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	(1923-06-03) 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