Saxophonist Don Berner got an early start as a musician, thanks to the encouragement of his mother, a music teacher, and to his parents' extensive record collection. He took up the sax even before entering junior high school and later joined the Littlebirds Big Band, a youth band run by the Edmonton Jazz Society. He has performed at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C., on CBC's Hockey Night in Canada, and with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, in addition to playing jazz clubs throughout the U.S and Canada. He's been a sideman for Hugh Fraser, Pat LaBarbera and P.J. Perry, and played in big bands with Tommy Banks and Bob Stroup. His recordings include Fortress of Solitude (2006) and The Don Berner Sextet Invades Calgary (2011).