Gordie Fleming

Canada’s top jazz accordionist, Gordie Fleming (name: Gordon Kenneth Fleming) was created in Winnipeg on August 3, 1931. He started playing the accordion at an extremely early age, and by age five had been producing the rounds on Manitoba’s vaudeville circuit. He toured a lot of traditional western Canada during Globe Battle II, also showing up frequently on the air, and proved helpful in Winnipeg nightclubs for quite some time afterward, playing piano and body organ furthermore to accordion. In 1949, he transferred to Montreal and became a member of a bebop group known as the Quartones (which also highlighted clarinetist Gerry McDonald, guitarist Frank Quinn, and drummer Leo Poulin), and twelve months later produced his very own group with fellow Winnipeg indigenous Billy Graham on drums. Booked within the dispatch band on the transatlantic luxury cruise in 1953, he installed with Rob Adams, with whom he continuing to try out upon his go back to Quebec. Also in 1953, Fleming produced a quintet known as the Canadian All Superstars, which highlighted clarinetist Al Baculis, vibist/pianist Yvan Landry, bassist Hal Gaylor, and drummer Graham. After starting a workshop concert where Charlie Parker was the headliner, this group documented a 10″ LP for the brand new York-based Discovery Information in 1955. Following that, Fleming continued to try out on nation & western classes (that was much more profitable than jazz), even though continuing to execute with a number of Canadian jazz performers. Through the ’70s, he sometimes backed folky vocalist/songwriters like Jesse Winchester, Kitty Stevens, and Kate & Anna McGarrigle; he also made up music for Television and film soundtracks, and used French-Canadian fiddle story Jean Carignan. Fleming relocated from Montreal to Toronto in 1977, and performed frequently in his fresh city’s jazz night clubs. He performed with Herbie Spanier in the 1985 Montreal International Jazz Event. A lot of the recordings Fleming produced under his personal name were carried out for the CBC. He experienced a heart stroke in July 2000 and was by no means quite the same afterward; he passed on on August 31, 2002.