Photo Credit: Cassidy Nunn
Canadian jazz vocalist Angela Verbrugge – 2020 JazzTimes Readers’ Poll for Best Female Vocalist – infuses passion and emotion with each beautiful note (Toronto Music Report). The charismatic singer / composer / lyricist spent the last two years touring her albums within Canada, Germany, Turkey, Luxembourg and Japan. She is a witty and romantic lyricist drawing favourable comparisons to the likes of Cole Porter and Dave Frishberg. Angela’s originals rooted in the classic sound of 1940s and 50s vocal jazz are paired with cohesive arrangements of favourite and lesser known jazz standards.
Joining Angela at the Jazz Room, is New York City bebop pianist Ray Gallon. Mentored by John Lewis and Hank Jones, Gallon has been a mainstay on the New York scene for forty years performing with luminaries such as Ron Carter, Lionel Hampton, Les Paul, Art Farmer, Benny Golson and backing artists like Sweets Edison, Dizzy Gillespie, Jane Monheit, Sheila Jordan, and Joe Williams. They are joined by Toronto first-call rhythm section Jon Maharaj and Morgan Childs.
Personnel:
Check out: “How Do I Know Now This Was The End” “This is Manhattan”
Angela Verbrugge surprised world-wide jazz fans when she won the highly competitive JazzTimes’ Readers’ Poll for Best Female Vocalist after the release of her 2019 debut album recorded in New York. Since then, Angela has kept a busy tour schedule with performances at leading venues and festivals in Japan, Turkey, Germany, England, Luxembourg, and Canada. Taking inspiration from vintage musicals, the swing era, blues, and bebop, the Victoria-based vocalist pens original lyrics and compositions in the style of classic standards. Her arrangements of popular and lesser-known jazz standards are in-demand with listeners around the world. Her singing and songwriting have been lauded by JazzWise Magazine UK, JAZZIZ, Couleurs Jazz France, All About Jazz, JazzWax, Whole Note Magazine and many specialty blogs and critics. One of the busiest jazz bandleaders in Western Canada, Angela has been awarded competitive grants from Creative BC, Music BC, Canada Council and FACTOR. Her original songs have been featured on leading Spotify editorial playlists. Angela was one of the youngest graduates from Toronto’s George Brown School of Performing Arts after a youth spent in Kingston acting, playing piano and trombone. Her bands have included Jodi Proznick, Terry Clarke, Reg Schwager, Cameron Brown, Neil Swainson, and Bernie Senensky.
Ray Gallon Piano New York City A NYC-native, pianist Ray Gallon has been a mainstay on the jazz scene for over thirty years. Rooted in bebop and blues, his expressive, swingin’ playing melds old and new into a fresh, original style. As a young player, Ray was taken under the wing of piano giants John Lewis, Hank Jones, and Jaki Byard. He has performed at major jazz festivals and venues around the world with such luminaries as Ron Carter (with whom he will be releasing an album in November 2023), Lionel Hampton, Art Farmer, Benny Golson, George Adams, Les Paul, and Wycliffe Gordon. Ray has appeared at the White House and the Kennedy Center, sharing the stage with jazz legends Dizzy Gillespie, Milt Jackson, Sweets Edison, and Joe Williams. He performs on one of Hampton’s Grammy-nominated albums. An in-demand accompanist, he hasworked with many vocal greats, including Jon Hendricks, Sheila Jordan, Dakota Staton, Gloria Lynne, Jane Monheit, and Chaka Khan. Ray’s inventive compositions have been recorded by acclaimed artists T.S. Monk and George Adams. His trio album, Make Your Move, features the stellar rhythm section of David Wong and Kenny Washington. His 2023 album, Grand Company, features Ron Carter and Lewis Nash and was recorded at Van Gelder Studios. Ray is a full-time faculty member of the jazz program at The City College of NY in Harlem and the Vermont Jazz Center’s summer workshops and has taught at Juilliard and The New School.
Jon Maharaj is a JUNO-award winning bassist who has performed and / or recorded with The Tenors, Emilie-Claire Barlow, Allison Au, Amanda Tosoff and many others. He has toured North America extensively with a variety of artists and has performed overseas everywhere from Tokyo to Monte Carlo. He was the bassist in the Canadian company of Tony-winning musical Come From Away for many years. .
BC-native Morgan Childs has established himself as a first-call drummer for many leading Canadian and international jazz artists. Morgan has four recordings to his name as a leader. Awards to his credit include three consecutive CBC Galaxie Rising Star Awards, as well as the 2009 and 2012 Grand Prix du Jazz at the Montreal Jazz Festival, with the Amanda Tosoff Quartet and Robi Botos Trio, respectively. Other notable artists Morgan has performed and recorded with include Zach Brock (Snarky Puppy), Phil Dwyer, Kelly Jefferson, Bernie Senensky, Eric Alexander, Ingrid and Christine Jensen, Ian Hendrickson-Smith (The Roots), Kirk MacDonald, and Pat Labarbera. In 2016, Morgan was awarded a Chalmers Prize from the Ontario Arts Council, and a grant from the Canada Council For the Arts, to study privately in New York City with jazz legends Billy Hart, Kenny Washington, and Jimmy Cobb. The culmination of his experience results in a distinctive, energetic, and musical approach to the drums that is steeped in the bebop tradition of his mentors, yet is forward-looking and diverse enough for the most contemporary of jazz artists. Morgan has appeared on stages across Canada and around the world, including tours of the US, Mexico, England, Ukraine, and India.
This performance is part of the WOMEN IN JAZZ series, sponsored by DIVA INTERNATIONAL, makers of the Diva Cup.
