Robert Murray Gordon McConnell, born February 14, 1935, in London, Ontario,
Canada, was a Canadian jazz valve trombonist, composer, arranger, and
bandleader. McConnell began playing valve trombone in high school and performed
in dance bands with Don Thompson and Maynard Ferguson during the 1950s. In 1968,
McConnell formed the big band The Boss Brass as a 16-piece ensemble without
saxophones, expanding it to 22 members with a saxophone section in 1970. The
group released albums including The Jazz Album (1976) and All in Good Time
(1983), the latter earning a Grammy Award for Best ...