Cellar Music Group is proud to announce the publication of the book Fraser MacPherson: I Don't Have To Go Anywhere, I'm Already Here by the late author Guy MacPherson. The book, written by Fraser’s son, reveals a loving portrait of a brilliant musician and a private man, along with stories from a golden age of Vancouver nightlife: a bygone era when professional musicians could make a comfortable living and never had to move away.

Fraser MacPherson’s career included playing in dance bands at the Palomar Supper Club and leading the band at the famed Cave Supper Club. The book features great stories about working with show biz icons such as Mitzi Gaynor, Jayne Mansfield, Bobby Darin, Ella Fitzgerald and Tony Bennett. Whether as a bandleader, a sideman or a member of a trio, Fraser was a well-respected musician everywhere.

Later in life, Fraser put together a jazz trio and financed his own recording, Fraser: Live at the Planetarium, which was a rare move at the time. The album received rave reviews and led to shows at jazz festivals and packed theatres in Canada, Australia and the US, along with a record four tours of the former Soviet Union – all documented in this biography.

Fraser was the recipient of a Juno Award for Best Jazz Album, was awarded the Order of Canada, was an inaugural inductee into the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame, and was the first non-Quebec musician to win the Oscar Peterson Prize at the Montreal Jazz Festival.

To write the definitive book on his father, Guy MacPherson interviewed over 50 contemporaries, colleagues and family members, infusing fascinating stories from Fraser’s career with humour and anecdotes. Sadly, Guy passed away on January 31, 2024.

Cellar Music Group founder Cory Weeds is also the current president of the Fraser MacPherson Jazz Fund, established in the year of the saxophonist's death. The fund has been awarding grants and scholarships to music students in British Columbia for over 30 years. The book is Cellar Music's debut in the book publishing vertical to accompany its over 350 records released worldwide since 2000.

Fraser MacPherson: I Don't Have To Go Anywhere, I'm Already Here will be published April 16, 2024.

Links:
● Pre-Order Book: https://cellarlive.bandcamp.com/merch/pre-order-fraser-macpherson-i-don-t-have-to-go-anywhere-i-m-already-here-softcover

“Guy MacPherson’s writing has such a beautiful cadence that's unhurried, personal, unflashy, resonant, and understatedly affecting. Like Guy himself and his dad, Fraser MacPherson. This is a much-needed book that conveys so much about a sublime jazz artist, Vancouver's characterful music scene, and the saxophonist's son. Guy has left an invaluable legacy with his indelible words.”
- Chris Wong (Author, Journeys to the Bandstand: Thirty Jazz Lives in Vancouver)

“An incredible look into what was a simpler time: a time when people put such a high value on music and entertainment. The book is a beautiful, fitting tribute from son to father and an absolute joy to read.”
- Cory Weeds (Founder, Cellar Music Group)

This book by Guy MacPherson is both a biography and a journey of discovery in examining the life of his father Fraser MacPherson, an acclaimed musician but very private man. Fraser MacPherson's colleagues open up to his son in ways that they probably wouldn't for any other biographer in spite of being initially unaware of his existence! Along the way we get not only a nuanced portrait of the "second best jazz musician" to come from Canada but also insights into the changing landscape of the Vancouver jazz scene of the 50s and 60s when the steady work of supper clubs and radio engagements began to evaporate. Fraser MacPherson's legacy continues to resonate through his music and inspiration to the current generation of players, this is his story - and his son's!

-Nou Dadoun (host of the A-Trane on COOP Radio)

About the author

Guy MacPherson (1962-2024), the son of Canadian jazz master Fraser MacPherson, was born in Vancouver and raised in Victoria with his sisters Angela and Andrea. Guy loved basketball, jazz, comedy, and above all else, good grammar.

Guy was a long-time Georgia Straight comedy writer, interviewing everyone from Craig
Ferguson and Kathy Griffin to Russell Peters and Lewis Black. He had his own show on Vancouver Co-Op Radio and podcast, What’s So Funny? He taught English as a Second Language, and he coached his son’s elementary and high school basketball teams.

Later in life, Guy took up table tennis, joining the North Shore Table Tennis Club and hosting an annual tournament for his friends. To qualify for that tournament, you had to be good enough to be competitive, but not so good that you would make him look bad.

Guy’s love of jazz came from his father, and during the pandemic, he started to write the book you hold in your hands, spending countless hours researching and interviewing friends and Colleagues.

Sadly, Guy’s pancreatic cancer returned during the final production of this book, and on
January 31, 2024, he passed away.

About Cory Weeds:

Cory Weeds is an expressive saxophonist with a warm and impactful sound rooted in jazz tradition. Jazz aficionados know that Cory, when playing tenor or alto sax, conveys an unerring sense of swing.

Recording more than 20 albums as a leader that document his dynamic saxophone playing on both hard-swinging tunes and gentle ballads, he has shared stages and recording studios with the likes of Bill Charlap, Joey DeFrancesco, Champian Fulton, Jeff Hamilton, Harold Mabern, Roy McCurdy, Brad Turner, and many other high-level artists.

He’s a fearless musician who embraces a broad range of playing situations and then delivers with performances that shine.
So that’s Cory Weeds, passionate jazz musician, in a nutshell.