THE BUHR QUARTET
Audio
Video
The Buhr Quartet
Glenn Buhr, acoustic guitar/vocals
Al Beardsell, electric guitar/vocals
Paul Balcain, sax/vocals
Gilles Fournier, bass/vocals
Glenn Buhr - leader of the Buhr Quartet - is a 4-time Juno nominee, a Western Canada Music Award winner, and a Genie Award winner for his song When Wintertime from the film Seven Times Lucky.
The Buhr Quartet is a roots/jazz/country-swing band, featuring 4-part vocal harmonies, scorching country and jazz torch songs, roots-oriented gospel anthems, up tempo swing numbers, free-wheeling instrumental solos, and a collection of originals. (We'll make you laugh and cry, and you'll want to dance.) The Band's new CD will be released in the fall of 2025.
Our repertoire combines several genres: jazz, country swing, gospel, freewheeling jazz/blues/country improvisation, new music and songs written by bandleader Glenn Buhr, along with a few jazz and country music standards.
Our shows are foot-tapping and engaging, and when we play in clubs, the folks tend to want to get up and dance. When we play in concert, sometimes we bring in some quieter jazz repertoire and/or some re-interpretations of standards (like I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry by Hank Williams; Light Blue by Thelonious Monk, Milestones by Miles Davis, etc.).
The group is drummerless - two guitars, bass and sax; it has an Americana meets hot-jazz flavour. All four band members are also vocalists and about two thirds of our program involves singing, often in 4-part harmony.
Our repertoire combines several genres: jazz, country swing, gospel, freewheeling jazz/blues/country improvisation, new music and songs written by bandleader Glenn Buhr, along with a few jazz and country music standards.
Our shows are foot-tapping and engaging, and when we play in clubs, the folks tend to want to get up and dance. When we play in concert, sometimes we bring in some quieter jazz repertoire and/or some re-interpretations of standards (like I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry by Hank Williams; Light Blue by Thelonious Monk, Milestones by Miles Davis, etc.).
The group is drummerless - two guitars, bass and sax; it has an Americana meets hot-jazz flavour. All four band members are also vocalists and about two thirds of our program involves singing, often in 4-part harmony.
The group is drummerless - two guitars, bass and sax; it has an Americana meets hot-jazz flavour. All four band members are also vocalists and about two thirds of our program involves singing, often in 4-part harmony.
(Photo Credit: Barbara Schott)
~~~
• Glenn Buhr is well-known as a composer, performer, and producer. He initiated the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra's New Music Festival in 1992, and his music has been performed by jazz musicians and classical ensembles all over the world, including The Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Button Factory Band with Reg Schwager, the Birmingham Royal Ballet Orchestra, and the Detroit Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, among many others. He's also composed creative arrangements for several pop singers, including Sarah Slean, Ron Sexmith, and Madeleine Peyroux.
In 2002 he put together his roots/jazz unit, The Buhr Quartet, which featured Richard Moody on fiddle, and the late Greg Lowe on acoustic guitar, along with Buhr, and bassist Gilles Fournier. After a few tours, the quartet went into a hiatus in 2006 while Buhr was writing works for larger jazz groups and started performing with some Toronto musicians on experimental improvisational music in many different genres. Now, after re-settling in Winnipeg in 2020, The Buhr Quartet is reborn with Al Beardsell replacing Greg Lowe, and sax/vocalist, Paul Balcain replacing Richard Moody, who has re-settled on the west coast.