Shawn McPherson is a Canadian blues harmonica player and singer. Having played the blues around Quebec since he was a young teen, he has already established himself as one of the great up-and-coming Canadian harmonica players and frontmen. With a booming voice and energetic stage presence, your attention will be drawn-in from the first note.

Heavily influenced by authentic Chicago bluesmen such as Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson II, and Big Walter Horton, Shawn and his band play authentic Chicago Blues. Using period-correct instruments, microphones, and amplifiers, you’ll be taken back in time to the juke joints of the early 1950s.

Kim Zombik is known for her unembellished, poignant style, twice nominated as one of top ten “Best Female Jazz Vocalists” by Japan’s SWING Journal Jazz Magazine. With over 12 albums, one can hear her evolving path through pop, choral, funk, jazz and her new studies of Indian Classical singing. Kim aims to create music that brushes the heart with honesty and pleasure.

Featuring:
Kate Wyatt on piano
Nicolas Caloia on bass

Guillaume Martineau has pursued many years of professional studies in classical piano. Guillaume as a classical pianist received many honors including winning first prize at the Canadian Music Competion in 2009 and the opportunity to be heard playing Chopin in the recent movie “Louis Cyr”.

At the age of 13, Guillaume made his first attempts in jazz as a classical pianist with introduction from bassist Éric Lagacé. Over ten years later, Guillaume meets Éric Lagacé once again together with Oliver Jones and finally decides to make a diving transition into the world of jazz. After graduating from Berklee College of Music, Guillaume is now very active on Montreal’s music scene in many unique projects of his own.

Guillaume Martineau, piano
Éric Lagacé, contrebasse
Mark Nelson, batterie

Juno Award-winning Singer-Songwriter Dawn Tyler Watson has earned her place among the International Blues elite. She adopted Montreal as her home after earning her BFA in Jazz Studies and Theatre from Concordia University. Since then, her fiery stage presence and soul-stirring performances have garnered her national and world-wide recognition with multiple awards including Maple Blues Awards for Songwriter, Best Album, Female Vocalist of the Year, and a 2020 American Blues Music Nomination for Vocalist of the Year alongside greats like Curtis Salgado & Mavis Staples.

Her latest record “Mad Love,” was just awarded the 2020 JUNO award for Blues Album of the Year.

Featuring:
Jim Doxas (drums)
Alex Francoeur (sax)
Kate Wyatt (piano)
Adrian Vedady (bass)

A Montreal native, Nadia Theobal’s passion for music began at as a child in church, providing a spiritual foundation for her professional singing career. She expanded her vocal chops through jazz performance studies at Concordia University and has sung backup with artists such as Gage, Boom Desjardins,Daniel Bélanger and Corneille, among others.

Misunderstood marks Nadia’s debut as a solo artist, emerging on the jazz scene with this tribute to the incomparable Nina Simone.

Musicians

Jason Rosenblatt and Tevet Sela’s “Mizmor” is a fiery and exotic collection of original compositions based upon the ancient texts of the Sabbath eve liturgical service. From this collection flows a cascading mix of sonic textures which echo the ancient cantillations of old Marrakech, the buoyant chassidic melodies of Kazimierz and at times, the glorious modal improvisations of John Coltrane.

This collaborative project showcases the extreme versatility of alto saxophonist Tevet Sela, a creative force with a luscious tone who brings a rare wealth and breadth of influences to his playing. This adept and dexterous post-bopper’s music is often drenched in heavy blues and the Middle-Eastern inflections of his Israeli cultural heritage.

Tevet is joined by composer and pianist Jason Rosenblatt. With a touch that blends 60s jazz with the insistance of chassidic wedding music, Rosenblatt’s penchant for the music of East European rounds out this project and helps to provide a complete spectrum of sounds from East to West.

Michelle Sweeney has performed around the world and has worked beside some of the world’s greatest entertainers, including Celine Dion, Mary J. Blige, and Oliver Jones. For the past years, her main stage has been Montreal’s House of Jazz. Michelle’s success is waking up and doing what she was born to do: share her voice and bring joy to everyone.

Musicians:

Andy Rubal – Piano
Alex Lefaivre – Bass
Evens Baptiste – Drums

Formed in 2017, Code Quartet(formerly DFJV) is a powerhouse collective of four of Canada’s leading jazz composers and improvisers. Based in Montreal, it includes Jim Doxas on drums, alto and soprano saxophonist Christine Jensen, Adrian Vedady on bass, and trumpeter Lex French.

Jensen has racked up numerous national and international awards, including two Juno awards for her albums Treelines and Habitat. Vedady and Doxas have lent their artistry to some of the world’s great jazz artists, including Carla Bley, Dave Douglas, Oliver Jones and Marc Copland. French is a bright star on the Canadian jazz scene, highly in demand after relocating from New Zealand.

The chord-less quartet features original compositions that draw from each member’s unique background, depicting many moods and creating an organic dialogue. Their soundscape is diverse and refined, resulting in an exciting and engaging listening experience.

CODE Quartet premiered new Wellington Jazz Festival commissions from New Zealand composers Jasmine Lovell-Smith and Lex French. The compositions were inspired by the themes of homecoming and loss and the works of James K. Baxter and Gordon Walters.
Partnered by All That Jazz. With thanks to Canada Council for the Arts.

«Citing themselves as grown out of a jazz genealogy, CODE Quartet proved themselves both pure and progressive in their performance, a superb addition to the festival’s line-up» -Radio 13 @Wellington Jazz Festival

Taurey Butler Trio With Morgan Moore on bass and Wali Muhammad on drums at Upstairs Jazz Club.

Taurey Butler is a phenomenal jazz pianist of the highest caliber. Taurey leads his trio through his own compositions, as well as standards.

His arrangements are adventurous and respectful. The results are positively breathtaking.
People often comment on his resemblance to the young Oscar Peterson, in appearance as well as his winning combination of hard swing and melodic invention.

Musicians:

Taurey Butler (piano)
Morgan Moore (bass)
Wali Muhammad (drums)

Feat. Elie Haroun (vocals), André Faleiros (bass), Sacha Daoud (drums) & John Sadowy (piano).