Tommy Banks Interview
The Honourable Tommy Banks was an iconic Canadian composer, conductor, music director, TV personality, and politician. Born in Calgary, Alberta, and raised in Edmonton, Banks’ career spanned more than sixty years and touched virtually every aspect of the entertainment industry in Canada. A musical prodigy, he began playing piano professionally at age fourteen, and by eighteen was the music director of the Orion Musical Theatre in Edmonton. After a stint working in Las Vegas and touring jazz hotspots throughout the United States with his band the Banknotes, Banks focused his talents on the local music scene in Edmonton—coordinating and guest-conducting for the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra’s pop programs, hosting radio programs on CBC, and touring Canada and internationally with the Tommy Banks Big Band. He was the host of several nationally syndicated television shows, including The Tommy Banks Show, a variety show that aired on CBC from 1968-83. He served as music director for several large-scale sporting events such as the 1988 Olympic Winter Games in Calgary, and the state visits of President Ronald Reagan, Pope John Paul II, and Queen Elizabeth II. An active community builder and arts advocate, Banks served on the boards of several local and provincial arts organizations. He was the founding chairman of the Alberta Foundation for the Performing Arts, and was a board member and policy advisor on the Canada Council for the Arts. In 2000, Banks was appointed to the Senate as a member of the Liberal Parliamentary Caucus, where he worked for nearly twelve years until 2011, when he reached the mandatory retirement age of 75. Ever the jazz musician, Tommy Banks continued to perform and conduct at jazz venues and concert halls throughout Canada until his death in 2018 at the age of 81.
Career Highlights
Banks served as the music director for the 1978 Commonwealth Games and the 1983 World University Games in Edmonton, Expo ’86 in Vancouver, and the 1988 Olympic Winter Games in Calgary.
He traveled the world as a musician, performing at the 1978 Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland with his Big Band; and making history in 1983 when his quintet became the first foreign jazz group to tour China since the 1949 revolution. Banks also served as a guest conductor for symphony orchestras in Toronto, Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, Calgary, Vancouver, Ottawa, Budapest, and Memphis, among others.
He released several recordings as part of the Tommy Banks Big Band or with fellow artists such as Clarence “Big” Miller and P.J. Perry, including: At the Montreux Festival (1978), Yes Indeed! (1996), For Dancers Only (1997), Big Miller (1997), The Holiday Season (2001), In the Middle Of the Road (2011), Tommy Banks’ Christmas (2013), Old Friends (2014), Legacy Live (2017), and Sweet Canadiana (2017).
Banks occasionally hosted the CBC's Jazz Radio-Canada in the 1970s, and worked as a producer and television personality on several programs, including: Celebrity Revue, Somewhere There’s Music, What’s My Name, Love and Mr. Smith, Symphony of a Thousand, and Tommy Banks Jazz. He even tried his hand acting in feature film productions for the National Film Board.
Banks served as a chairman for several arts organizations and councils, including: Alberta Foundation for the Performing Arts, the Instrumental Jazz Division of MusicFest Canada, the music program at Grant MacEwan College in Edmonton, the Music Committee of the Board of Governors of Alberta College, B. & B. Foundation for the Theatrical & Musical Arts of Alberta, Edmonton Concert Hall Foundation, Canada Council for the Arts, and CKUA Radio Network Foundation.
He was a member of the A. F. of M., ACTRA, the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (U.S.), the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, and the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television.
In his role as Senator, Banks was elected chair of the Standing Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources three times, and twice served as chair of the Alberta Liberal Parliamentary Caucus. He served as a member of the Standing Committee on National Finance, the Special Committee on Illegal Drugs and the Standing Committee on National Security and Defence (SCONSAD), and as chair of the Subcommittee on Veterans’ Affairs.
He also authored and sponsored a number of laws, including the Canada National Parks Act (2000), the Canada National Marine Conservation Act (2001), and the Statutes Repeal Act (2008), to name a few.
Banks won a JUNO Award for “Best Jazz Album” in 1979, the Grand Prix du Disques-Canada from the Canada Music Council in 1979, the Sir Frederick Haultain Prize from the Province of Alberta in 1990, and a Gemini Award for “Best Performance in a Variety Program or Series” in 1992.
He received an Honorary Diploma of Music from Grant MacEwan College in 1979 and an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of Alberta in 1987.
He was inducted into Edmonton Cultural Hall of Fame in 1986 and the Alberta Order of Excellence in 1993. He received Lifetime Achievement Awards from ACTRA and SOCAN, and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1991.
Credited with being a major founder of Edmonton’s arts scene, the city named a street “Tommy Banks Way” in 1991 in his honour. “Tommy Banks Way” is located near the Yardbird Suite Jazz club, which he founded in 1957 and performed countless times.
“Since his 1950 professional debut, Tommy Banks has done everything a musician could wish for.” – the Toronto Star.
“Not only was he a talented pianist, but also a brilliant ideas man…and he was always happy to perform for the camera.” – Colin McLean, longtime friend of Banks.
“He led and taught by example. He didn't demand respect; he simply commanded it. He never needed the spotlight, because wherever he walked, the light shined so bright, it was blinding." – David Foster