and so it goes. Lots of time to reflect and write and practice and experiment followed by a full weekend of completely different gigs. On Saturday I’ll be playing standards (standards!!) with Bobby Brough (I mean…), Jim Gelcer and Victor Bateman. Beautiful interesting repertoire, much of which I haven’t played in years. It’s a fascinating marker for me to rediscover these gems and to see my own growth. We’ll be at The Pilot from 3-6 on Aug 26.
And the following day, I’ll be joining the wonderful multi-instrumentalist David Woodhead for his “Precious Little” series at the Tranzac from 5-7. We’ll be playing original material written by David and myself, some of which I’ll only have a day or two to look at. David’s music his quirky, challenging, fun and really amazing.
I’ve been preparing for a truly wonderful musical weekend. Firstly, the fabulous Jazz Room in Waterloo on Saturday, April 29, where I’lll be playing with George Koller on bass and Ethan Ardelli on drums. Some of my new material is inspired by Baroque music, and I’ll be including some rarely heard Jobim, a Duke Ellington Suite, some Canadian compositions and some originals. Details can be found on my Event’s page
The following evening I’ll be performing with Lenka Lichtenberg’s amazing Juno winning Thieves of Dreams. The music is based on poetry written by Lenka’s grandmother when she was incarcerated in the Theresienstadt Concentration camp. The music is beautiful to play. It’s evocative, moving and I’m honoured to be part of it. You can get tickets here.
Saulter Suite began as a “Covid” rehearsal band. Four great friends and fab musicians suddenly found time on their hands to session weekly. It was truly our pandemic “silver lining”. We focussed on some Canadian composers, our own compositions and just brought in whatever tickled our fancy. I mean we played just because we wanted to. It wasn’t for a gig, cause there just weren’t any. And in the process we discovered a lot of things about ourselves and about music. This Saturday, Feb 11 we’ll be bringing our collective to the wonderful Jazz Room in Waterloo. Please join us! With Colleen Allen (flute/sax), George Koller (bass) and Jim Gelcer (drums).
I’m totally thrilled to be part of Lenka Lichtenberg’s stunning project. This multi-media performance will take place on Thursday November 10 at the Leah Posluns Theatre, 7:30 PM. Purchase tickets here.
Here are some details:
This project is about women. Creative, strong, breaking social taboos, and in some ways… invisible. Award-winning performer Lenka Lichtenberg’s grandmother Anna Hana Friesová was a well-educated artist from an assimilated Czech family. Lichtenberg grew up unaware of her grandmother’s talent and it was only when her mother passed away that she discovered a treasure among her possessions: two worn notebooks filled with poems that Anna Hana wrote between 1940-1945, just before and during her incarceration in the Theresienstadt concentration camp. Stunned by the intensity of her words, the erudite vocabulary, the raw and often disturbing honesty, Lichtenberg put her grandmother’s powerful words to music. The critically acclaimed album has risen to the top of the European World Music Radio charts. Join us during HEW for a beautiful, multi-media theatrical concert.
Created by award-winning musician, producer and composer Lenka Lichtenberg with Milli Janatková, Jessica Deutsch and others. Directed by Leah Cherniak. Performed by Lenka Lichtenberg (vocals, keyboards, harmonium); Aviva Chernick (vocals, narration); Jessica Deutsch (violin, bass, musical director); Auri Fell (vocals, ukulele, saxophone); and Fern Lindzon (piano, vocals). Visuals by Lumír Hladík.
Co-presented by the Holocaust Education Centre and the Ashkenaz Foundation. In association with Congregation Darchei Noam and the Consulate General of the Czech Republic.
September 15, 2022
in News
I’m really looking forward to playing at the wonderful Jazz Bistro on Friday, September 16 with Colleen Allen (saxes), Bennett Young (bass) and Jim Gelcer (drums). We’ll be playing the early dinner set from 5-7. Be sure to reserve a table.
I’m also really excited about playing a one hour concert with George Koller on October 1 at 1PM for the Kensington Market Jazz Festival.
I’ll be playing 2 virtual concerts today! (November 7)
You can now enjoy Yiddish diva Theresa Tova’s fabulous “Autumn Songs” concert at the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene. Guitarist and bassist David Woodhead and I accompany Tova in a “living room” concert. Click on LIVE. The concert will also be available on demand after today.
I’ll also be playing a solo piano concert for the Kensington Market Jazz Festival. My concert is scheduled for 6:30PM on November 7, (day 3) but just in case they’re ahead of schedule, tune in a little earlier, or you can always rewind. There are so many wonderful artists playing at the festival! You can tune in starting at 4 PM. Check out their website to tune in live.
I’m super excited to be playing a solo piano set at the Virtual Kensington Market Jazz Festival. My set will be broadcast on Sunday, November 7 at 6:30 PM on the Kensington Jazz youtube channel.
I will be including a few excerpts from my latest project – a suite inspired by Diego Velazquez.
Check out the fabulous lineup of solo piano concerts, November 5-7
Thank you to Tom’s Place, and to all of the organizers and volunteers at this year’s festival.
September 18, 2020
in News
I’m thrilled to be making a return visit to Mazzoleni Concert Hall at the Royal Conservatory of Music on Sunday, October 4. I’ll be playing Duke Ellington’s Peer Gynt Suite (and other goodies) with my wonderful jazz quartet: Colleen Allen on all the reeds, George Koller on bass and Ethan Ardelli on drums. This will be our first live performance since the shutdown, and the Conservatory will be following all of the Covid-19 guidelines with a 50 person maximum in the hall seated socially distanced. You can be one of the lucky few to get a free ticket by logging into the Koerner Hall website at 12 noon sharp on Sept 28. 
I’m so excited to be playing this wonderful concert of Duke Ellington Suites with my fabulous band: Colleen Allen (flute, clarinet, sax), George Koller (bass) and Ethan Ardelli (drums). We’ll be playing excerpts from The Nutcracker, Peer Gynt and an original Suite entitled Night Creature. Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s Suites are creative, original, and super fun to play. I’ll also be previewing a couple of excerpts from my own Suite entitled Las Meninas, inspired by Velazquez. The concerts are being presented by Canzona on Feb 2 & 3. The first concert is on Toronto Island, and the second is at St. George the Martyr Church in Toronto. More details can be found on my shows page.
I’m really looking forward to participating in this concert presented by Michael Wrycraft on Saturday, January 18. Various bands will be performing James Taylor’s music. I’ll be playing a couple of gorgeous rarities with David Woodhead’s Oriana Quartet. Info and tix
