We are  45north - Paul, bass - Jean, trumpet - Paul, keys - Ralph, sax - Bill Brown, drums 

and, in case you're wondering how we got the band name, scroll to the bottom...

01 Little Sunflower excerpt.mp3

   I have also been on baritone sax in a nonet 'Alternate Takes' and we released our 2nd CD at our concert at Merrickville's Jazz Fest in Oct 2018 - the tune above is an excerpt from the first track on that CD, Little Sunflower

You can purchase copies of Alternate Takes new CD 'Urban Sunflower' at the Alternate Takes web site

- recordings of 45north below -

45north band

45north band is a 5-piece band - trumpet, sax, piano, bass and drums.  We perform a varied repertoire of great jazz tunes, many    by Canadian artists.  Our arrangements are done by us, Jean Trudel has done many, or by others specifically for 45north.  For Canada's 150th celebrations in 2017 we added a group of tunes to our repertoire that were non-jazz tunes but all by Canadians.  We have now reverted back to our all jazz repertoire, a short list is below, and we are now adding a number or original tunes as well as we continue to refine our book.  Our tunes tend to be lyrical and melody driven and thus accessible both to jazz audiences and non-jazz audiences alike.  

Contact Ralph Hopper for booking information or general inquiries:    email  phone: 613-833-3509  -  cell: 613-882-8464

45north is:  Ralph Hopper, saxes; Jean Trudel, trumpet/flugel; Paul O'Connor, keyboards; Paul Soble, bass; Bill Brown, drums

A sample listing of tunes by Canadian artists that forms the core of our repertoire:

    • Dissfunktion     by Manteca
    • Honeydew Harbour     by David Restivo [Toronto]
    • Fissure  and Other Fascination     by Nick MacLean [Snaggle - Toronto]
    • Cowboy Bebop and The Work Song     by David Braid [Toronto]
    • Stanstill  and  Sonny's Way    by Mike Murley [Toronto]
    • Blue Jeans  and  LeBreton Flats   by Rob Lussier [Ottawa]
    • Blue Jade     by Joe Sealy  [Toronto] 
    • Hockey Night in Canada theme arranged by Jean Trudel
    • Intrada      by Alan Matheson [Vancouver]
    • Jazz Dance    by Paul Novotny [Toronto]
    • In The Blues Garden and Sundown Comin' and Swamp Gator Crawl by Bill King [Toronto]
    • Search Warrant     by Cameron Wallis - Montreal Hard Bop 5
    • Signal to Noise and Dimpled Chad     by Jean Trudel 
    • Eight By Eight and Green's 'N Blues  by Ralph Hopper
    • Let's Go  by Tilden Webb and Cory Weeds [Vancouver]
    • The Pour  by Ross Taggart and Cory Weeds [Vancouver]
    • Open Season  by Brian Dickinson
    • Vernal Fields  by Christine Jensen
      •     Some non-Canadian tunes
    • Street Singer  and Open Sesame  by Tina Brooks
    • Five Spot After Dark   by Benny Golson
    • Alter Ego   by James Williams
    • Ale House Rock  by Rick Hirsch
    • Line For Lyons and Rico Apollo and Festive Minor and Soft Shoe   by Gerry Mulligan
    • Short Stop   by Shorty Rogers
    • Can't Wait For Perfect and Fiction by Bob Reynolds
    • Blues for T.H. and Nice Groove and Tears Forever by Reed Kotler [arr by Bobby Shew]
    • I Know You  and An Elusive Man  by Gordon Goodwin
    • Dance of Denial  by Michael Philip
    • Three In One by Wayne Wallace


                                            Click here to contact me for information, available dates and rates.

A short video of 45north playing at Fatboys in April 2017.  Great crowd that night.  A couple of solos from 'LeBreton Flats' by Jean [tpt] and Ed [gtr].  Video by Albert Kaprielian

 

45north at the Ottawa Jazz Festival, June 26, 2018

Click here and let me know if you wish to be on our mailing list so you know about upcoming performances 

Upcoming gigs:     Saturday, Apr 27, from 9pm Fatboys Southern Smokehouse   34 Murray Street in the Market

                               Sunday, May 5, from 4pm Industria Pizzeria + Bar at 225 Marche Way in Lansdowne Park

     Hope to see lots of folks out to either/both of these shows.  

  Email me for information    


Recent gigs:

June 26, 2018, Ottawa Jazz Festival, this was a one hour set in Confederation Park - oooohhh was that a hot day!  Loved it and the audience was great. 

July 1, 2018,Canada Day celebrations in Merrickville.  Again, soooooo hot but a great time.  Thanks Merrickville


2017:

45north performed the opening concert at Merrickville's Jazz Fest on Oct 12.  We performed an all Canadian jazz set

May 20, we played at Greenfields Gastro Pub, Barrhaven

April 1, great time at Fatboys once again.  A couple of photos below...

2016

December 20, we played at the Rainbow Bistro, Murray St

December 17, we played at Fatboys Smokehouse, Murray St 

Dec 11, we played at the Record Centre, Wellington St - see review below...

 Sept - Les Brasseurs du Temps - we had a great time playing to a full house

We were in the studio recording some demo tracks in March 2017 and the results are posted here.  LeBreton Flats now posted along with a short version [no solos] of Dissfunktion by Manteca and Honeydew Harbour by David Restivo, a tune on his excellent recent CD 'The Waves' - also Work Song, a tune written by David Braid .

Here's the recordings we have.  'LeBreton Flats' is a full length version from our recording session in March 2017 - a tune written by Rob Lussier.  The others here are short versions of 45north performing 'Blue Jeans', another tune written by Rob Lussier who is from Ottawa; 'Honeydew Harbour' a wonderful grooving tune by David Restivo;   'Dissfunktion', by Manteca from their CD 'Onward'; 'Work Song' is by David Braid.  'Stanstill' is a Mike Murley tune .

LeBreton Flats performed by 45north band.mp3

Honeydew Harbour full mix.mp3

Dissfunktion performed by 45north.mp3

Work Song performed by 45north.mp3

Blue Jeans performed by 45north .mp3

Stanstill performed by 45north in head.MP3


Our gig at BDT, Sept 2016



            45north at Fatboys Smokehouse, April, 2017

Here are a few short clips to give you an idea about other tunes we play - these are not us but we will have our own recordings posted as soon as we can.

Open Season Brian Dickinson short edit.mp3

Search Warrant short edit MTL HB5.mp3

Blue Jade short edit Paul Novotny & Joe Sealy.mp3

Fissure by Snaggle.mp3

Intrada by Alan Matheson short edit.mp3

In the Blues Garden by Bill King short edit.mp3

Alter Ego short edit Roy Hargrove.mp3


     45north at the Record Centre in2017 - photo by Brett Delmage     ottawajazzscene.ca


 Here's a few photos from our recording session March 23, 2017. Photos by Albert Kaprielian - official 45north photographer


 Ralph Hopper, Ottawa, Ontario, K4C1B8  

613-833-3509

THE BANDNAME - 45north

Ottawa [city hall] lies at Latitude  45.42N and Longitude  75.69W   -  so, being based in Ottawa we shortened that up a bit and decided 45north worked as our band name  


Ottawa, Ontario K1P 1J1
613-833-3509

    Review posted by Ottawajazzscene.ca from our gig at the Record Centre, Dec 11, 2016  


   45north plays all-Canadian jazz with enthusiasm and flair

The Ottawa jazz sextet specializes in music by fellow Canucks – both straight jazz and jazz fusion interpretations of pop and rock songs. So Joni Mitchell's “Both Sides Now” was followed by Mike Murley's “Stanstill”, and David Braid's “Cowboy Bebop” by the Powder Blues Band's “Doin' It Right”.

The combination – lively and upbeat, with horns – was a good antidote to the looming dark and frigid weather outside. The band played to customers who came and went and a varied group of listeners who stayed and clapped enthusiastically – adding to the beat during some songs as well as afterwards. Near the end of the show, a youngster in a blue snowsuit (and a 'Canada' toque) peered through the outer door from the sidewalk in fascination for almost 10 minutes, but couldn't be coaxed inside to hear the band directly.

45north – Ralph Hopper on tenor sax, Jean Trudel on trumpet, Paul O'Connor on keyboards, Ed Stevens on guitar, Andre Van Schyndel on bass, and Steve Barrette on drums – ended their hour-long show with a rousing version of Joni Mitchell's classic “Raised on Robbery”, with Van Schyndel giving the vocals suitable va-voom. At the end, one of the band members had sudden second thoughts, and audibly wondered whether they really should have played a song about robbery in a record store – to the amusement of the audience.

    – Alayne McGregor

see the full review and all the photos at Ottawajazzscene.ca