Jerry Toth
"The Consummate
Musician who did everything"
Jerry Toth, one of Canada's most
celebrated musicians who helped immortalize Canada's hockey anthem
and who once conducted Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald, passed
away at age 70.
A long time contributor to the
CBC, Jerry conducted and orchestrated the theme for CBC's
Hockey Night in Canada, which was written by Dolores Clayman. A
Consummate Musician, Jerry excelled in all areas in music and was
recognized equally for his playing, arranging and composing.
Through his arrangements, he was able
to take the simple tune and transform it into a stirring orchestral
classic that has become embedded in the minds of all
Canadians.
Jerry became heavily involved with
music productions and orchestras at the CBC and recorded on many
albums, including his own.
As a member of two of Canada's biggest
Jazz bands- Nimmons
"N" Nine Plus Six in the 1950's to
1970's and the Emmy-winning Rob
McConnell and the Boss Brass from the
1970's to 1990's- Jerry was known for his unique style of Saxophone
playing.
"He was one of Canada's most excellent
musicians" Mr. McConnell said. "He was as good a musician as I've
ever met."
"He brought a unique quality to playing
the saxophone," said Phil Nimmons, leader of the band. "There was
great passion and a beautiful sound when he played. It was so
distinctive, beautiful and warm, and stood out apart from a lot of
his contemporaries."
Born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, he grew up surrounded by music,
inheriting the talents of his musical family. His father as a
violinist-gypsy musician who had come from Czechoslovakia. Although
he tried to follow in his father's footsteps, he soon discovered he
hated the violin and instead chose the alto saxophone. It was just
one instrument he would master along with piccolo, flute, clarinet
and soprano sax.
He received his early education in
Toronto and later studied at the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music in
the early 1950's. When he came back to Toronto, he was immediately
asked to join the CBC orchestra and became lead saxophone
player.
Jerry, played for a number of variety
shows, including Parade, The Jack Kane Show, The Hit Parade,
Summertime, and Wayne and Shuster.
He was also conductor, arranger, and
sound consultant for the Times Jazz Festival, an event bringing many
Jazz greats together, including Jazz legends Duke Ellington, Ella
Fitzgerald, Count Bassie, Dave Brubeck, Doc Severevson and Benny
Goodman. As artistic Director, he toured with the festival across
Canada making sure Canadian talent would also be showcased.
Despite little schooling in
composition, he had a great ear for music, instinctively knowing what
was right and what was wrong in a session. He would immediately pick
out a wrong note and halt the roomful of musicians, gently
instructing one of them that they had played something wrong and
that, for example, an a-sharp would be much more appropriate than a
b-flat.
"I remember when we were very young
starting out in the music business, about 15 or 16 and playing with
the school band and I couldn't get a vibrato from my sax," recalled
Moe Koffman. "And marveled how we could do it."
"When he played you forgot about his
writing and when he wrote you forgot about his playing," said Moe
Koffman, who played with Mr. Toth in the saxophone section on
thousands of sessions. "He excelled at all of them. He was the
consummate musician who did everything."
His reputation extended past the
Canadian borders, as he did a great deal of work in the United
States.
In Los Angeles, he composed, conducted,
contributed and arranged for television shows, including A Christmas
Carol with Rich Little, which won an Emmy for best production of the
year and Once Upon Brothers Grimm also nominated for an Emmy. When
the Radio Center Music Hall from New York was putting on a special
jazz show, Mr. Toth was asked to serve as audio consultant.
Although he could have easily set up shop in Los Angeles or New York,
he preferred to be in Toronto, close to family.
As a paid consultant when Toronto's Roy
Thompson Hall was built, he complained about concrete in the hall
that he said was no good for the sound and his feedback resulted in
huge plexiglass discs being placed over the stage.
He began to concentrate more on
arranging and also orchestrated and conducted A Place to Stand, the
Ontario Place theme song written for the Ontario Pavilion at Expo '67
in Montreal.
With his brother, he set up a jungle
business in the 1960's and began composing television and radio
commercials, which became a main source of income, writing jingles
for General Motors and all the Breweries.
In 1987, he conducted a Russian show
out of Quebec as part of a cultural pact Brian Mulroney, then Prime
Minister, had with the Soviet Union. To soften the relationships
between Canada and the Soviet Union, the government sent a male army
Russian choir and dancers as Mr. Toth acted as their
conductor.
"He was a truly good person, honest, in
all our lives together, he never said anything other than hell or
damn." said wife Lucille. "He was not a prude, but language indicates
anger....and he didn't seem to have anger, he was a very peaceful
man."
Jerry is survived by his wife, daughter
Caroline, grandson Ryan, brothers Tony and Rudy, and sister
Gloria.
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