Hugh Marsh (born June 5, 1955) is a violinist from Toronto, known for his electric violin sound. 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.
In 1984, Marsh recorded his independent album The Bear Walks which was later distributed by Duke Street Records. He was supported on the album by Doug Riley (keyboards), Peter Cardinali (bass, production), and Michael Brecker (tenor sax). The album sold well and was distributed by Verabra Records in Germany, Austria and Switzerland in 1986.
Marsh recorded a follow-up album in 1987. Shaking The Pumpkin featured Bruce Cockburn (on "How the Violin Was Born"), Dalbello (on "Rules Are Made to be Broken") and singer Robert Palmer on a version of Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze". Marsh's collaboration with Robert Palmer on "Purple Haze" became a radio hit in Canada and the United States.
In 2000, Marsh performed with former Bauhaus singer Peter Murphy on his international Just For Love tour. The album Alive Just for Love was a live recording of a set from the tour's El Rey show in Los Angeles. This was followed by the studio album Dust and a subsequent North American tour.
Marsh collaborated on film scoring projects with composers Harry Gregson Williams and Don Rooke, with compositions featured on such films as Armageddon, Whatever Happened to Harold Smith, Spy Game, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, The Rundown, Veronica Guerin, Man on Fire, Shrek 2, Return to Sender, Domino, Kingdom of Heaven, The Chronicles of Narnia, Still Mine, and Seraphim Falls. He also worked with Hans Zimmer on scores for Tears of the Sun and The Da Vinci Code.
In 2004, Marsh joined clarinetist Don Byron's new quartet "Swiftboat", along with Kermit Driscoll on bass and Pheeroan Aklaff on drums. Marsh toured as part of trumpeter Jon Hassell's new quartet with bassist Peter Freeman and percussionist Steve Shehan.
Marsh is a four-time winner of the Jazz Report Award for violinist of the year and a three-time recipient of the National Jazz Award for violinist of the year.
Marsh's recording Hugmars was released in November 2006 and was nominated for a 2007 Juno Award in the best contemporary jazz album category.
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