Considered as one of the best bass players emerging from Canada, Sylvain Gagnon has extensive international teaching, touring and recording experience.
In 1975, Sylvain GAGNON started playing electric bass. He studied with Rene Worst in Vancouver and attended a workshop with Charlie Haden in Boulder, Colorado. In 1981, he devoted his time to study classical bass with Dennis JAMES of the Montreal Symphonic Orchestra. In 1986, he went to study in Paris at the CIM, then the most important European jazz school. He accompanied, during workshops, many well known artists such as Tal FARLOW, Ed THICKPEN and David LIEBMAN. From 1990 and 1992, he took lessons with Don THOMPSON, John PATITUCCI et Dave HOLLAND while teaching privately at his home.
Many times a grant holder of the Arts Council of Canada and from the Ministry of Cultural Affairs of Quebec, Sylvain GAGNON won an honorific mention at the Jazz Alcan competition in 1992 for the quality of his playing and for his compositions.
From 1989 to 1991 and in 1995, he was the host bassist of the jam sessions of the Montreal International Jazz Festival. There, many great musicians such as Joshua REDMAN, Benny CARTER, Julian JOSEPH, Georges ARVANITAS, Michel PETRUCIANNI, Gary BARTON, David BENOIT, Ed THIGPEN et Barry ALTSHULL could appreciate his playing.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation chose Sylvain to represent Canada for a series of international events in Europe where they got to perform in live concerts broadcasted through Europe and Canada.
Following his first quartet album, Crepuscule (nominated for best jazz album of the year at l'ADISQ in 1992), a second one, Readers of the Lost Chart (3 times nominee at l'ADISQ en 1995), launched in Canada on his own new label, LOST CHART RECORDS and in Japan on NIPPON CROWN, attracted the attention of many Japanese magazines. He also did a video clip on "Notre-Dame-en-Fete", extract from this CD, and is regularly shown on MUCH MUSIC.
In October 1994, Sylvain GAGNON started a musical collaboration with pianist Joey CALDERAZZO that would take them to many jazz festivals, radio recordings and a magnificent CD recording with drummer Jeff Tain Watts that reached 12th position on the US radio jazz charts.
In 1996, he launched Simply Music with Joey CALDERAZZO et Jeff "Tain" WATTS - both from Branford MARSALIS and Michael BRECKER's groups. This CD made it to 12th position on the jazz charts in the USA. This same year, he participated at the recording of many CDs and in many tours that will took him twice to Asia and three times to Europe. A 75 minutes TV program was dedicated to him and regularly broadcasted in Canada and in France. His quartet did a tour of the Canadian's major jazz festivals during the summer of 1997. In 1997, he also became a member of the music faculty of the college CEPEG Drummondville in Quebec, Canada as a private electric and upright bass teacher.
In 1997, 1998 and 1999, he recorded over 30 albums as a producer and/or as a musician and did about 15 tours in Asia, Europe, North- America and in the Caribbean. In 1999, the college asked him to develop a new course: "music career development" to help the students realize their dreams by making a better living making music.
Many of his ex-students have become active professional bassists and are very much in demand. Sylvain has also given numerous bass workshops in Hong Kong, France, Belgium, Switzerland, and Canada.
