Musician Guides/Current Calendar Ranking

Verified Global Musician

Brian Dickinson

Brian Dickinson is a Canadian pianist, composer, arranger, bandleader, and educator with an extensive leader catalog and long-running Toronto teaching practice.

PianoComposerArrangerEducator4 current shows
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Photo source · Photo: KSMF Webmaster, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Career Overview

About Brian Dickinson

Dickinson’s official biography identifies a Canadian jazz career extending across more than sixty recordings, including more than ten releases as a leader. It documents trio, quartet, duo, large-ensemble, and string-quartet formats alongside extensive work as a sideman.[1][2]

The same source records long-running teaching at Humber College and earlier University of Toronto work in improvisation, composition, ear training, and piano. Dickinson’s leader discography ranges from In Transition through collaborations with Jerry Bergonzi, Kenny Wheeler, Lee Konitz, and the Penderecki String Quartet.[1][2]

Ensembles and Career Threads

Bands & Projects

Leader, pianist, composer, and arranger

Brian Dickinson leader groups

The official discography spans trio, quartet, quintet, jazz-orchestra, and strings-based leader formats.[1][2]

Leader, pianist, and composer

The Rhythm Method

Dickinson’s biography documents an original-music group with Kelly Jefferson, Luis Deniz, Neil Swainson, and Ted Warren.[1]

Piano educator and ensemble director

Humber College

His official biography records teaching in piano, improvisation, composition, theory, ensembles, and master classes.[1]

Selected, Not Exhaustive

Recordings to Know

1991 · Unity

In Transition

Leader and pianist

Dickinson’s official biography identifies this leader album in the chronology of his award-recognized Canadian recordings.[1][2]

Release details

2012 · Addo Records

Other Places

Quartet leader and pianist

The quartet recording features saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi and represents Dickinson’s acoustic small-group writing.[1][2]

Release details

2014 · Addo Records

Fishs Eddy

Trio leader and pianist

The trio album is documented in Dickinson’s leader discography and artist-authorized Bandcamp catalog.[1][2][3]

Release details

Artist-Authorized Destinations

Start Listening

Brian Dickinson on Bandcamp

Stream artist-authorized leader recordings across trio, quartet, and collaborative formats.

Official media archive

Watch Dickinson’s solo, ensemble, and collaborative performances on his artist site.

Live Calendar

Upcoming Jazz DateBook Shows

Wed, Sep 23, 8:00 PM

Pat LaBarbera /Kirk MacDonald Quintet Celebrating John Coltrane at 100

The Rex · Toronto

Show details

Thu, Sep 24, 8:00 PM

Pat LaBarbera /Kirk MacDonald Quintet Celebrating John Coltrane at 100

The Rex · Toronto

Show details

Fri, Sep 25, 8:00 PM

Pat LaBarbera /Kirk MacDonald Quintet Celebrating John Coltrane at 100

The Rex · Toronto

Show details

Sat, Sep 26, 8:00 PM

Pat LaBarbera /Kirk MacDonald Quintet Celebrating John Coltrane at 100

The Rex · Toronto

Show details

Evidence-Based Connections

Related Musician Guides

Connections below come from shared current Jazz DateBook bills or normalized documented performance roles—not subjective similarity.

Kirk MacDonaldTenor saxophone · Soprano saxophone4 shared current showsNeil SwainsonDouble bass · Composer4 shared current showsPat LaBarberaTenor saxophone · Alto saxophone4 shared current showsTerry ClarkeDrums · Bandleader4 shared current showsAdrean FarrugiaPiano · ComposerShared documented roles: Pianist · Composer · EducatorAmina FigarovaPiano · ComposerShared documented roles: Pianist · Composer · Arranger

Sources

Career copy is original synthesis from the artist, label, and project sources below. Current dates come from Jazz DateBook event inventory.

  1. [1] Official biography, teaching history, and selected catalog

    Brian Dickinson

  2. [2] Official leader and sideman discography

    Brian Dickinson

  3. [3] Artist-authorized recording catalog

    Brian Dickinson