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Dan Fortin
Dan Fortin was born and raised in Peterborough, Ontario. His eclectic tastes have led to work with a wide variety of artists in the jazz, rock and pop worlds, including Bernice, The Allison Au Quartet, Queer Songbook Orchestra, Emilie-Claire Barlow, Aline’s étoile magique, John Southworth, Serena Ryder, July Talk, Devon Sproule, Mike O’Neill, Laila Biali, Ethan Iverson, Bryn Roberts, Mike Murley, Will Bonness, Jon Gordon, Andy Milne, David Occhipinti, Tara Davidson, Harley Card, Michael Davidson, Alex Goodman, Zoon, and many others.
Dan is a co-leader of the Juno nominated trio MYRIAD3, along with pianist Chris Donnelly and drummer Ernesto Cervini. Together, they’ve released five albums for Alma Records, and have undertaken several tours of Canada, the USA, Europe, and Japan, including performances at the Tokyo Jazz Festival and Ronnie Scott’s International Piano Trio Festival (London, UK.)
Fortin has released three albums as a leader: BRINKS (2015, Fresh Sound New Talent Records); The Latest Tech (2020, Elastic Recordings), an album of music for solo double bass; and Cannon (2024, Elastic Recordings), a synth-heavy collection of duets.
Dan is on faculty at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music, where he teaches bass in the Jazz Studies department.
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Dan Fortin Built 'Cannon' From the Bass Up
by Lawrence Peryer
Bassist Dan Fortin recorded much of his album Cannon (Elastic Recordings, 2024) in a jny: Calgary condo during the early months of the pandemic, armed with just an electric bass guitar. What started as sketches for a solo record evolved into a series of remote collaborations with musicians across Canada, including saxophonist Karen Ng, vibraphonist Michael Davidson, and Dan's brother, Jos. Fortin. “I didn't know my electric bass recordings would become a record when I first started making ...
Continue ReadingAline's Etoile Magique: éclipse
by Neri Pollastri
Violinista di formazione classica e dagli attenti studi musicali (il padre è un musicologo), da sempre affascinata dal jazz, la canadese Aline Homzy presenta quest'assai singolare opera prima, dal gusto sicuramente cameristico e tuttavia venata non solo di jazz, bensì anche di colori etnici, sperimentazioni sonore, fantasia melodica, che concorrono alla creazione di atmosfere “astrali," coerentemente al titolo dell'album e di alcuni dei suoi brani. Gli undici che si susseguono nel programma sono tutti scritti dalla violinista, tranne ...
Continue ReadingAline Homzy: éclipse
by Pierre Giroux
An adage goes: “Patience Is A Virtue." That saying may be perfectly exemplified with the release of violin virtuoso Aline Homzy's recording Éclipse, which has been ten years in the making. This Canadian-American artist's long-awaited debut combines the jazz violin tradition into the contemporary world with improvisation and subtle composition. Joining Homzy under the rubric of “Aline's étoile magique" are vibraphonist Michael Davidson, guitarist Thom Gil, bassist Dan Fortin and Marito Marques on drums. Special guests are João Frade on ...
Continue ReadingAline’s étoile magique: éclipse
by Mike Jurkovic
Whether 23andMe.com, MyHeritage.com, or ancestry.com can positively divine gypsy blood in award-winning, Canadian violinist Aline Homzy is conceptually and musically neither here nor there. What is important is that she jumps from the gate on her robust debut recording with a zesty momentum which she mightily sustains throughout. Homzy, who has no problem mixing it up with any of Canada's musical vanguard, (guitarist & composer David Occhipinti, creative bassist Andrew Downing, the folky Weather Station, or pianist Amanda ...
Continue ReadingNicky Schrire: Nowhere Girl
by Dan Bilawsky
The search for identity is a sine qua non of any artist's experience and development. But for a musician like Nicky Schrire, it goes much deeper than most. Born in London, raised in South Africa, studying and entering the professional ranks in New York and working back through her initial points of origin before relocating to Toronto in 2020, this noted vocalist-composer has established herself as a globetrotter of the first order. Stylistically, as with geography, Schrire hits multiple points ...
Continue ReadingDan McCarthy: Songs of the Doomed: Some Jaded, Atavistic Freakout
by Dan Bilawsky
Songs of the Doomed is, in essence, the love child of self-stylized journalism and outré composition methodologies. Drawing inspiration from the work of Hunter S. Thompson, vibraphonist Dan McCarthy created the gonzo cypher to help translate some of the maverick's writer's lines into tone rows. The rules of serialism then cemented certain things in place while setting the leader and his bandmates on a course to another universe. Working with a two-guitar quintet, à la mallet great ...
Continue ReadingKarl Silveira: A Porta Aperta
by Dan McClenaghan
Toronto-based trombonist Karl Silveira opens his debut recording, A Porta Aperta, with no ego at all. The disc spins into life with “Nymark Plaza," featuring an arrangement which allows the rhythm section—pianist Chris Pruden, bassist Dan Fortin, with Nico Dann on drums—a good deal of room to stretch out after a brief beginning of understated harmony from the leader, and alto saxophonist Allison Au. The piano, bass and drums ease into an off-center, Andrew Hill-like rumination before the leader re-enters ...
Continue ReadingPrimary Instrument
Bass, acoustic
Location
Toronto
Willing to teach
Beginner to advanced
Credentials/Background
On faculty at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Music.
Photos
Music
Chapter Zero
From: Somewhere SacredBy Dan Fortin
Bientot, We Will Collide
From: éclipseBy Dan Fortin
Traveler
From: Nowhere GirlBy Dan Fortin
Love Is For The Birds
From: Nowhere GirlBy Dan Fortin
Hell's Angels
From: Songs of the Doomed: Some...By Dan Fortin
Rye & Lilacs
From: A Porta ApertaBy Dan Fortin
Videos
Dan Fortin
Location: Toronto
Instrument: Bass, acoustic
Born: January 26, 1985
