Peter Appleyard

Peter Appleyard
Peter Appleyard with Dick Hyman, 2007 Toronto Jazz Festival.
Background information
Born	26 August 1928 Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, England, United Kingdom
Died	17 July 2013(2013-07-17) (aged 84) Eden Mills, Ontario
Genres	Jazz
Instruments	Vibraphone
Website	peterappleyardvibes.com

Peter Appleyard, OC (26 August 1928 – 17 July 2013) was a British–Canadian jazz vibraphonist, percussionist, and composer. He spent most of his life living and performing in the city of Toronto where for many years he was a popular performer in the city's nightclubs and hotels. He also played and recorded with many of the city's orchestras and been featured on Canadian television and radio programs. In the early 1970s he drew wide acclaim for his performances with Benny Goodman's jazz sextet with which he toured internationally. In 1992, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in recognition of his being an "internationally renowned vibraphonist [who] has represented the Canadian jazz community across North America, Europe, the Middle East and Australia".

Born in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, Appleyard became apprenticed to a nautical instrument maker after being forced to leave school owing to economic reasons related to the Second World War. At that time the popularity of the American Big Bands was growing in England, particularly through a major influx in big band recordings from America by jazz musicians like Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, and Count Basie. These recordings had a strong influence on Appleyard and he decided to pursue a career as a jazz musician. He began his career in the early 1940s playing in the Boys Brigade, a youth organization. He performed as a drummer in several other British dance bands during the 1940s and, while a member of the Royal Air Force during in the mid-1940s, played in RAF bands.

In 1949 Appleyard moved to Bermuda where he lived for two years. While there he spent his holidays in Canada and picked up his first set of vibes. He was so impressed with Canada that, when the time came to leave Bermuda the choice of a new home was easy - he headed for Toronto. At first, unable to get a union card in Toronto, Appleyard worked as a room booking clerk at the King Edward Hotel and as a salesman at Simpson's department store. He began studying music with Gordon Delamont and soon thereafter began playing the vibraphone in concerts with Billy O'Connor in the early 1950s. From 1954 to 1956 he played with a band at the Park Plaza Hotel and made numerous appearances on CBC Radio with jazz pianist Calvin Jackson. He formed his own jazz ensemble in 1957 which performed not only in Toronto but also toured throughout North America and appeared on American television during the 1960s. Among the ensemble's original members was pianist and arranger Jimmy Dale. The group notably accompanied singer Gloria DeHaven for a year.