Trombonist and composer Ian McDougall was born in Calgary in 1938, the son of George McDougall, a banjo and guitar player in Calgary during the 1920s. The younger McDougall took up trombone at age eleven in Victoria, B.C. and began playing in bands at age 12. In 1960, he went to England, where he was a member of the John Dankworth Orchestra and also played with the Ted Heath Orchestra. Returning to Canada in 1961 and settling in Vancouver in 1962, McDougall played in the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and was a member of the house band at the Cave. In 1966 he was briefly a member of the Woody Herman Orchestra. McDougall led jazz groups of various sizes, including a 12-piece big band and an 18-piece brass band, which were often heard on the CBC. In 1970 he founded Pacific Salt, remaining its leader until he moved to Toronto. In 1986, he moved to Victoria, B.C., was a sessional instructor at UBC and began teaching trombone, jazz studies and orchestration at the University of Victoria in 1988. McDougall’s compositions include several extended works for big band, among them The Jazz Suite, The Vancouver Suite and Pellet Suite. Other orchestral works include Tidelines (commissioned by the VSO), British Columbia Centennial Suite, and Mini-suite for the RCMP. He has recorded several albums with some of the top musicians and orchestras in the country.
