Grapevine Presents: Nick Maclean's SNAGGLE feat. the ALI BROS (Warkworth)

Grapevine Presents: Nick Maclean's SNAGGLE feat. THE ALI BROS

www.NicholasMaclean.com/Snaggle

"Groovy, soulful & exploratory... reminds me of a band I used to play in!"
- Randy Brecker, Grammy winning jazz trumpet legend (NYC, USA)

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This May, NICK MACLEAN'S SNAGGLE feat. the ALI BROS hits the road for an extensive tour across Ontario and Quebec. Under the leadership of JUNO nominated and 10X Global Music Award winning jazz pianist NICK MACLEAN, SNAGGLE is an electric-jazz-funk ensemble often described by media as “Canada’s answer to Snarky Puppy”. The group features as its frontline the all-star horn duo the ALI BROS. BROWNMAN ALI (Guru, Jay-Z, Randy Brecker) and MARCUS ALI (Matt Dusk, Jason Wilson, Mr Something Something), both highly decorated and renowned musicians, have been featured as a pair on countless records owing to the almost telepathic synergy they share in addition to their highly sought-after talents as individual soloists. Maclean and the Ali Bros stand shoulder to shoulder with some of Toronto’s top-tier electric jazz players: JAY YOO on guitar, MATT GRUEBNER on bass, and ADAM MANSFIELD on drums. Sporting an all-original repertoire the group has a fearless and muscular yet introspective sound likened to a cross between electric-era Miles Davis and Rage Against the Machine that swings their live show from quietly contemplative all the way to explosively fierce - sometimes all within the same tune.
Debuting brand new material to be featured on an upcoming full length studio album, these performances will feature deeply exploratory, groovy electric-jazz that audiences will not want to miss.

“Snaggle takes influences from great electric jazz artists like Weather Report and Snarky Puppy as a springboard for our own modern day exploration”, states Nick. “The goal here is to create deeply exploratory music that takes the audience on an expansive, epic journey all while grooving our asses off! Music for the mind and soul!”

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Grammy-winning trumpet legend Randy Brecker writes:
“So now my main man Brownman has opened the doors of his label Browntasaurus Records to local artists he's been associated with in Toronto and other locales, and the first label release from young pianist Nick Maclean's 6-man electric-jazz group SNAGGLE is most impressive! The music on Long Slog is very, very challenging, yet groovy, soulful & exploratory at the same time. Brownman himself guests on 2 tunes and fits in with flying colors -- no easy task given how difficult some of this music is! Extremely well performed, written and executed you Snagglers, with high-end production from Brown in the producer's chair. Very impressive work. Reminds me of a band I used to play in! Really well done guys.”
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Canadian jazz piano giant David Restivo writes:
“Snaggle plays music without borders, music that is at once sophisticated and inclusive, bristling with infectious funk grooves, rock riffs, and jazz-based improvisations woven into a tapestry of an ambitious yet accessible compositional palette. Seemingly irreconcilable influences vie for attention, from heavy, Zeppelinesque rock riffery to gentle jazz-funk, with hints of Radiohead and the Brian Blade Fellowship Band sprinkled in for good measure, all stitched together in a seamless, somehow inevitable way.”
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The Midwest Record writes:
“Funk/jazz fans, the next generation is in the house… A bunch of hard charging lads that probably can't do anything but deliver the goods, this is what you have to play when you need to get the blood flowing. Smoking stuff throughout.”
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About Bandleader NICK MACLEAN
www.NicholasMaclean.com
Based in Toronto, the JUNO nominated NICK MACLEAN is the winner of 10 Global Music Awards as well as a Toronto Independent Music Award, and has quickly become one of the most in demand 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 especially as it relates to solo piano performance. Also among his list of mentors Nick has studied and performed with "Canada's preeminent jazz trumpet player" (NYC Village Voice), the highly decorated Brownman Ali who signed Maclean to his Brooklyn-based jazz label Browntasauras Records in 2016 and later brought him on board as a label manager. Additional musical influences include the likes of Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Brad Meldau, Weather Report, Branford Marsalis Quartet, Hiromi Uehara, Art Tatum, Miles Davis, Avishai Cohen (bass), Vijay Iyer, and Brian Blade. Maclean leads two award-winning groups who've received international critical acclaim - the groove-based, all-original, eclectic electric-jazz project SNAGGLE, who's 2016 release THE LONG SLOG received 3 'Gold' Global Music Awards and a Toronto Independent Music Award, as well as the exploratory, post-bop influenced modern jazz ensemble NICK MACLEAN QUARTET who's 2017 release RITES OF ASCENSION was awarded 3 Gold Global Music Awards and has performed tours across Canada and internationally. His SOLO PIANO work is his introspective jazz project who's spirit draws influences from the contemplative and thoughtful stylings of jazz piano greats like Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett and Brad Mehldau. His 2021 double-disc solo piano release CAN YOU HEAR ME? won 2 Global Music Awards and went to #7 in the Canadian national jazz charts. The future is bright for this young visionary as he continues his upward ascent in jazz artforms of all shapes and sizes.

"Maclean's creative mind and aesthetics are obvious... his piano solos both lyrical and invigorating”
-- Ivana Popovic, The Wholenote (Toronto, Canada)
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About the ALI BROS:
www.Alibros.Brownman.com
Conceived in the spirit of multiple Grammy-winning outfit The Brecker Bros, ALI BROS embody the essence of jazz improvisational ideology erupting against a backdrop of powerful urban grooves. Latin, funk, hip-hop, drum'n'bass, R'n'B all colliding with modern jazz textures. Their uncanny musical relationship enhanced by blood, Brownman and Marcus Ali together form an incredibly synergistic, almost telepathic bond making them two of the most called upon horn men in the city. They have appeared side by side in countless horn sections in the Canadian professional music scene most notably as the backbone to the multi-award winning latin-jazz ensemble CRUZAO, Juno nominated reggae artist JASON WILSON, with reggaeton superstar FITO BLANKO, modern house outfit FUNKY HI-LIFE, african masters RADIO NOMAD, urban songstress SHYANN, pop-rock sensation CROSSBAC, merengue specialists DOMINICANADA, Salsa powerhouse MARRON MATIZADO, Trinidadian Calypso group BACCHANAL ALL-STARS and far too many more to list here...

"Two Brothers, Two Horns, One Mind”
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About BROWNMAN & BROWNTASAURAS RECORDS:
www.Brownman.com | www.Browntasauras.com
Born in Trinidad, NYC-schooled & heralded as “Canada’s preeminent Jazz trumpeter” by NYC’s Village Voice, multi award-winning and JUNO nominated trumpet player Brownman Ali stands at the forefront of innovation in the Canadian jazz community. A 2x National Jazz Award winner -- with a list of awards & accolades being far too long to list here -- he is the protege to Grammy-winning trumpet legend, RANDY BRECKER, and he tirelessly leads 8 unique ensembles of his own including the internationally acclaimed, Miles Davis influenced, BROWNMAN ELECTRYC TRIO. Now splitting his time between Toronto, Canada & Brooklyn, New York, he spent 4 years as the featured trumpet player with GURU's JAZZMATAZZ, doing 4 world tours, catapulting him into the hip-hop history books. He has since worked with a wide assortment of A-list artists such as Jay-z, Missy Elliot, Mos Def, Beyonce, Paul Simon and Quincy Jones. In 2009 he launched his own record label: Browntasauras Records, which saw the Electryc Trio's two now celebrated recordings garner a substantial number of awards & press. The label is not only a home to all 8 of Brownman's own ensembles, but now looks to sign the hottest 20-somethings in jazz. The Browntasauras roster includes the NICK MACLEAN QUARTET, SNAGGLE, MODUS FACTOR, SNAGGLE, NICK MACLEAN SOLO PIANO, and CHELSEA MCBRIDE'S SOCIALIST NIGHT SCHOOL. Now, using the label as a breeding ground for new and visionary talent in the modern jazz realm, Browntasauras and Brownman himself are widely regarded as vanguards for the evolution of Jazz in Canada.

"One of the next great voices in the new generation of jazz improvisers”
-- Randy Brecker, multi-grammy winning trumpet legend (NYC, USA)
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SEE SNAGGLE ON YOUTUBE:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLH_nNK-F1m0SGytFcq5p7FNxvvyS13K2I&si=diCkACGV_12ScMgn
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SNAGGLE feat. the ALI BROS is:

:: Nick Maclean -- keys/synth
:: Brownman Ali -- electric trumpet
:: Marcus Ali -- tenor sax
:: Jay Yoo -- electric guitar
:: Matt Gruebner -- electric bass
:: Adam Mansfield -- drums

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Sun-Jun-01, 2025
St Paul's United Church
60 Main St., Warkworth
www.StPaulsWarkworth.ca
$20 advance
$25 at the door
doors: 5:00pm

show: 6:00pm
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Presented by: Grapevine Magazine, St Paul's United Church & Browntasauras Records
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LINKS:
Nick Maclean
Official Website: www.NicholasMaclean.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/nickmacleanjazz
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/nickmacleanjazz
Facebook Official: www.facebook.com/NMJazz
Linktree: www.linktr.ee/nickmacleanjazz

Brownman Ali
Official Website: www.Brownman.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/BrownmanMusic
Youtube: www.youtube.com/@BrownmanMusicArchives
Facebook Official: www.facebook.com/BrownmanMusicOfficial
Twitter: www.twitter.com/BrownmanMusic
Linktree: www.linktr.ee/BrownmanMusic

Marcus Ali

Official Website: www.MarcusAli.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/marcus_ali
Facebook Official: www.facebook.com/marcusali1

Browntasauras Records
Official Website: www.Browntasauras.com/ (all the liner notes for all releases are available for free download here)
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BrowntasaurasRecords
Instagram: www.instagram.com/browntasaurasrecords

Grapevine Magazine

Official Website: www.GrapevineMagazine.ca