DESCRIPTION:
Edward Isaac Bickert, CM (November 29, 1932 – February 28, 2019) was a Canadian jazz guitarist. Canada's best-known jazz guitarist, Ed Bickert developed a unique, understated style of considerable harmonic sophistication.Rooted in bebop, his intuitive, pianistic approach is characterized by lyrical and rhythmic ease,a deceptively complex simplicity and a generally muted tone. He was noted for his work with Ron Collier, Rob McConnell, Don Thompson and Moe Koffman, and achieved international prominence through his work in the mid-1970s with American saxophonist Paul Desmond. A Member of the Order of Canada, Bickert won a Juno Award and multiple National Jazz Awards, and played on dozens of Juno- and Grammy-nominated and award-winning recordings.

In the 1950s, Bickert was a member of Norman Symonds' jazz octet and also played with Ron Collier (1954–66) and with Phil Nimmons (1957–70). He played in most of Moe Koffman's successive jazz groups beginning in 1956, and in the Boss Brass beginning in 1968. He also did a great deal of studio work in Toronto until the early 1970s, and performed intermittently with the groups of Peter Appleyard and Hagood Hardy, among others, as well as in duos with Don Thompson and Boss Brass bandleader Rob McConnell.

Formed in 1974, Bickert’s own trio — with Thompson (bass) and Terry Clarke (drums) — played widely throughout Canada in clubs, at festivals and on CBC Radio. In 1979, the trio played the Bracknell, Northsea and Montreux jazz festivals during a European tour sponsored by Radio Canada International (see Music at the CBC). During the 1970s and early 1980s, Bickert (with Thompson, Clarke and others) accompanied many American jazz stars at the Toronto club Bourbon Street, including Paul Desmond, Chet Baker, Red Norvo, Milt Jackson and Frank Rosolino.

His work with Desmond from 1974 to 1976 first brought Bickert international attention. In 1979, he toured with Jackson in Japan. During the 1980s, Bickert appeared on international stages with Koffman, Appleyard and the Boss Brass, and at several festivals in Concord, California. He signed with the Concord Jazz label in 1983 and recorded numerous albums, including several as a sideman for such artists as Rosemary Clooney and Benny Carter. In 1987 he returned to Japan with the Concord All Stars. In Toronto during the 1980s, Bickert also performed and recorded in a quartet with tenor saxophonist Rick Wilkins or guitarist Lorne Lofsky and various bassists and drummers.

After injuring both of his arms in a fall in the mid-1990s, Bickert took time off to recover before returning to playing and touring. He contributed to Mike Murley’s Juno Award-winning albums Murley, Bickert & Wallace: Live at the Senator (2000) and Test of Time (2012; recorded in 1999), before retiring his Fender Telecaster in 2002.

Bickert taught briefly at the Advanced School of Contemporary Music in Toronto during the early 1960s, at the Banff Centre for the Arts 1978–80, and at the University of New Brunswick Chamber Music and Jazz Festival in 1978 and 1982. He was a formative influence on a generation of Toronto jazz guitarists that includes Lorne Lofsky, Roy Patterson, Rob Piltch, Reg Schwager and Geoff Young.

Awards:
Best Jazz Recording (Sackville 4005), Juno Awards (1980)
Member, Order of Canada (1996)
Various, National Jazz Awards...(Historica Canada).
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Tracklist:
01.You're In Love With Someone (J.V.Heusen/J.Burke)...(00:00)
02.Bye Bye Baby (J.Styne/L.Robin)...(04:21)
03.Barbados (Charlie Parker)...(08:02)
04.It's Time ( Horace Silver)...(12:14)
05.Nobody Else But Me (J.Kern/O.Hammerstein)...(16:17)
06.Things Are Getting Better (Cannonball Adderley)...(21:15)
07.A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing (Billy Strayhorn)...(25:50)
08.Pensativa (Clare Fischer)...(31:23)
09.Keeping Myself for You (S.Clare/V.Youmans)...(36:09)
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Personnel:
1.Ed Bickert - guitar
2.Dave McKenna - piano
3.Steve Wallace - bass
4.Jake Hanna - drums.
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Genre:Jazz
Recorded:at Coast Recorders,San Francisco;August 1983.
Released:1984
Label:Concord Jazz(CJ-232)
Art Direction - Dick Hendler
Engineer [Recording & Remix Engineer] - Phil Edwards
Liner Notes - Ira Gitler
Mastered By - George Horn
Photography By [Cover Photo] - William G. Davey
Producer - Carl E. Jefferson
Recorded By - Phil Edwards.