True Jive Pluckers
When Ed Minevich, Jack Semple, and Steve McLellan get together over a pint and burger, the conversation will inevitably turn to the discussion of great music and the thrill of performing. It was on one such evening, that they came up with the idea of forming a trio with a musical palette that would meld all their varied, favourite genres. This includes a rather broad spectrum of music, since each brings to the trio his own unique musical experience and that has been pretty diverse and extensive. These are three guys with a lot of pluck!
Violin plucker, Eduard Minevich, doesn’t like to limit his musical tastes. Although strictly classically educated at the prestigious St. Petersburg Conservatory in Russia, he is not strictly a classical musician. He particularly likes to explore the worlds of Jazz, Gypsy, Klezmer and his favorite, Tango. Ed’s musical career has been a cosmopolitan one, taking him around the globe as a soloist and music director, playing for such eminent state figures as President Putin, Prince Charles and his mum, Queen Elizabeth. He and Canadian fiddle champion, Frank Leahy, wrote and arranged the shows Bending The Bows and Road To Carnegie, which they have performed with many, major Canadian and American orchestras. Since arriving in Regina as Concert Master of the Regina Symphony Orchestra he has been thrilled to undertake new musical adventures with his soul mates, Jack and Steve. He especially enjoys arranging music for the “Pluckers”.
Guitar plucker, Jack Semple, has played everywhere from the Vancouver to the Montreaux Jazz Festivals. He has worked for CBC radio and TV, won a Juno Award, and shared the stage with a wide range of top artists from Martha Reeves, to k.d. lang and Ronnie Hawkins. In 1992 he was the national winner of the Much Music “Guitar Wars” competition. Jack has recorded extensively and recently won a Western Canadian Music Award for his acoustic CD “Qu’Appelle”. Heralded as a blues guitar virtuoso, he is also an acclaimed composer and has many movie scores and television themes to his credit, including the film Guitarman, in which he also played the title role. Born and raised in Saskatchewan, Jack loves the prairies. Regina is where he chooses to make his home and as serendipity would have it, that’s where he met two neat guys named Ed and Steve.
Bass plucker, Stephen McLellan, studied with the legendary Thomas Monohan, at the University of Toronto. His beginnings however were really as a bass guitarist playing Rock, Rhythm and Blues, and Jazz in a number of Toronto bands. He has also performed in everything from Broadway musicals like Phantom of the Opera, Grease, and the touring company of Forever Plaid, to tours with the National Ballet of Canada and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet that have taken him all over the continent. He has played bass guitar for the late, great Chet Atkins and has worked as a studio musician for performers like Anne Murray. He has recorded widely with the CBC, and appeared, playing his bass, in the film Youkali Hotel. Stephen is the Principal Bassist with the Regina Symphony Orchestra. For him, plucking with Ed and Jack is pure pleasure!
Two recent CD releases, We Are Here (December ’08) and Tango (January ’09) are currently available on their website.
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