Aaron Dolman

Aaron Dolman (he/him) is a drummer, composer and bandleader born and based in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal who has emerged as a distinct and imaginative voice in the city's creative music scene.

Aaron leads the unique trio, Aaron Dolman's Here to Help, in which he is joined by two vocalists: Sarah Rossy and Eugénie Jobin. The group's first album, Are You Here to Help?, was released in March of 2022 and premiered with a concert at the OFF Festival de Jazz de Montréal for which the group won the François-Marcaurelle Award. The album is a journey into the primordially evocative quality of drums and the human voice—brought into sharp focus by the group’s strikingly minimalistic instrumentation.  Aaron’s compositions and lyrics blur the line between notated and improvised music, and probe the expressive power of giving and taking Space. In his own words: “This is music about Space. The space between each note, each word, each breath. Between what was, what is, and what could be. The gentle potency of silence. This is music about the spaces that hold the ones we love and that are left empty when they are lost.” LISTEN to the album or WATCH the album trailer to learn more about the project. The group's EPK can be found HERE.

Aaron's debut album, Nostalgia and Other Fantasies, was released in November of 2019. Inspired by the feelings of nostalgia that are stirred up when sifting through old family photos or driving through the Canadian prairies, Aaron weaves together two of his great musical loves—Folk and Jazz—to create songs that sway between evocative melodies, engaging improvisations and delicate soundscapes. The album features his 5-piece chamber-folk ensemble, which includes Caitlin Smith on viola, Zacharie Bachand and Marcus Savard-Lowry on acoustic and electric guitars, and Mathieu McConnell on bass. LISTEN to the album or WATCH the album trailer.

As a side-person, Aaron is equally at home performing in  Jazz, experimental and avant-garde contexts as he is in folk, Pop and Rock settings and has performed with many notable Jazz musicians across North America and Europe, including Petros Klampanis, Kristjan Randalu, Gilad Hekselman, Kevin Dean, André White, Sasha Berliner, Jean-Michel Pilc, Yesseh Furaha-Ali and Jonathan Lindhorst, as well as members of Canada’s folk and indie music scene, such as Cedric Noel, Aleksi Campagne, Shelby Trapid and Connie Kaldor. 

Between September of 2021 and September of 2022 Aaron lived in Basel, Switzerland where he was a member of FocusYear, a unique year-long residency that assembles an 8-piece international ensemble that works and performs with a remarkable roster of visiting artists, under the musical direction of acclaimed Austrian guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel. These visiting artists include many of today's most pre-eminent Jazz musicians and composers, the likes of Aaron Parks, Lionel Loueke, Chris Cheek, Kris Davis, Larry Grenadier, Guillermo Klein, Linda May Han Oh, Jorge Rossy, Becca Stevens, and many others. During that year, the ensemble also released Tiny Windows, a collective album of their own compositions, under the German Neuklang label. Tiny Windows can be heard HERE.

Aaron holds a Master’s degree in Jazz Performance from McGill University, where he studied with the award-winning drummer and composer John Hollenbeck. He also holds a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Performance from McGill and has been the recipient of a number of academic awards and accolades, most notably the Hall-Barsalo Award (2024), the Lou Williamson Jazz Award (2017), The Schulich School of Music Award for Outstanding Achievement in Performance (2017), and three Schulich School of Music Scholarships (in 2016, 2017 and 2018). In 2025, Aaron was awarded an Outstanding Graduate Instructor Award for his work as a course lecturer during his studies.