We are  45north - Paul S, bass - Jean, trumpet - Ralph, sax - Paul A, trombone - Bill, drums - Jaime Posen, piano

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


It is with great sadness that we note the passing of Paul O'Connor. Wonderful musician and great person. 

A part of 45north from the start and he will be greatly missed.

This is a recording we did some years ago with Paul on keys and soloing on this tune written by David Restivo

01 Little Sunflower excerpt.mp3

       Until recently I was on baritone sax in the 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 CD 'Urban Flower' by contacting me


- recordings of 45north below -

45north band

45north band is a 6-piece band - trumpet, sax, trombone, piano, bass and drums.  We perform a varied repertoire of great instrumental jazz tunes, many by Canadian artists.  Some of our arrangements are done by us, Jean Trudel has done many, or by others in some cases 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 of original tunes 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 inquiries:    email  phone:  cell: 613-882-8464

45north is:  Ralph Hopper, saxes; Jean Trudel, trumpet/flugel; Paul Adjeleian, trombone; Jaime Posen, keyboards; Paul Soble, bass; Bill Brown, drums

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

    • Dissfunktion     by Manteca
    • Honeydew Harbour     by David Restivo [Toronto]
    • Fissure, Mistaken Convergence  and Other Fascination     by Nick MacLean [Snaggle - Toronto]
    • Cowboy Bebop and The Work Song     by David Braid [Toronto]
    • Stanstill, Sonny's Way and Still Rollin'  by Mike Murley [Toronto]
    • Blue Jeans  and  LeBreton Flats   by Rob Lussier [Ottawa]
    • Blue Jade     by Joe Sealy  [Toronto] 
    • Intrada      by Alan Matheson [Vancouver]
    • Jazz Dance    by Paul Novotny [Toronto]
    • In The Blues Garden and Sundown Comin' by Bill King [Toronto]
    • Search Warrant  and  Mr. Hitchens  by Cameron Wallis - Montreal Hard Bop 5
    • Signal to Noise, Dimpled Chad, Identity Theft and Stop and Go    by Jean Trudel 
    • Eight By Eight, There Is No Time, Kindred Spirits, Blood Orange   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
    • Ubiquitous  by Neil Swainson
    • Vernal Fields  by Christine Jensen
    • Spies  and   Merge  by Dave Robbins
    • Number Nine  by Larry Graves
      •     Some non-Canadian tunes
    • Gypsy Blue  and Open Sesame  by Tina Brooks
    • Five Spot After Dark   by Benny Golson
    • Alter Ego   by James Williams
    • Hand of Love by Paul Chambers
    • Sudel, Wahoo and Big Bertha by Duke Pearson
    • Ale House Rock, Mirage and Free Food?  by Rick Hirsch
    • Line For Lyons and Festive Minor   by Gerry Mulligan
    • Manaus   by John Fedchock
    • I Found You, Optimism, Smooth  by Steve Davis [One For All]
    • All For One, Blues for All  by Eric Alexander [One For All]
    • Mode for Mabes    by Eric Alexander and Jim Rotondi
    • Gregory Is Here, Soulville, Sayonara Blues, Pretty Eyes  by Horace Silver
    • O.T.B. and Dance of Denial   by Michael Philip Mossman
    • Blues for T.H. and Nice Groove and Tears Forever by Reed Kotler [arr by Bobby Shew]
    • Samba Cya, Little Phat Shuffle   by Gordon Goodwin
    • Simple as That   by Peter Bernstein
    • November Afternoon  by  Tom McIntosh [Jazztet]
    • Totem Pole and Speedball  by Lee Morgan
    • Wahoo and Sudel  by Duke Pearson
    • Three In One by Wayne Wallace

45north is available for corporate and convention bookings.  Concert or background live jazz for your event.

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

Upcoming gigs:    2024:

Check back for more gigs     

Buster's Bar and Grill    November 21, 7pm - note that this is a Thursday.  Join us for our first booking at Buster's - 420 Hazeldean Road, Kanata.  We are excited to be there and will have lots of great tunes for you.  $5 cover.

  Email me for information    


A few of our recent gigs:

2023: We were back at Bar Robo/Queen Street Fare on Wednesday, December 6.

2022 - as we returned to some live venues after covid

November 30, Queen Street Fare, 170 Queen Street and Bar Robo

November 25, Montgomery Scotch Lounge, 750 Gladstone Ave.  

July 21, 2022, Montgomery Scotch Lounge, 750 Gladstone Ave.  We are delighted to be playing a live gig again!  


2019

May 5, 2019, Industria Pizzeria + Bar

Apr 27, 2019, Fatboys Southern Smokehouse


2018

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 

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

Two tracks that we recorded during the covid lockdown times in 2021 and 2022. 

Search Warrant    by Cameron Wallis  [HB5, Montreal] 

 Open Season    by Brian Dickinson        

These recordings include Paul O'Connor on keys

Number Nine QSF Nov 30 2022 edit.MP3

Number Nine is a tune written by Larry Graves and it is such a raucous, funky and fun tune to do.  Always an audience favourite.  Recording on our QSF/Bar Robo gig Nov 30, 2022

The following tunes were recorded live at Queen Street Fare/Bar Robo on Dec 6, 2023     with Jaime Posen now on keys with 45north

Wahoo 45north QSF Bar Robo Dec 6 2023 edit.MP3

Sayonara Blues 45north QSF Bar Robo Dec 6 2023 edit.MP3

Identity Theft 45north QSF Bar Robo Dec 6 2023 edit.MP3

The Way It Used To Be 45north QSF Bar Robo Dec 6 2023 edit.MP3

Gypsy Blue 45north QSF Bar Robo Dec 6 2023 edit.MP3

Cook's Bay 45north QSF Bar Robo Dec 6 2023 edit.MP3

In The Blues Garden 45north QSF Bar Robo Dec 6 2023 edit.MP3

Alter Ego 45north QSF Bar Robo Dec 6 2023 edit.MP3

Here's a photo and mp3 clip from our gig at Montgomery Scotch Lounge, July 21 - many thanks to Shinya Sato for sitting in on keys

This is In The Blues Garden, written by Bill King

MSL July 21 2022 In The Blues Garden edit for web site.MP3

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 include 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 .

Blue Jade [Joe Sealy] an off the floor recording from our gig at Fatboys in April 2019 

LeBreton Flats performed by 45north band.mp3

Blue Jade.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.

Fissure by Snaggle.mp3

Intrada by Alan Matheson short edit.mp3

Alter Ego short edit Roy Hargrove.mp3


 Here's a few photos from our recording session March 23, 2017. Photos by Albert Kaprielian 



[right]  Photo and video from our June 26 2018 Ottawa Jazz Festival.  Video by Albert Kaprielian


 Ralph Hopper, Ottawa, Ontario, K4C1B8  

613-882-8464

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
613-882-8464