Festival

Holly Cole has a long and storied international career, having sold hundreds of thousands of recordings internationally while at home in Canada her successes include multi-platinum album sales awards, three JUNO awards and countless successful national tours!

In 2013 Ms. Cole became the 15th winner of the highly prestigious Ella Fitzgerald Award. This award, created by the world renowned Festival International de Jazz de Montreal, is annually conferred upon “A jazz singer of significant talent who has had a major impact and influence in the international scene.”.  Other winners include Sade (2011), Aretha Franklin (2008), Harry Connick, Jr. (2007), Etta James (2006) and Tony Bennett (2004).

2019 proved be an interesting year live for Holly, including successful concert dates internationally and 4 sellout nights at the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal which were recorded live and released worldwide April 2/2021 as a love letter to her favourite city and Festival.

Multi award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter, pianist and CBC Music national radio host Laila Biali has headlined festivals and venues spanning five continents from New York City’s Carnegie Hall to Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts, and supported international icon Sting. In 2020, Laila was honoured by SOCAN Music with the Hagood Hardy Award for Excellence in Songwriting. In 2019, Laila’s eponymous release won her a JUNO (Canada’s GRAMMY) for “Vocal Jazz Album of the Year.” The year prior, she was awarded top prize at the Canadian Songwriting Competition in the Jazz category. Laila was also the youngest-ever double winner at Canada’s National Jazz Awards when she was named “SOCAN Composer of the Year” and “Keyboardist of the Year.” She received her first JUNO nomination for Tracing Light (2011), and a spot on DownBeat Magazine’s “Best Albums of the Year” for Live in Concert (2013) and Out of Dust (2020). In September of 2017, Laila was brought on as the host for CBC Music’s national radio show, Saturday Night Jazz, a weekly show broadcast to listeners across Canada. While Laila continues to earn high honours in the Jazz world, her signature sound transcends genre as she “masterfully mixes jazz and pop, bringing virtuosity and unpredictability to songs that are concise and catchy” (Washington Post). Laila’s highly anticipated album, Out of Dust, which features multiple GRAMMY nominees and winners including Lisa Fischer, Alan Ferber, John Ellis, and Larnell Lewis, released March 27, 2020 and was also nominated for a 2021 JUNO Award.

Thirty years into an acclaimed career, Monkey House finds itself with a worldwide following and a star-studded list of collaborators that includes Mark Lettieri (Snarky Puppy), Richie Hayward (Little Feat), David Blamires (Pat Metheny), and Steely Dan veterans Jay Graydon, Elliot Randall, Michael Leonhart and Drew Zingg.

Emmy-winning frontman Don Breithaupt, whose songs have been recorded by Chicago, the Manhattan Transfer, Marc Jordan, Ron Sexsmith, Sarah Slean, Ian Thomas and many more, founded Monkey House in 1993 as an outlet for material he was pitching to pop artists: “When word would come back that a song was too quirky, too tricky, or too jazzy, I would keep it for myself,” laughs Breithaupt. “Those songs became the foundation of our first album, Welcome to the Club.”.

Eliana Cuevas and Jeremy Ledbetter are well-known in the Canadian musical landscape for the outstanding quality of their work, composing and performing as bandleaders of their own Latin Jazz projects and also as side musicians for some of the best musical acts in Canada. They’re not strangers to performing with each other—a married couple with two children together—Eliana and Jeremy have been performing together in various configurations for over 15 years. Their work together includes Eliana’s last three albums which earned them two Independent Music Awards for Best World Music Album and Best World Music Producer in New York, plus a Canadian Folk Music Award for Best World Music Album.

Now they have created a new duo project that unveils their musical chemistry in a more intimate way. They feature a unique and soulful take on Latin American music with a focus on Venezuelan folkloric repertoire. Their music is jazz-infused, acoustic, and showcases original compositions plus some of the most beloved, traditional Venezuelan songs. Their performances are playful, adventurous, spontaneous, and very moving, allowing their audiences to experience a wide range of emotions. On stage they open a window into their lives, creating a display of their experiences together through music, taking advantage of their personal connection to make their songs come to life.

Singer-songwriter Sammy Jackson is quickly becoming one of Canada’s top vocalists, with a personal style that deftly blends jazz, pop, and R&B. With a resume that boasts a JUNO Award, collaborations with top artists such as Barbra Lica, Robi Botos, Rich Brown, and Larnell Lewis, and performances at some of Canada’s most prestigious venues, including the Glenn Gould Studio, Koerner Hall, the TD Toronto Jazz Festival, and Westben, Jackson consistently captivates audiences with her singing, compositional accomplishments, and collaborative artistic spirit. Her latest EP – the JUNO-Award winning With You – is a sophisticated, intelligent, heartfelt portrait of a musician coming into her artistic prime, and features some of the top young musicians in Canada.

Known as one of Canada’s greatest voices, award-winning jazz vocalist Molly Johnson is a mother, singer-songwriter, artist and philanthropist, who has just released her highly anticipated new album, “Meaning To Tell Ya”. Produced by multiple GRAMMY Award-winning Producer, Larry Klein (Joni Mitchell, Tracy Chapman, Madeleine Peyroux, Melody Gardot, Norah Jones); it is more than a jazz record. It’s funk, it’s soul, it’s groove played by some of Canada’s best musicians. Says Molly: “Working with Larry was magic. When it was finally my turn, I jumped at the opportunity. This is a record I have been wanting to make for years. I can’t wait to share it with everyone!” Says Larry: “Molly has the kind of musical gift that cannot be cultivated by musical education or assiduous practice. She has great natural musical instincts and an irresistible signature to her voice. She is a rare and wonderful talent.”

“Blessed with so many musical gifts—taste, time, projection and a rhythmic sense of when to change chords—Carol’s piano is beyond reproach, warm yet rhythmically sharp, giving her voice a perfect hammock of support to swing in.” – REX REED

Payadora is a contemporary chamber music ensemble that performs Argentinian/Uruguayan tango and folk music and original compositions inspired by that tradition. Payadora has self produced two albums and has developed a loyal following across Canada over the past six years. The ensemble balances a combination of virtuosity and creativity, with stylistic accuracy. The ensemble features a collection of some of the most respected chamber musicians in Canada. Founded in 2013, Payadora has become one of Toronto’s most vibrant and sought-after acts. Their broad scope in tango draws from the height of Buenos Aires’ Tango tradition, including compositions by De Caro, Pugliese, Troilo, and Salgan, to the masterful, contemporary sounds of Astor Piazzolla and beyond. Drawing from eclectic backgrounds in Classical, Jazz, Latin, Eastern European folk music, and improvisation, Payadora’s performances exude technical virtuosity, playful spontaneity, and rhythmic vitality.

Their recordings are played regularly on Jazz FM’s Cafe Latino and Classical 96.3. The Argentinean consulate recently made a video in support of Payadora showcasing interviews and live videos from Payadora’s concerts. In addition, Payadora is the featured ensemble in the 2019 documentary “The Sounds of Canada: Argentina.”

Highlights from Payadora’s past performances include sold-out shows at the Ottawa Chamberfest, Indian River Music Festival in PEI, St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto Music Festival, the Lula Lounge, the Jazz Bistro, the TD Toronto Jazz Festival, and for the Canadian Opera Company's World Music Series at the Four Seasons Centre. Payadora has been featured with the London Symphonia, Cathedral Bluffs Symphony and the Hannaford Street Silver Band, Festival of the Sound in Parry Sound, Stratford Summer Music Festival, Leith Festival in Owen Sound, Music in the Morning in Vancouver and Vancouver Island Music Festival.

They are currently collaborating with Grammy award-winning “Yiddish Glory” in concerts and have composed and arranged an entire record of Polish and Yiddish Tango. They will be performing at Queens University and a live TV broadcast for Zoomer Radio.

They received a grant from the Ontario Arts Council to produce a full-length film of 11 pieces in collaboration with PointeTango which they released in 2021.

They were selected to perform their show “Tango in the Dark” with PointeTango Dance Company as part of the Next State Theatre Festival and will be performing five live shows in Toronto in January 2022.

Payadora will be releasing their third album with a grant from the Ontario Arts Council in 2022. Additionally, Rebekah received creation grants from Ontario Arts Council and Toronto Arts Councils to compose new works for Payadora.

Julian Taylor doesn’t fit in a box. He never has—and more power to him. A Toronto music scene staple and a musical chameleon, Julian Taylor is used to shaking it up over the course of 10 albums in the last two decades. Of West Indian and Mohawk descent, Taylor first made his name as frontman of Staggered Crossing, a Canadian rock radio staple in the early 2000s. These days, however, the soulful singer/guitarist might be on stage one night playing with his eponymous band, spilling out electrified rhythm and blues glory, and the next he’ll be performing at a folk festival delivering a captivating solo singer-songwriter set. His songs have been placed in shows like Kim’s Convenience, Haven, Private Eyes and Elementary. He’s been invited to perform at two Olympic Games. The soulful blues, rhythmic soul, rootsy rock riffs and troubadour-esque folk songs that comprise his music are worth putting your busy life on hold for. In everything he does, Taylor has carved his own path, creating genre-free music with a generosity of spirit and a strong belief in the healing powers of song. Off stage, Taylor recently ventured into radio; when the Indigenous radio station ELMNT FM opened in Toronto in 2018, Taylor became the station’s afternoon-drive host.

Taylor’s journey began in a musically artistic family: his father plays classical piano, while his cousins on both sides of his family sing and play music, and his uncle is the conductor of the Nathaniel Dett Chorale, which focuses on Afrocentric vocal music. Taylor started piano at age 5 and learned acoustic guitar over summer campfires. In 1995, while still in high school, he formed the band The Midnight Blues and started playing open stages in North Toronto. That band morphed into Staggered Crossing who were signed to a publishing deal in 1997, and their self-titled debut, released in 2001, spawned four rock radio singles, including top 10 hit “Further Again.”

When Staggered Crossing split amicably in 2007, Taylor started anew as a solo artist with two albums of rootsier material, while grinding it out on the cover band circuit in small towns across Ontario. In 2014, he launched the Julian Taylor Band and this time, all bets were off: all of Taylor’s myriad influences were on the table, masterfully combining and updating vintage sounds that inspired him to create bold, innovative new songs. Modern pop, vintage R&B, smooth soul, and the rock’n’roll swagger he was known for, were all tied together with an intense devotion to craft and a collection of some of Toronto’s finest musicians. JTB have three studio albums to date—their acclaimed debut Tech Noir, released in 2014, the double record Desert Star released two years later and 2019’s acclaimed Avalanche—and have no plans to slow down, although in 2020 Taylor revisited his solo career with 2020’s contemplative The Ridge.

Toronto poet Robert Priest describes Taylor and his work as “the kind of artist forever in the zone, the voice limitless, the songs full of feeling.

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"Thoughtful, sparkling, poetically-inspired chamber jazz!"

“…with the release of Earth Voices […] Tosoff has taken the concept that she so brilliantly mastered with Words and built upon it. More instruments, more beautiful poems, more vocalists that equal more invigorating compositions that inspire and lift the already powerful words off the page into the present moment.”

Her performing career spans over 24 years in venues ranging from Toronto’s storied Montreal Bistro & Top of the Senator, to Tokyo’s Cotton Club and more recently concerts with symphony orchestras at Toronto’s Massey Hall and Montreal’s Maison Symphonique. She has performed at the Montreal Jazz Festival on seven occasions including a 2015 performance on the Main Stage with 50,000 people attending.

Ms. Barlow has lead bands featuring the finest musician’s in Canada. Her work as a band leader and producer has been recognized with a Juno Award nomination for “Producer of Year” for her recording “Clear Day” (2015) — notable for being only the 2nd Jazz recording nominated in this category. Ms. Barlow is also one of a very women to be honoured as “Producer of the Year”.

Ms. Barlow’s all francophone recording “Seule ce soir” won a Juno and Felix Award in 2013 representing an unprecedented achievement in Canadian bilingualism.

After releasing her second holiday album Lumières d'hiver in 2017, Emilie-Claire turned her attention to her duo project with Steve Webster, Bocana. Bocana has released 8 singles over the last couple of years in the electro-pop, lounge, world muic genres, amassing a healthy following on streaming platforms. ECB has also released a collection of James Taylor covers as part of her JT Project.

Up next is her 13th full album, due for release in early 2023. In the meantime, You can listen to ECB's newest singles - a stripped down take on the classic "My Favorite Things" and a guest vocal on Lou Pomanti's latest, "Stoned Soul Picnic".