A native of Toronto, trumpet player/vocalist Marie Goudy started her professional career at the age of sixteen. By the age of nineteen, she had already played with many notable musicians including Benny Golson, Cleo Laine and Maria Schneider. Since then she has performed with Michael Buble, Donny McCaslin, and many others.
The Dennis Kwok Jazz Orchestra (DKJO) is a Toronto-based contemporary big band committed to the creation, performance, and showcase of new works composed by the next generation of artists. The group is led by and comprises of 19 of the finest performers, composers and arrangers under 35 in Southern Ontario. Formed in early 2017, DKJO has since developed a repertoire of over 20 original works from within the band and has performed in many of Toronto's iconic venues including Lula Lounge, Gallery 345 and Burdock.
Okay so before I get too far along with this post I have to declare a fairly strong bias. Alex Samaras is one of my favourite singers. He's performed with my big band on numerous occasions. I've seen him perform in a variety of settings. And I've booked him for the Festival. As far as I'm concerned, from a fundamental quality of instrument standpoint, from a musical interpretation standpoint, from an emotional connection to the music standpoint...he's simply one of the best. All of which, in short, answers the title of this post.
Mike Herriott & the OTR Band have already been dubbed "the best big band I've heard in a long time", "reminiscent of the powerhouse bands of Bill Chase and Maynard!", and "a band for the 21st century!" by fans and critics. Consisting of 16 of Toronto's finest brass and rhythm musicians, the band was formed in 2014 to perform the music of its founder, Canadian trumpet-star Mike Herriott.
Since it’s début performance in 1998, the Joe Sullivan Big Band has become a major presence on the Canadian jazz scene. The group’s growing list of accomplishments includes numerous concert appearances, radio broadcasts and three critically acclaimed CD recordings. The group has received numerous grants from the Canadian and Québec arts councils and was twice nominated for a Prix Opus. The ensemble is anchored by one of Canada’s finest rhythm sections in André White (piano) Alec Walkington (bass) and Dave Laing (drums).
In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the BAUHAUS, an influential art and
architecture movement, the German National Youth Jazz Orchestra, BuJazzO, presents a
live-music to picture program with original compositions by prominent German and
American jazz composers. Five short films from the 1920s by internationally renowned
Bauhaus master teacher, graphic artist, and photographer László Moholy-Nagy were
newly scored for big band and vocal ensemble. Three animated advertising shorts
(1919-1922) will open the program.
Led by composer and conductor Ben Cottrell, Beats & Pieces Big Band see themselves as a band that happens to be big, rather than your average ‘big band’. They’re an extremely tightknit bunch, meeting as students in Manchester and growing up and developing musically individually and collectively within the city’s exciting scene. First playing together as Beats & Pieces in 2008, today these fourteen musicians know each other inside out socially and musically, and this familiarity is part of what sets them aside from a lot of other big bands today.
Igor Butman - Bandleader, soprano, alto, tenor sax
Azat Bayazitov- Tenor sax, soprano sax
Oleg Akkuratov - Piano
Ilya Morozov - Lead alto sax, flute
Aleksandr Dovgopolyi - Baritone sax, flute
Oleg Borodin - Lead trombone
Pavel Ovchinnikov - Trombone
Denis Popov - Trumpet
Hayk Grigoryan- Trumpet, flugelhorn
Pavel Zhulin - Lead trumpet
Sergei Dolzhenkov - Trombone
Nikolay Shevnin - Bass trombone
Victor Herauker - Alto sax, flute
Eduard Zizak - Drums
Sergei Korchagin - Bass
John La Barbera is a Grammy® nominated composer/arranger whose writing spans many styles and genres. His works have been recorded and performed by Buddy Rich, Woody Herman, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Mel Torme, Chaka Khan, Harry James, Bill Watrous, and Phil Woods just to name a few. Though his major output has been in jazz, he has had works performed and recorded for symphony orchestra, string chamber orchestra, brass quintet, and other diverse ensembles. Most recently, Mr.
Directed by Mason Victoria, the Sonuskapos Jazz Orchestra (SSJO) is an 18-piece big band that he founded in 2014. The members of the SSJO consist of some of the finest emerging jazz musicians in the GTA, who collectively aim to inspire and strive to push the limits of contemporary big band by attracting audiences through all-original compositions and arrangements. The ensemble performs original works by its members - over thirty original compositions and arrangements within its first year of formation.