Article content

Canadian jazz guitar icon Ed Bickert, renowned almost as much for his quiet, self-effacing personality as for his mellow, impeccable way with his Fender Telecaster, died on Thursday.

He was 86 and is survived by his daughter Lindsey and sons Jeffrey and Timothy.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or RIP, Ed Bickert Back to video

Until his retirement in 2000, the Manitoba-born musician was Toronto’s top guitarist for almost five decades. His masterful playing, heard with Paul Desmond, Rob McConnell and the Boss Brass, Don Thompson and Moe Koffman, would have cast a wider spell among the world’s jazz fans if Bickert had had a greater appetite for touring and the limelight. “I was born to be a side man,” Bickert once said.

Bickert grew up in Vernon, B.C., in a musical family. His father and mother played the piano and fiddle at country dances.

In 1952, the guitarist moved to Toronto to pursue his career, working initially as a radio station engineer, and then edging his way onto the music scene through session work and playing the clubs.