Since moving
to Vancouver in 1980, Dennis Esson has established himself as a highly
respected and sought after trombonist for a wide variety of musical endeavors.
He has
recorded music for cartoons, movies, jingles and soundtracks in addition to
albums with many pop and rock groups such as Stephen Fearing, The Paperboys,
Buddy Miles, The Salteens, Veda Hille and others. He has also been in the pit
orchestras for Broadway shows such as "Chorus Line", "The Full
Monty", and "42nd Street".
As a
jazz musician Dennis has recorded numerous C.B.C. sessions as a featured
soloist. He is also the lead trombonist with groups such as the "Vancouver
Ensemble of Improvisation (VEJI)", "Orquesta Goma Dura", "Jill
Townsend Big Band", "Hard Rubber Orchestra" and the "Fred Stride
Jazz Orchestra". Some of the musicians he has performed with include Kenny
Wheeler, Phil Woods, Eddie Daniels, Marvin Stamm, David Foster, Maynard
Ferguson, Natalie Cole, Clark Terry, Bud Shank, and Phil Nimmons. He has
appeared and performed at all of the major jazz festivals across Canada.
In
addition Dennis was the recipient in 1993 of a Canada Council of the Arts "B"
grant to study jazz trombone in New York where he studied with Conrad Herwig,
Steve Turre, Benny Powell and Slide Hampton. More recently he resumed his
studies and completed a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Orchestral
Performance from the University of British Columbia.
As a
music educator Dennis has been the Jazz Trombone instructor at Capilano College
since 1997 and has been the director of the UBC Jazz Ensemble 2 since 2000. In
addition he has been on the faculty of the Courtney Youth Music Center since
2000 and prior to that time he was on the faculty of the Okanagan Summer School
of the Arts from 1984-1999.
As an adjudicator, Dennis has appeared at many
festivals throughout B.C. and western Canada including Kelowna, Edmonton,
Whistler, Surrey, Burnaby, and Vancouver. He has also performed clinics and
master classes at universities, colleges, and secondary schools throughout Canada.
Dennis is a
Yamaha trombone artist and performs and records on the YSL697Z trombone.
