Born in Ottawa, NICK MACLEAN is “one of the most gifted young Toronto pianists to come along in the last few years ” (Adrean Farrugia, Juno winning jazz pianist) and has quickly become one of the most in demand 20-something piano players in that city’s bustling jazz scene. Nick received his Bachelors of Music from Humber College in 2013, having studied with David Restivo, Bernie Senensky and Nancy Walker. He then went on to do a Masters in Jazz Performance at the University of Toronto researching synthesizer pedagogy while studying under David Occhipinti, Andrew Downing, Chris Donnelly and David Braid. Braid in particular had an enormous influence on how Maclean approaches playing and composing. From Miles & Hancock to Weather Report & Snarky Puppy, Maclean’s musical influences are diverse.
Nick leads the hard-swinging NYC-style jazz ensemble the NICK MACLEAN QUARTET. Formed in 2016, Maclean’s foursome delivers jazz between the two poles of thoughtful introspection and powerhouse conveyance, taking influences from Herbie Hancock’s primordial 1960’s Blue Note era recordings, while paying tribute to some of the greatest improvisers in jazz history. The group released their debut album RITES OF ASCENSION in October 2017 and was nominated for CJSF’s ‘2018 Julian Award of Excellence’, it won 3 ‘Gold’ Global Music Awards in the 'jazz’, 'band’, and 'album’ categories, and was featured as one of the Global Music Awards’ 'Top 5 Albums of Spring 2018’.