Community Improvement Initiative

Brent's Music Training and Experience

• before taking up bass, guitar, ukelele and soprano guitars as his favored instruments, Brent completed 8 of 10 grades of Practical and Advanced Piano Rudiments at the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) in Toronto, Canada
• completed Advanced Rudiments of Music Theory at RCM
• learned to play guitar at age 14, learned to play bass at age 16
• guitar lessons at the London Guitar and Lute Center, London, Ontario, Canada
• completed courses in jazz improvisation under legendary fusion bassist and renowned jazz educator Adam Nitti
• bassist, band member or leader for jazz, blues, fusion, and progressive rock bands 1979-present
• former founding member and bassist with the The Contemporary Jazz Group, composed of music university graduates  from Sir Wilfred Laurier University, Humber College, and Brock University, 2004
• Winner, Best Jazz Combo, The Canadian Stage Band Festival, Calgary, Alberta, 1985
• Brent continues to play piano, guitar and bass today, and is currently the founding member and bassist for a local jazz group The Jazzway Express.  The band is composed of sax, guitar, keyboards, vocals, and drums.
• Brent is also a strong proponent of the ukelele and soprano guitar given how well adults and even young children are able to learn to play the instrument.
• Brent also plays styles of music other than jazz, including rock and other styles.  As someone once said "jazz players can play rock, but rock players can't play jazz".
  

 Guitar-Building Training and Projects

• received private guitar-building lessons from two full-time guitar builders in the Kitchener and Guelph, Canada, (2000-2003)
  
•  after building several of his own solid-body instruments, built custom electric basses and guitars for local Cambridge, Ontario, Canada Musicians