Live Music at The Jazz Room
Featuring International jazz acts that play the world’s top clubs (the Saturday program features artistic direction from Mark Kelso).
Please note that only Grand River Jazz Society events are shown below.
“Mario Bakuna, a sparkling guitarist, plays with palpable feeling – his virtuosic fluency on the fretboard is controlled and flourishes are perfectly placed. His voice has a texture like heavy cloth” – Songlines Magazine Mario Bakuna is a London-based Brazilian composer, arranger, singer and guitar player, with twenty years of professional experience. A graduate of the Free University of Music in Sao Paulo, Brazil, he studied with musicians such as Olmir Stocker, Roberto Sion and Roberto Bomilcar (the pianist who played with Frank Sinatra during his visit to Brazil). In Brazil, Mario Bakuna has played alongside the trombonist Itacir Bocato, guitarist Renato Consorte, and pianist Nelson Aires, to name a few.
Mario Bakuna’s study focuses on the development of a music repertoire inspired by the greats of Afro-Brazilian Music, Samba, Jazz and Bossa Nova. In addition to developing new arrangements of music by enshrined Brazilian artists as Tom Jobim, Dorival Caymmi, Paulo Moura, and João Donato, in recent years he has been working on reinterpretations of Samba Jazz: a musical genre that emerged in Rio de Janeiro in the 1950s and was led by musicians like Luiz Eça, Tamba Trio, and Edson Machado. Their repertoire was based on Brazilian Standards with more sophisticated harmonies inspired by the Post-Bossa Nova movement.
Mario widely performs in Europe at distinguished venues and festivals alongside artists such as Jean Toussaint, Liam Noble, Ricardo dos Santos, Edmundo Carneiro, Cacau Queiroz, Alain Jean Marie, Dudu Penz, and Filó Machado.
The concerts of his albums ‘Where Rio de Janeiro Meets Bahia’ and ‘Brazilian Landscapes’ toured 18 European countries, Brazil, Madagascar, and Azerbaijan, with sold-out concerts and great acclaim.
Originally from Victoria BC, pianist and composer Kate Wyatt is now considered one of the top tier jazz musicians in the city of Montreal. She has been praised as having “musical ideas and a style of playing and writing that is on par with the current jazz piano elite: Mehldau, Yaron Herman, Shai Maestro, Fred Hersch.”, and has been hailed as “one of the top artists of Montreal, Quebec, or even Canadian jazz.” (Cardin/Brunet, panm360.com).
In July 2022 Wyatt released her debut album “Artifact” to excellent critical reviews. leading a quartet whose effortless chemistry fosters deep interaction and high intensity. As one reviewer described, “Artifact is filled with melody, spirit, and a joy for playing together that brings the listener hope. This album is a gem. Highly recommended!!” (Richard Kamins, Step Tempest)
She has a passion for improvisation and innovation, and strives for a high level of sensitivity and interaction in her performances. Her music has been recognized with awards from the Canada Council for the Arts, FACTOR, and the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec. She has recently been asked to join the faculty at JazzWorks Canada.
Personnel:
Check out: “Succession” “Artifact” “Going to the Sun”
This performance is part of the WOMEN IN JAZZ series, sponsored by DIVA INTERNATIONAL, makers of the Diva Cup.
Anthony D’Alessandro is a pianist, composer, arranger, and bandleader based in Toronto, Ontario. His own bands have been showcased in many notable venues and festivals across Canada including the Jazz Bistro, the Toronto Summer Music Festival, the Jazz Sudbury Festival, and the Rex Hotel Jazz and Blues Bar, among others. He regularly performs alongside a who’s who of Canada’s great jazz musicians including Neil Swainson, Reg Schwager, Caity Gyorgy, Kevin Turcotte, and Ernesto Cervini, and has worked with NYC based musicians such as Benny Benack III, Alexander Claffy and Joe Farnsworth.
Anthony’s music has also taken him throughout the United States and Europe including performances at festivals in Iowa, Florida, New York City, and composition at the Casalmaggiore International Music Festival in Casalmaggiore, Italy. In 2023, Anthony toured Canada from coast to coast with two-time JUNO winning vocalist Caity Gyorgy. Anthony’s debut full length album Searchin’ will be out in April 2024 featuring original music presented by an all-star cast of NYC’s Benny Benack III, Caity Gyorgy, Ernesto Cervini, and Neil Swainson.
By age 32, Emmy-nominated Trumpeter and Vocalist Benny Benack III has already become a leading voice in Jazz for his generation, while his trademark ebullience onstage assures his audiences he’s got “A Lot of Livin’ to Do” still to come! His sophomore album sharing that title featured the likes of bass luminary Christian McBride and drummer/producer Ulysses Owens Jr. and even achieved viral online fame w/his vocalese rendition of “Social Call” ft. Veronica Swift that’s been transcribed and covered by singers around the world. He has crooned his way to millions of more listeners alongside groups such as the Grammy-winning “8-Bit Big Band” and YouTube sensation “Postmodern Jukebox”. His third solo album aptly titled “Third Time’s the Charm” ft. fellow stars Emmet Cohen, Peter Bernstein, and Chad LB was released in June 2023 and quickly ascended to #2 on the JazzWeek International Radio Charts.
His double-threat credentials were first apparent when he was a finalist in the Thelonius Monk Competition on trumpet, and then won Third Place in the 2021 Sarah Vaughan Vocal Competition, but his status as a leading voice on both was recently cemented in the 2023 Downbeat Magazine Critics Poll, where he appeared in two categories: The #2 Rising Star Male Vocalist and #15 Rising Star Trumpet. His global recognition has been bolstered by the recent advent of live-streaming concerts, both through his weekly residency at Smalls Jazz Club, as well as frequent appearances at fellow young lion Emmet Cohen’s “Emmet’s Place” online series. He has emerged from the pandemic as one of the most in-demand touring artists in the Jazz world, headlining clubs and festivals internationally with his unique brand of indefatigable panache on full-display wherever the music takes him next.
Shahi Teruko and Juno Award Winner, Carlos Morgan along with Morgan’s band, perform some of the best duet R&B and Pop duets of the past 60 years. Some of the duet songs Teruko and Morgan will perform include duets from Lionel Ritchie & Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye & Diana Ross, Ashord & Simpson and many more. Teruko and Morgan will also perform some of their energetic, original music. Morgan’s band includes: Shahi Teruko (Lead Vocals), Carlos Morgan (Lead Vocals) Taijon Williams (Drums), Anthony Wisdom (Bass), Omar Martin (Guitar), Liam Myrie (Keyboards) and Kamil Dewhurst (Background Singer).
Personnel:
Carlos Morgan (vocals)
Shahi Teruko (vocals)
Liam Myrie (Piano & Keyboards)
Anthony Wisdom (Bass)
Taijon Williams (Drums)
Omar Martin (guitar)
Kamil Dewhurst (background vocals)
Check out: “Duet Songbook”
Listen to Carlos “The Compilation Legends Of Soul Concert“
Listen to Shari Teruko “Something About You”
Photo Credit: Nick Moreland
Charlie Ballantine is acclaimed as one of the finest and most versatile young guitarists on the scene today. JAZZ TIMES MAGAZINE hails his playing as “teeming with intricate grooves and maniacal precision his guitar work is both beautiful and complex” and VINTAGE GUITAR MAGAZINE described his style by stating “Jazz, rock, and folk music peacefully coexist in Charlie Ballantine’s world”.
Equipped with an impressive body of original compositions on albums like “Vonnegut” and “Cold Coffee”, Ballantine also displays a great reverence for the jazz tradition through the inclusion of standards like ‘My One and Only Love’, ‘East of the Sun’ and an entire double album dedicated to the music of Thelonious Monk released September 2021. “In the vein of fellow guitarists like John Scofield, Bill Frisell and Julian Lage, Ballantine reconciles his educational background in jazz with the stylistic background of his instrument. He approaches the gratifying tonal and harmonic language of rock/roots with the groove, ambition and improvisational focus of a jazz musician” – (JAZZIZ MAGAZINE)
After releasing two solo albums Ballantine was able to attain global recognition with his award winning third album “Life is Brief: The Music of Bob Dylan” which ALL ABOUT JAZZ named in their top ten jazz albums of the year. “From the opening bars of “The Times They Are a-Changin'” it is clear that something special is happening” – (ALL ABOUT JAZZ)
“Befitting a guitarist from America’s heartland, Charlie Ballantine mixes jazz, folk-rock, surf/instro, blues, pop, and country into a simmering pot of guitar sound and style.” – Vintage Guitar Magazine
Personnel:
Check out: “Strange Idea” “Con Alma”
Trombonist Robin Jessome is currently based in Kitchener/Waterloo and performing around the Tri-Cities as well as Hamilton and Toronto, making loud and intriguing creative music. Robin like things dark, with a quirky sense-of-humour — deeply influenced by the likes of Carla Bley, Tom Waits, Kenny Wheeler and Charles Mingus.
Originally from Nova Scotia, Robin received a Bachelor of Music at St. Francis Xavier University (2003) and then completed a Master of Music in Jazz Performance at the University of Toronto (2009). While at UofT he studied trombone with William Carn and Terry Promane; composition with Phil Nimmons and David Braid.
Personnel:
Lukas Bouda – guitar
Greg Prior – bass
Jonathan Hann – drums
Here is Robin in a “Blues solo” and “Alone Together“.
The Blue Note Retrospective highlights the music of the Blue Note record label and some of it’s more recognizable compositions from the 50’s to the 60’s, what could be described as it’s heyday. The music blended a mixture of Hard Bop and the emerging popularity of Soul jazz creating a new genre of music we now refer to as the “Blue Note Sound”. The Bluenote retrospective features music by Hank Mobley, Lee Morgan, Kenny Durham, Lou Donaldson, Donald Byrd, Joe Henderson and others. The band celebrates the history of the Blue Note era with respect and dignity as it is the basis for most modern jazz that came after it.
Alex Dean, one of Canada’s foremost jazz saxophonists, has been a mainstay of the Canadian music scene for many years. He has played and recorded with Gil Evans, Kenny Wheeler, Aretha Franklin, Natalie Cole, Harry Connick Jr., Phil Nimmons, the Dave McMurdo Jazz Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra.
Alex held the tenor saxophone chair with Rob McConnell’s Grammy award winning Boss Brass and, the Juno award winning Rob McConnell Tentet. He has collaborated extensively on C.D’s as side man with Canadian and American Jazz Artists. The Alex Dean Quartet/Quintet recordings include the newly released At this Point (November 2010), Dreamsville, Both Feet, and Kaitlyn’s Waltz. Kaitlyn’s Waltz was voted Best Jazz CD of 1994 by The Jazz Report and one of the Top Ten Jazz CD releases by New York’s Village Voice. He was also voted Jazz Musician of the Year by the Toronto Star.
Personnel:
Alex Dean-saxophone
Brian Dickinson-piano
Ted Warren-drums
Pat Collins-drums
Brian O’Kane-trumpet
Check out: “At This Point”
Photo Credit: Gary Taylor
Lance Anderson is a Juno award winning producer and Maple Blues Award winning keyboardist. He was honoured to be nominated for the MBA ‘Keyboardist of the Year’ once more in 2022 for his sixth nomination. Lance is a specialist in the N’Orleans piano style. The NOLA Parish (New Orleans L.A.) brings the music of N’Orleans and creates a Mardis Gras atmosphere, whenever they play. Lance will be joined by a collection of some of the finest players in the country. Gene Hardy (Bourbon Tabernacle Choir) sax, Art Avalos (Manteca) percussion, Gary Taylor (Sisters Euclid, Downchild Blues Band) drums, Roger Williams (Shakura S’Aida) bass.
They play their own versions of Nawlins standards made famous by Dr. John, Professor Longhair, Huey Piano Smith, the Neville Bros. James Booker etc. When Lance pulls out the accordion and plays some Zydeco favourites, the party is on! Lance has been featured on CBC Radio’s Saturday Night Blues and the Gumbo
Kitchen on Jazz.fm Toronto. Formed in 2020, The NOLA Parish has appeared at the Calgary Blues Festival, Kitchener Blues Festival, North Bay Blues Fest , Etwell concert series and the TD Niagara Jazz festival and in 2024 played at the Panama Beaches Jazz and Blues Fest, Panama.
Personnel:
Check out: “Live at Blues Summit 10” ” St John’s Matchedash Parish Hall”
