"Patterson's touch and the sound he gets from his instrument is beautiful…..wonderful music" - Roy McCurdy, the Jazz Report.

From 1974-78 he toured Atlantic Canada with various rock/R&B/dance groups and worked as a seaman in between bands, traveling to exotic locations in Mexico, Jamaica and most of the American cities along the eastern seaboard. In 1978, with a fervent desire to play jazz, Roy moved to Toronto where he has freelanced for over 15 years, working as a sideman on the local scene.

In 1989 he began leading his own bands, and with the support of the Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent on Records, The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and the Canada Council for the Arts, he has produced a body of original work which has been performed in clubs and concert venues across Canada, and also documented on four Compact Disc recordings.

"This is really modern jazz music with great compositions and playing, Highly recommended" - John Abercrombie, after listening to the "Acadiana Suite CD".

Roy's quartet won the Prix de Jazz at the Festival International de Jazz in Montreal, Quebec in the summer of 1996, (the first Toronto based band to do so) which gave the group exposure through appearances on national radio, television, and a tour which concluded at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C. In March of 1997 the quartet released a new CD for the Justin Time label called "Inland Passages". The title refers to a five part suite of the same name which makes up the main content of the recording. Each part is a dedication to a different traveller/mystic who sought spiritual enlightenment through their journeys. "Inland Passages" is a metaphor for geographical travels and personal, spiritual journeys within.

As well as leading his own quartet, Roy also performs with a trio featuring Don Thompson - bass and piano and Terry Clarke on drums. In a review of a recent CJRT-FM radio concert broadcast from the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto, Toronto Star critic Geoff Chapman referred to Patterson's playing as exemplary. "There's depth, polish and a contemporary feel to this music, played tastefully by three of Canada's elite jazzmen (though Clarke now works out of New York)" - Geoff Chapman - The Toronto Star.

Roy holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from York University, a Master of Music from McGill University, and is on the faculty of music at the University of Toronto where he teaches in the jazz programme. When he is not performing, writing, practicing or teaching music, he can usually be found on a trout stream, or at the Cold Mountain Uchi-Ryu school, where he practices Okinawan and Chinese martial arts.

DISCOGRAPHY

The Release Unity Records 113

The Acadiana Suite Unity Records 138

The Coming of Angels Unity Records 149

Inland Passages Justin Time JTR 8462-2

MANAGEMENT

The Jazz Solution

(416) 533 - 5088 Tel.

(416) 531 - 2024 Fax.

E-mail is [email protected]