For the sixth year in a row, the JazzNhouse concert series will be giving Mississippi Mills audiences an earful – of great, live jazz, that is!
Our 2017-18 season highlights some of Canada’s best jazz talent from Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa…and Europe! The focus for the coming series is on a variety of instruments and how their particular tonal qualities affect the pieces being presented. To accomplish this we have invited performers who extol the virtue of musical mastery. Here is a summary of our line-up:
- September 23, 2017: Kevin Dean brings his distinctive, near vibrato-less trumpet tone to JazzNhouse. This McGill music professor and frequent performer at the Upstairs will front a trio of Montreal’s finest, including the veteran guitarist, Greg Clayton and the sizzling bassist, Alec Walkington.
- October 28, 2017: As ubiquitous as the saxophone is in jazz music, Canada boasts one truly extraordinary sax player in Mike Murley – a multiple JUNO winner! Tunes like Isfahan from his album Looking Back, demarcate a stylistic, polished and hauntingly evocative musical expression. The trio includes Reg Schwager, one of Canada’s leading jazz guitarists and sought-after bassist Steve Wallace.
- November 25, 2017: The Alex Pangman Quintet plays for this special fundraiser for the Pakenham Public Library, sponsored by Bean Buick GMC. A recent JUNO nominee, Alex Pangman – known as “Canada’s Sweetheart of Swing” – is an alluring vocalist that commands the style marked by the sturdy standards of the classic jazz era. Each member of her Toronto band are chosen for their particular contribution on piano, drums, bass and cornet that together make the Quintet a truly “swinging” sensation .
- January 13, 2018: The Mark Ferguson-Keith Walton Quartet brings two of Ottawa’s top multi-instrumentalists into focus in one collaborative effort, just for JazzNhouse. There’s no “lowering” of expectations when jazz tuba advocate Keith Walton brings the low end of the musical scales to centre-stage. Collaborator Mark Ferguson supplies trombone, keyboard and perhaps any number of other possibilities in these unique jazz arrangements.
- February 24, 2018: Toronto’s Mike Downes Trio has etched a reputation for superb musicianship among Canada’s eminent jazz community. A passionate bassist and double JUNO winner, Mike Downes curates a set-list with the likes of fellow JUNO winner and rising jazz pianist, Robi Botos and JUNO band member, drummer Ethan Ardelli.
- April 7, 2018: Marc van Vugt & Ineke Vandoorn are a progressive jazz duo from the Netherlands. JazzNhouse was lucky enough to nab them while on their 2018 Canadian Tour. Van Vugt is an accomplished composer and jazz guitarist, while musical partner Vandoorn’s unique vocal style and piano treatment adds a sense of well-measured improvisational elegance to the music.
- May 12, 2018: Denis Chang is about as passionate as anyone can be about the style and cultural contribution of Django Reinhardt, the French gypsy musician that popularized gypsy jazz. Chang – a Taiwanese-Canadian guitarist from Montreal – spent his formative years alongside the Gypsies of France, Belgium, Holland, and Germany, where he learned to play this energetic, artistic and moving style of jazz guitar. The quartet includes two guitars, a violin and a bass.
- June 16, 2017: JazzNhouse presents a Grand Finale concert with this renowned Canadian jazz performer. It won’t be a secret for long, we know, but for now consider this gala-like ending to our 6th season to be a wonderful surprise and musical highpoint of 2018!
JazzNhouse is a community-supported, non-profit, volunteer-run, live music series. It is made possible by worthy businesses like iVeritus (Blue Note Sponsor), Bean Buick GMC (Bridge Sponsor) and CR Gamble (Tag Sponsor), as well as by Promotional Sponsors like The Mill Street Crepe Company and That’s The Spirit Almonte Shop. We are keeping concert prices down again this year to ensure that cost is not a barrier to the enjoyment of fine, live jazz. A well-attended concert ensures that our artists are properly compensated and well respected as professionals. Our 8 concerts are each hosted by individual community-minded residents in their wonderful and welcoming homes. We are most grateful to our current volunteers and look forward to meeting new volunteers in the coming season.
Arnie Francis, Founder JazzN.ca
Website: www.jazzN.ca | Facebook: www.facebook.com/jazzN.ca | Twitter: www.twitter.com/jazzN_ca
