Don Ogden readily admits that the life he leads outside his workdays in the downtown Vancouver office of Raymond James Ltd. usually comes with strings attached. Not to worry, though, because that’s just the way this 56-year-old market strategist likes it.

As much as Ogden enjoys his professional career as a private-client strategist with investment dealer Raymond James, his other passion is playing the acoustic string bass in a variety of jazz, dance and stage bands.

Furthermore, when Ogden is not standing at the back of a band, plucking those rich-sounding, resonating double-bass strings, he and his wife, June, often attend musical performances throughout the Greater Vancouver area, and elsewhere when they travel.

Ogden is definitely a music man. He’s hooked on the classics, jazz, opera, rock ’n’ roll, The Beatles and practically anything with melody and rhythm.

Furthermore, Ogden’s love of music is perfectly in tune with the kind of work he does at Raymond James. In both cases, the task essentially is to blend and create harmony.

“My job at Raymond James is to formulate strategy for the private-client side of our business,” Ogden says. “I gather all the research that comes to us from both external and internal sources, then I synthesize it together in ways that illustrate what’s happening in the capital markets. This includes identifying both the risks and opportunities for our clients. It is more of a back-room job because I advise our advisors, who then meet and advise our clients.”

Born in Toronto and raised in Ottawa, Ogden began his financial services career as an investment advisor with what was then Nesbitt Thomson Bongard Inc. in Ottawa after attending Carleton University, at which he majored in history while minoring in music.

The Ogdens relocated to Vancouver in 1980, when Nesbitt Thomson expanded its presence on the West Coast.

Once in Vancouver, however, Ogden placed his music on the back burner while he worked at advancing his financial services career with a number of firms. During this period, he spent evenings and weekends hitting the books to complete the courses for the chartered financial analyst designation. He specialized in the industrial products and transportation sectors, and his stops included Pemberton Securities Inc., what was then Brink Hudson & Lefevre Ltd. and, finally, Goepel Shields & Partners Inc.

Ogden was serving as a private-client strategist with Goepel Shields when it was taken over by Raymond James in 2001.

Yet, despite the demands of building a career, music was always lurking in the background for Ogden because, as he explains, it was bred in his bones.

“I’ve been exposed to music for as long as I can remember,” he says, “ because of my mother’s very strong influence. She was a singer in Ottawa who performed regularly with the Ottawa Choral Society. Both my parents were huge music fans. Quite clearly, at some point in my childhood, I caught the bug myself.”

The seeds for Ogden’s eclectic musical tastes were planted early. As a young child, he took classical piano lessons through the Royal Conservatory of Music. And growing up in the 1960s, rock ’n’ roll and The Beatles were very strong influences.

“Then,” he says, “I was introduced to jazz by a boyfriend of one of my sisters.”

At university, Ogden honed his musical skills as a guitar player, although, he admits, unlike many of his musical campus mates, he had not taken band class in high school. But Ogden did resume piano lessons to supplement the increasing attention he was paying to the electric guitar.

It was also at university that Ogden was introduced to the electric bass.

One of the university bands in which he played needed a bass player. “Since I was playing guitar,” he says, “I stepped forward and filled the hole.”

But when Ogden headed west, the demands of the CFA trumped any musical ambitions for a while.

“Even though I was very busy here with the CFA,” he adds, “when we arrived, I didn’t know anybody in the Vancouver music scene.”

However, once Ogden had earned his CFA, music resurfaced for him: “I decided that now I wanted to do something a little more serious with my music.”

He found a jazz guitar teacher. Then, through a chance chat with a saxophone-playing neighbour, landed a spot with an amateur big band.

@page_break@“I had no experience playing with a big band,” Ogden says, “but I decided to give it a shot — and the rest, as they say, is history.”

Eventually, the electric bass gave way to the acoustic bass, and Ogden has never looked back.

“In Vancouver, bass players at the advanced amateur level are hard to find. So, I was in demand,” he says. “And once I moved over to the acoustic bass, I knew this was the instrument for me.

“The rich, full sound that comes from its wood is great — especially in a big band,” he adds. “In fact, the string bass’s role in a big band is much more important than people realize because it drives the entire group.”

Being a bass player in demand means Ogden leads a very busy life. Currently, he’s playing in three bands, including his own quartet.

And how does that sit with June?

“I think she’s happy to have me out of her hair sometimes,” he says with a chuckle. “And, anyway, at least she knows I’m not in the bars.”

On a more serious note, however, Ogden says, his professional life and the music often complement one another.

“Jazz is primarily improvisational,” he says, “and anyone with experience in the market lately knows you have to improvise there as well.

“Music gives me relief from the stress of financial markets,” he adds. “It grabs you emotionally. You cannot walk into a rehearsal and be half-hearted about it — the music demands 100% of your time and attention.”

Music also puts Ogden’s life in perspective. “When we get involved in our professions, we tend to think that our work is everything. My music keeps me focused on the fact that there’s more to life than financial markets.”

Conversely, his work at Raymond James also helps Ogden the musician. “In financial services, you have to find ways to relate to people,” he says. “One of the challenges we have in music is working with other musicians who sometimes have big egos. So, sometimes I can bring a little of the human relations expertise I’ve picked up at Raymond James and apply it to the music table.”

Ultimately, of course, it’s all about balancing career and leisure, no matter what the hobby or pastime.

Ogden is a strong believer in the importance of participating in activities outside of work. Having a variety of interests and leisure pursuits, he says, gives us the opportunity to see things from a different point of view.

“Whatever perspective you get from an outside activity,” Ogden says, “can often be taken back to the job.”

So, where does Ogden the bass player go from here?

“I’m not ready to retire. But when I do, I’m sure that within two weeks I’ll get calls from more bands to play,” he says. “I could be out playing every night of the week if I wanted.”

He and June are also avid consumers of music, regularly attending the opera and performances by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Ogden is particularly interested in hearing new compositions by Canadian composers.

And when Ogden isn’t toiling away at Raymond James, playing his bass or attending concerts, he is listening to music — especially to great bass players such as Ray Brown, John Clayton and Ron Carter. IE