The Mason Chapman Band played Bloomfield Centre, the MacKay Room in the early 1980s. Tell us what you remember if you were there. I remember that it attracted students and the community and their music had everyone up dancing. Rhythmically challenged, I’m not able to do the jive but my husband Patrick Napier and my friend Karen Smith, then Director of Public Relations at StFX, were Jiving together and were so good that they cleared the floor as everyone stopped to watch. Nice memory.
Skip Beckwith, who did the string arrangements for the Band, was on faculty with the Music Department at StFX for many years.
1980s. Mason Chapman Band. “Four piece band (Doris Mason, Bruce Chapman, Dave Skinner, Roger Arsenault) formed in Halifax in 1979, known for its “all keyboards” sound and tight four-part vocal harmonies. Band played exclusively throughout the Atlantic Provinces developing a sound that relied heavily on the three lead singers (Mason, Chapman and Arsenault) and seven keyboards. Band featured music from several genres – pop, jazz, R&B, swing and contemporary. On their 1982 album, guest musicians joining the band included Mike Andrusyk on bass, John Hollis on sax, long time Anne Murray guitarist Georges Hebert, Roger Simard on percussion, Eugene Husaruk , Juan Fernandez, Denise Lupien, Luis Grinhauz on violins and Guy Fouquet on cello. String arrangements were done by Skip Beckwith. On August 25, 1984, the Mason Chapman Band played their last performance to a packed house at the Shore Club.