Information/Write-up
Pete Schofield was a Don Mills–based bandleader, saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger, and educator who carved out a unique place in Canada’s music landscape by championing the sound of young musicians. Beginning in the 1960s, he built one of Toronto’s most ambitious youth big-band programs, assembling ensembles of exceptionally talented teen players and guiding them through professional-level repertoire, arrangements, and recording sessions long before high-school jazz bands became common. His groups — often billed as Pete Schofield & The Canadians — blended the discipline and sophistication of the swing era with the modern pop, soul, and soundtrack influences shaping contemporary radio, creating a “now sound” that echoed Benny Goodman and Count Basie as confidently as Burt Bacharach, Jimmy Webb, and film theme composers of the day.
Working from Toronto’s Don Mills community, Schofield rehearsed, arranged, and recorded with remarkable focus, turning basements and school auditoriums into training grounds for young brass, reed, and rhythm-section players. His bands were promoted in period liner notes as youthful — ages often ranging from fourteen to seventeen — yet they performed with a maturity and precision that drew attention from broadcasters, festival organizers, and audiences across Ontario. The ensemble won recognition at the Western Ontario Band Festival in 1966, appeared in concert halls, gymnasiums, and civic events, and helped establish a pipeline of emerging talent in the Toronto region. For many players, Schofield’s band was the first step toward a life in music; future jazz figures, including tenor saxophonist Grant Stewart, credited these early opportunities as formative.
Schofield recorded several albums capturing this fresh hybrid of dance-band swing and pop-era flair. His first widely distributed LPs — including It’s a Sign of the Times and The Now Sound — appeared on Quality Records’ Birchmount label, featuring spirited interpretations of hits such as “San Jose,” “Wichita Lineman,” and “Up, Up & Away,” alongside standards like “The Shadow of Your Smile.” He later launched his own imprint, P.S. Records, to issue Do Something Nice Today! and Yes It’s Toronto, the latter highlighting vocalist Karen Hendrix and celebrating the band’s civic roots with renewed confidence and broader orchestral colour. Across these recordings, Schofield showcased crisp horn voicings, polished rhythm work, and the enthusiasm of young musicians performing charts designed to stretch both skill and imagination.
Beyond his recordings, Schofield’s true legacy lies in mentorship. He nurtured musical ability at the grassroots, bridging classical woodwind training, jazz arranging, commercial studio sensibilities, and stagecraft. His bands represented a rare blend of community spirit and professional expectation — a place where teenagers learned charts straight from the bandstand tradition, were treated as serious musicians, and performed with the drive and polish of far older ensembles. In doing so, he contributed to the development of a generation of Toronto players and helped sustain big-band culture in Canada during a changing musical era.
Pete Schofield remains remembered not only for the albums that captured his youthful, contemporary swing sound, but for the hundreds of young musicians who passed through his program — many of whom continued into Canada’s jazz, studio, and music-education communities. His recordings offer a snapshot of a vibrant moment when modern pop met big-band tradition in suburban Toronto, and when one bandleader's dedication turned after-school rehearsals into something far larger: a proving ground for Canada’s next wave of talent.
-Robert Williston
Pete Schofield: soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, clarinet
Ron Grant: alto saxophone, clarinet
George Xeras: baritone saxophone, tenor saxophone, alto saxophone, clarinet
Doug Oliver: tenor saxophone, clarinet
Pete Walters: baritone saxophone, tenor saxophone, clarinet
Ian McVey: trumpet
Brian Loncard: drums
Rick Hinds: bass guitar, bass
Bob Edwards: trombone
George Collins: organ, piano
Arranged by Ed Graf and Jerry Nichols
Engineered by Pete Houston
Photography by Ron Aller
Cover design by Josh Togawa
Cover Description
The new Toronto City Hall
Probably the most advanced architectural design in the world today, with the controversial work-of-art in the architect’s foreground showing the hand of man chosen to depict A Sign of the Times and also an excellent Canadian house-painter.
Liner notes:
At a time when the Canadian public cries out for true Canadian talent, we are proud to present this amazing young group of musicians (14 to 17) in a programme designed to meet every musical taste.
A completely brand new sound has emerged in the dance band field.
A musical idea — created, tried and proved — appealing to both the young and old dance crowds.
Dance or listen to an extremely young and talented group of musicians blending the very best of the old with the best of today’s modern sounds.
“...far and away the best group I’ve ever heard.”
Gerald Levine, Toronto Star, Record critic
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