Phil Nimmons

Phillip Rista Nimmons, OC OOnt (born June 3, 1923) is a Canadian jazz clarinetist, composer, bandleader, and educator.

Phil Nimmons
Birth name	Philip Rista Nimmons
Born	June 3, 1923 Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada
Genres	Jazz, classical
Occupation(s)	Musician, composer, arranger, educator
Instruments	Clarinet
Years active	1948–present

Career

Nimmons was born in Kamloops, British Columbia.[1] He joined the University of Toronto in 1973.[1]

Awards and honors

Nimmons received the first Juno Award given in the Juno Awards jazz category, for his album Atlantic Suite.[1] His composition "The Torch" was commissioned for the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.[1] It was performed at the Olympics by a big band led by Rob McConnell.[1]

In 1993, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.[2] He is also a recipient of the Order of Ontario. In 2002, Nimmons received the Governor General's Performing Arts Award, Canada's highest honour in the performing arts, for his lifetime contribution to popular music.[2]

On November 21, 2005, Nimmons was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by SOCAN at the SOCAN Awards in Toronto.[3]

Discography

• The Canadian Scene Via the Phil Nimmons Group (Verve, 1956)
• Nimmons 'n' Nine (Verve, 1963)
• Take Ten (RCA, 1963)
• Mary Poppins Swings (RCA, 1964)
• Strictly Nimmons (RCA, 1965)
• Nimmons Now (RCA, 1970)
• The Atlantic Suite (Sackville, 1975)
• Sands of Time (Sackville, 2000)
• Beginnings (Nimmons 'n' Music, 2009)
• Canadian Composer Portrait: Phil Nimmons (CMC, 2009)

References

1. Cross, Dan. "Phil Nimmons". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
2. "Phil Nimmons biography". Governor General's Performing Arts Awards Foundation. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-01-05. Retrieved 2016-06-10.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

External links

• Phil Nimmons at The Canadian Encyclopedia
• Archival manuscripts at University of Toronto Music Library