David Braid
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- For the British campaigner David Braid, see David Braid (campaigner)
David Braid (born 1975) is a jazz pianist and composer from Canada. After graduating magna cum laude from the University of Toronto in 1998 he devoted himself to jazz. He formed the "David Braid Sextet" the following year. His "Vivid: The David Braid Sextet Live" won a Juno Award for traditional jazz.
David Braid has been touted as one of the most gifted young pianists and composers in Canada. A Juno Award winner and National Jazz Award recipient, Braid is in demand for a variety of projects and has performed extensively across Canada, Europe, Australia, Japan, and other parts of Asia. Braid graduated magnum cum laude from the University of Toronto in 1998 and was nominated for the Governor General's academic medal. That same year, Braid was a semi finalist in the Concours Internationaux de Piano Jazz in Paris, France. Canadian audiences and critics have praised the David Braid Sextet as being a musical ensemble that exports a compelling statement about the sophisticated jazz talent currently percolating in Canada. This touring ensemble has exclusively performed Braid's composition since its inception in 2000. Each composition crafted by Braid exposes the unique talents of his ensemble: Terry Clarke, drums; Steve Wallace, bass; Mike Murley, saxophone; Gene Smith, trombone; and John McLeod, flugelhorn. Their recent recording, Vivid, won the 2005 Juno Award for best traditional jazz album. Braid's first sextet album struck internationally acclaimed jazz author Gene Lees, who said: "If Bill Evans were alive, I'd send [Braid's] CD to him." The ensemble is due to release their third CD, which was the last recording made before the closing of one of Canada's most prestigious jazz venues, The Top 'O the Senator, in Toronto. Braid also co-leads a group with multi-Juno Award winner Mike Murley. The Murley Braid Quartet (with Toronto bassist Jim Vivian and New York drummer Ian Froman) released their debut CD, Mnemosyne's March, on Cornerstone Records in March 2006. With a solid interest in composition, Braid's first commission was from the Global Knowledge Foundation to compose and perform a piece for Dr. Stephen Hawking. Thirty-one year old Braid has written over 50 works and recently unveiled his first orchestral piece with the Winnipeg Symphony, which blended jazz form, symphonic composition and improvisation. Braid is currently composing a suite for a jazz sextet and orchestra to be premiered in 2007. Braid is also exploring his interest in hybrid jazz forms through a new unique collaboration with jazz cellist and composer, Matt Brubeck. This ensemble will release their first recording in late 2006. Braid has earned his reputation for continually reinventing himself by partaking in new musical projects. One such invention is a new duet with Phil Nimmons, a musical partner 57 years his senior who is affectionately known as "the Dean of Canadian Jazz". Nimmons and Braid, two compositionally minded individuals, have collaborated to create a blend of free jazz, spontaneously crafted from refreshing degrees of melody and form. This year, the duo will be appearing at jazz festivals across Canada in order to promote their new debut album, Beginnings.
