Canadian trombonist and writer Dean Yeats is a graduate of the Bachelors Degree in Jazz Performance at the University of Toronto. Dean was the recipient of the University of Toronto’s Noreen and Phil Nimmons, and Mamie May entrance scholarships in 2005 and the Duke Ellington scholarship in 2007. He has performed alongside Guido Basso, Dave McMurto, Alex Dean, Barry Elmes, Hugh Fraser, Renee Rosnes, Tim Reis, and Maria Schneider. He has studied music privately with Andrew Jones, Scott Suttie, Terry Promane, and William Carn. Dean has been a member of the U of T 11 O’clock Jazz Orchestra, the Hart House Big Band and various combos from U of T. He has been a member of Jay Spectre, a Toronto based hip-hop/funk band and the House of David Gang a group dedicated to recreating the sound of Bob Marley and the Wailers. Dean teaches privately and has taught at the National Music Camp of Canada.

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As a writer Dean's work has been featured by the Runaway Five, a Calgary based video game music jazz band. He has arranged and composed for Fever: A Moonlight Burlesque, a cabaret show performed at Toronto's Second City. Dean has composed sound tracks for various short films including Martin Sokol's Eggcellent which was featured at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival. His arrangement of My Foolish Heart featuring Chase Sandborn was recorded for broadcast by the Toronto jazz radio station Jazz FM 91.1.