Canadian musician

Lorne Lofsky

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Canadian musician
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Lorne Lofsky (born May 10, 1954) is a Canadian jazz guitarist who was a member of the Oscar Peterson Quartet.

Lofsky began playing rock music at school dances but later took an interest in jazz after hearing the album Kind of Blue by Miles Davis. In the 1970s, he attended York University in Toronto and studied music while working at clubs in Toronto. He worked with Canadian musicians Butch Watanabe and Jerry Toth and with visiting Americans Pepper Adams, Bob Brookmeyer, and Chet Baker.

In 1980, Lofsky met Canadian pianist Oscar Peterson, who produced his first album, It Could Happen to You. He toured with Peterson in the 1980s, and he toured and recorded as a member of Peterson's quartet and quintet in the 1990s. Lofsky has also worked with Ed Bickert, Ruby Braff, Rosemary Clooney, Kirk MacDonald, Rob McConnell, Tal Farlow, Dizzy Gillespie, Johnny Hartman, and Clark Terry.

From 1983 to 1991 Lofsky played in a quartet with jazz guitarist Ed Bickert. This collaboration yielded two recordings (one of which was for the prestigious Concord label entitled This Is New) and a tour of Spain in 1991.

In the early-1980s, Lofsky began an important musical association with saxophonist Kirk Macdonald leading to the formation of a quartet. Various versions of this quartet have played numerous dates outside of Toronto, including the Atlantic Jazz Festival, Montreal's Upstairs Club, and Vancouver's Cotton Club.

Lofsky has taught at York University and the University of Toronto.