Hot Jazz Trio

The MacDonald-Breton-Sullivan
Hot Jazz Trio

Bringing together the superior talents of guitarist Andrew Paul MacDonald, bassist Guy Breton and drummer Kevin Sullivan, the Hot Jazz Trio is one of the new sensations to emerge on the Sherbrooke music scene. Featuring both authentic and innovative approaches to the jazz standards, the Trio also indulges in fusion, blues and original works composed by MacDonald and Sullivan.

Well known as a composer of works for symphony orchestra and chamber groups, MacDonald has been a classical guitarist for many years. Recent work in the field of jazz has opened up avenues for improvisation and spontaneous composition for which he has always thirsted, and he brings an open-eyed wonder to the jazz standards—each one a new discovery. A disciple of Alexandre Lagoya, MacDonald has given many concerts as a guitarist—both as soloist and accompanist—and his performances have been broadcast on both CBC and Société Radio-Canada. There are thirteen CDs of MacDonald’s compositions to date, one of which won the Juno Award for Best Composition, another both the East Coast Music Award and a Canadian Independent Music Award for best recording, while two others were nominated for EMC and Opus awards. His many works are frequently performed across the country and abroad by notable orchestras, chamber groups and soloists, and are often broadcast on public and independent radio stations.

Guy Breton has performed as a professional bassist for many years. He was a founding member of the Boppin’ Blues Band, a recording group highly regarded on the jazz and blues scene in Québec and beyond. He has performed at numerous festivals, including the Festival de Blues de Jonquière, the Canadian Blues Summit and the Festival de Blues de Sherbrooke. In 1995 Breton founded the Blue Note Quartet to explore the jazz classics immortalized on the Blue Note label. He performed with Garou and the Untouchables from 1995 to 1998, while in 1999 opened for Corey Hart with Kate Morrison. He has recorded for television broadcasts with TVA and was tour bassist and bassist/musical director for the Téléthon du CHUS from 2003 to 2006.

Co-director (with Mike Gauthier) of the Jazz-Improvisation Workshop at Bishop’s University, Sullivan has been playing professionally since his late teens. While at the Berklee School of Music in Boston, he studied percussion with Fred Buda, and drums with the late Al Dawson. Over the past dozen years he’s played in numerous festivals, including the Ottawa Jazz Festival, the Barrie Jazz Festival, and the Toronto Jazz Festival for five years in a row. More recently, he has played the Montreal International Jazz Festival and the Rimouski Jazz Festival, and opened the Montreal-off Jazz Fest with The Mike Gauthier-Lorrie Goodman Organ-ization while promoting their new CD “What She Said Last Night.”