Lenny Solomon
Lenny Solomon (born 28 September 1952) is a Canadian jazz, pop, and classical violinist and composer. An active studio musician, he has performed on hundreds of recordings and soundtracks, including albums by Nigel Kennedy, Anne Murray, and John McDermott. He has also recorded two of his own jazz albums: After You've Gone and The Gershwin Sessions. He has appeared as a guest soloist with a number of orchestras, including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, and has served as concertmaster for a variety of theatrical entertainments. He has been awarded The Jazz Report 's annual Violinist of the Year award three times.[1]
Solomon was born in Toronto. He attended Vaughan Road Collegiate Institute alongside his also musically talented older sister Maribeth. His father was a principal violinist with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in that timeframe. A pupil of violinists Albert Pratz and Steven Staryk, Solomon co-founded the Canadian folk-pop music group Myles and Lenny in 1969 with Myles Cohen. He was actively performing and recording with the group during most of the 1970s, and in 1976 they won a Juno Award. In 1982 he formed the pop string quintet Quintessence with guitarist Bill Bridges. He made a couple recordings with that ensemble for Duke Street Records and also toured with them throughout Canada during the 1980s.
During the 1990s, Solomon was actively touring with two trios: the Lenny Solomon Trio, which was dedicated to jazz violin, and The Galaxy Trio, a group which blended classical and jazz styles. He formed the latter group in 1997 with violinist Moshe Hammer and pianist Bernie Senensky. In 2000 he founded the violin ensemble Bowfire which made its debut performance at Expo 2000. That same year he established the chamber group Trio Norté. He currently remains active performing and recording with both groups.
In 2015, Lenny enlisted Marc Ganetakos and longtime collaborator and bassist Shelly Berger to help write and perform on his new album, The Blues Violin.