Philippe Keyser

Born in Montréal in 1956, Philippe Keyser studied jazz drums in the United States, with such teachers as Jack DeJohnette, Barry Altschul, Ed Blackwell, Jerome Cooper and Famoudou Don Moye and received a Bachelor's degree from the State University of New York at New Paltz. He went on to perform alongside such musicians as Oliver Lake, Leo Smith, Carla Bley, Charles Ellison, Dave Turner, Michel Donato, Luc Beaugrand, Guy St-Onge and Jean-Pierre Zanella.

By his early 20's he was already considered a pioneer, having been the first to establish a jazz drum program at the college level at Cégep Saint-Laurent where he has taught since 1978. In 1990, he founded the jazz drum program at Collège Marie-Victorin.

In 1982, he became director of the big-band at Cégep Saint-Laurent. He led this ensemble to twelve first prizes at Musicfest Canada at the regional level and nine at the national level. In 1988 he received the National Association of Jazz Educator's First Prize in Detroit. In 1989 he was awarded the first prize at the Yamaha Band Explosion in Toronto and the fourth prize at the YBE World Final in Tokyo. In 1995, he received the Gold Medal at the regional Musicfest Canada and first prize at the Festival des Harmonies du Québec in Sherbrooke.

In 1993, the Pro-Mark Corporation awarded him its Certificate of Recognition in honor of his exceptional devotion in the teaching of jazz percussion. In 1995, he became an endorsee for Paiste cymbals and gongs, involving an extensive series of workshops.

In 1994, with the pianist Marc Couroux, he founded the experimental duo Keyser-Couroux, recording their first disc 3+3 thereafter.

In 1996, he created the multidirectional ensemble Kappa which showcases the talent of many Canadian composers such as James Harley and Tim Brady as well as North-American avant-garde jazz innovators such as Sun Ra, Anthony Braxton, Michael Mantler and Leo Smith.

In 1997, Keyser and Kappa will present a series of concerts in North America and Europe, including a prestigious appearance at the Montreal International Jazz Festival in June, as well as recording Kappa's first compact disc and Keyser-Couroux's second, based on their recent A Theater of Entropy event.

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