Hugh Marsh

Hugh Marsh (born June 5, 1955) is a violinist from Toronto, known for his electric violin sound. Marsh was nominated for a 2007 Juno Award in the best contemporary jazz album category. Early days Marsh was born in Montreal, Quebec and brought up in Ottawa, Ontario, where he learned to play the violin from the age of five but it was when he tried playing the saxophone while at Canterbury high school that led to him exploring jazz, funk and rhythm and blues. With his father's encouragement, he transferred these improvisation skills to the electric violin. He is the brother of musician Fergus Marsh. Career In 1978, Marsh was invited by jazz musician Moe Koffman to perform with him in a concert series at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto. This led to gigs at top Toronto jazz club George's Spaghetti House and to performances with Canadian jazz musicians Marsh had long admired such as Doug Riley, Claude Ranger, Sonny Greenwich and Don Thompson. After meeting Bruce Cockburn in 1979, Cockburn invited Marsh to join his band for recordings and tours.