * 1998: Snapshots - Hopkins, John MacLeod, Mike Malone, Roy Styffe, David Restivo, Kevin Dempsey
 * 2000: Secret Anglo-Canadian Project — Hopkins, Nikki Iles, Martin Speake, Anthony Michelli, (Basho Records SR CD3-2)
 * 2002: Red and Brassy -Hopkins, Adrean Farrugia, Anthony Michelli, Roy Styffe
 * 2004: Everything I Love -Nikki Iles Trio Hopkins, Iles, Anthony Michelli (Basho Records SRCD 5-2)
 * 2010: Bloor Street - The Secret Group - Hopkins, Iles, Speake, Michelli (Edition Records EDN1019)