Led by acclaimed drummer, Jim Doxas, this All-Star group features, some of the countries best musicians. An evening dedicated to embracing improvisation through jazz standards of the American songbook. You’ll be sure to recognize a few familiar tunes, as well as be introduced to some new ones.

Musicians
Jim Doxas: Drums
Remi Bolduc – saxophone
Francois Bourassa – piano
Mike de Masi – bass

Youtube video: “CODE Quartet – Tipsy (Live 2021)”

The Jazz Mofos (Franco Proietti: sax, Cordell Henebury: guitar, Shaun Ryan: bass & Brandon Goodwin: drums) are an outfit that’s been playing in and around Montreal since 2016. They approach standards from different eras, and are as likely to play a tune by Duke Ellington as one by Kamasi Washington. With jazz as the centrepiece, they navigate the waters of soul & funk as well – stopping along the way to play an original or two from time to time.

Youtube video: The Jazz Mofos

Tuesday evenings, Upstairs showcases McGill University’s Schulich School of Music Undergraduate, and Graduate, Jazz Performance students.

As part of their jazz combo course requirements, students prepare sets of music encompassing tunes and arrangements from the jazz tradition, as well as, original compositions and arrangements. These students, coming from all over North America, and Europe, are some of the finest up and coming jazz performance students that you will hear anywhere.

Born in Santiago de Cuba, young Andy Rubal Bello has had music running through his veins ever since he was a little boy.

Musicians
Andy Rubal: piano and vocals
Yojan Vargas: bass
Lazaro Martinez: percussions

Youtube video: “Carola” live at Festival International Nuits d’Afrique 2023″

Since moving to Montreal in 2010, saxophonist and composer Tevet Sela has quickly become a prominent figure in Canada’s vibrant jazz scene. His first seven albums – Tevet Sela (2003), Coming True (2007), Jazz Flute (2010), Lying Sun (2014), The River (2017), Mizmor (2019), and Live at The Rex (2023) – received rave reviews.

Sela’s latest album Sweet Tears is a deeply personal and emotional album, one that aims straight for the heart. The album’s rich mosaic of songs address the constantly shifting balance of happiness and sadness in our lives.

For over two decades, Sela has performed at countless international jazz festivals and venues, and was nominated for both the Montreal International Jazz Festival’s TD Grand Jazz Award and the Prix Opus for Jazz Concert of the Year.

The music in Sweet Tears is not of a purist nature. As a musical melting pot, the album weaves together klezmer and middle-eastern scales, rhythms, harmonies, and inflexions, mixing them with sounds from the R&B and Latin jazz traditions.

Songs like Shabbaton and Sweet Tears have lyrical, hymn-like melodies, while the bouncy Omaya is an expression of liberation, joyous and celebratory. In Naked Soul, Sela’s gorgeous tone evokes the sound of a gospel choir, while Far Yet Close conjures images of a middle-eastern desert landscape.

These meticulously written, melody-driven compositions, performed by some of the most sought-after musicians in Canada, make this album effortlessly stand out. Sweet Tears takes the listener on an introspective journey. Its purifying effect will leave you with a long lasting, soulful mark. Let yourself be touched by it and taken by its charms.

Musicians:
Tevet Sela – saxophone
John Roney – piano
Frédéric Alarie – bass
Louis-Vincent Hamel – drums

Video: “Omaya”

Alex is an up and coming working musician on the local scene. He can be found playing many styles of music across many genres all over town but always with an improvisatory focus. He has played alongside many Montreal and international luminaries such as Kevin Dean, Sam Kirmayer, Mike Bruzzese, Frank Lozano, Levi Dover, Yur Yesli, Jihye Im, Baron Tymas, Fraser Hollins, Greg Amirault, Mathieu Soucy and Alex LeBlanc among others.

Musicians:
Alex Johnson – Drums
Robin Chemtov – Piano
Dave Watts – Bass