Nick Maclean is a Toronto-based JUNO Award nominee and 10x Global Music Award-winning keyboard whiz whose musical versatility and adventurous spirit have made him a compelling presence in Canada’s jazz scene. Heading his own Nick Maclean Quartet with trumpet powerhouse Brownman Ali and the electric jazz ensemble SNAGGLE feat. ALI BROS, he explores the dynamic territory where jazz, funk, fusion and improvisation collide.

Performing alongside some of Canada’s most exciting contemporary jazz musicians, he brings creativity, rhythmic sensitivity and a distinctive musical voice to the ensemble. With a foundation in jazz and an appreciation for pushing musical boundaries, Maclean is part of a new generation of Canadian artists keeping the spirit of adventurous, boundary-breaking jazz alive. Hear him on keys as Brownman’s Halloween Thriller transforms Michael Jackson’s record Thriller through the sound of NYC electric jazz at The Cove Inn on Thursday, October 22, 2026 from 7-10 pm. Details and reservations here.

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Seamus Cowan: The piano can be a pretty demanding instrument, especially when you’re sharing the stage with musicians who love to push the boundaries. When you’re playing in the group with the Brownman, is there ever a moment when you think, “I have absolutely no idea where this is going!”?

Nick Maclean: All the time, honestly this is what I live for! Diving down the rabbit hole into the unknown is what jazz is all about, we're not trying to recreate a polished and perfected version of a tune, we're trying to explore something in real time. What you hear on stage is the band conversing - communicating. In the same way that conversations aren't scripted out neither are the tunes and because we all share a common musical language, we can not know what's going to happen next and have that be a source of excitement rather than terror. When you share a stage with people that you trust who you know are committed and uninhibited in their musical expression...there's nothing better!

Seamus: Your music ventures into some pretty adventurous territory. If you could mash up jazz with any completely unexpected musical genre, what would it be, and what might that sound like?

Nick Maclean: We already do this lots - the Thriller show itself is a great example of jazz and iconic pop music colliding, but during the show things might veer in a hip hop direction, they might veer cuban, D&B, possibly a touch of soca... the heart of jazz as an artform is the spontaneity of improvisation and this can and has been adapted to a whole wide range of different genres. The jazz umbrella these days includes jazz that is influenced by rock, hip hop, brazilian music, cuban music, indian classical music, classical music, and countless other forms. If jazz never swung again it would still be a highly active and healthy artform. Folks who want a taste of what some of that sounds like should come to the show!

Seamus: Every pianist has their influences, their favourite instruments and probably a few musical heroes. If you could sit down at the piano with any three musicians, living or dead, for an impromptu jam session, who would you invite, and who do you think would steal the show?

Nick Maclean: There are tons of people that I would LOVE to play with! Some of my deep influences include folks like Herbie Hancock, Bill Evans and Brad Mehldau, but if I had to narrow it down to three I would want to jam with, I would probably have to say the Wayne Shorter Quartet (minus Danilo Perez because I would want to be playing piano!). That group, Wayne Shorter (RIP), Brian Blade, John Patitucci and Danilo Perez played some of the most risk-taking and exploratory jazz I have ever seen. I know that with that assemblage of humans I would learn so much about spontaneity, irreverence, and just total freedom within structure. Each one of them is such an inspiring player...that would be an absolute dream.

Who do I think would steal the show? I don't think anyone would - the whole point of spontaneous expression is that it's a team sport - a dance - different people lead the dance at different times, but it's a group effort that lives and dies on everyone's contributions to the collective. In many cases that means you are playing some sort of supportive role, occasionally it means that you lay out entirely - but it's not about who can play the fastest or the loudest, it's about making good musical decisions in the space that you've all created. You can tell when you listen to a group like the Wayne Shorter Quartet there are no egos there - and there easily could be because they are all absolutely monstrous players - but they not only believe that principle, it's a way of life for them. 

Seamus: Jazz musicians are famous for their wacky stories, both on and off the stage. What’s the funniest, strangest or most completely unexpected thing that’s ever happened to you during a performance or while touring?

Nick Maclean: The road can be an unpredictable place, so there's definitely no shortage of stories, but maybe one of the most profound ones happened during the Nick Maclean Quartet feat. Brownman Ali's first national tour across Canada. We had just finished playing a show in Canmore, Alberta and I remember it being a really good night. The venue had a beautifully tuned grand piano, the band was digging deep and just killing it, and the audience was really appreciative and receptive. So afterwards we were feeling in very high spirits.

We were in the parking lot chatting, had just packed up the cars (because we were about to make the late night trek to Golden, BC, where our hotel rooms were booked). There was a lull in the conversation and things just got quiet and peaceful - it was snowing, it was dark, the stars were out and we were surrounded by mountains. We turned around and suddenly noticed that there was a large herd of elk standing behind us on the road beside the parking lot, just quietly watching us as we were packing up the cars. We had been grinding it out for weeks at that point, it was lots of fun but hard work and exhausting and in that moment it just confirmed, we're exactly where we need to be right now. It's a moment I will never forget.

Seamus: Imagine you’re given complete creative freedom, an unlimited budget and a year to put together your dream musical project. Who would be in your dream band, where would you record it, and what kind of musical madness would you unleash on the world?

Nick Maclean: I'm going to do something a little uncouth and answer your question by plugging a project, because apart from the 'unlimited budget', this basically describes the last two years of my life! I lead a group called SNAGGLE feat. ALI BROS which is an electric jazz ensemble that takes influences from groups like Weather Report, the Brecker Brothers, and Snarky Puppy. As far as my dream band goes, for the core of the ensemble I grabbed the Brownman Electryc Trio: Brownman Ali (trumpet), Matt Gruebner (bass), and Adam Mansfield (drums). Brownman is a close friend and a longtime musical collaborator who has a deep musical knowledge and staggering trumpet playing abilities and his trio is serious with an incredible depth of synergy and musical irreverence (make sure to check out the Thriller show to see that on display!).

So when it came time to choose guys for the next Snaggle record I knew I wanted them as the backbone of the ensemble. On tenor sax I grabbed Marcus Ali - Brownman's brother - who is an incredible and highly in demand woodwind player. Brown and Marcus grew up playing together so they have a remarkable ability to lock onto one another musically like they were born to it… because they were!

And finally on the electric guitar is the mighty Jay Yoo, a player I absolutely adore and one of the top electric guitar players in the scene. I wrote a series of tunes inspired by the literary genius of science fiction author Isaac Asimov and his Foundation universe (15 books across 3 series'). I'm a really big science fiction fan and Asimov is fascinating as a writer because he had such insight into humanity, so much so that books that were written as far back as the 1950s still feel relevant and even prescient for life and society today.

So I wrote 10 tunes inspired by characters, places, and ideas across those 15 novels and with my dream team assembled we honed them, toured them, and finally recorded them at Revolution Recording in Toronto. The band really outdid themselves, every single one of them sounds incredible on this album and we've put a lot of work into the narrative so that every tune tells stories about robots, struggles for power, knowledge, prediction, and the rise and fall of civilizations. We've already released a few singles and the full record, Foundation, will be released Friday, October 30. People can find out more and check out the singles here.

Posted: Oct 9, 2026