WinterTide

Named for the sixth month of the year and a semiprecious stone said to protect anyone travelling by night or by water, Junestone is the innovative and illuminating musical vision of Olivia Brown, Borys Franiczek, Ian Aisling, and Justin McHugh.

Audiences are transported through endless floors of heavenly wonder as the band’s strikingly eternal love for jazz, funk, and indie alt-rock transfigures into psychedelic songs of fun and freedom. This music is for people who just want to be themselves and for once it’s fine.

Singer-songwriter Sammy Jackson (BMus, HBA) 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.

McBrown: The Groove Quartet is a group of musicians focused on two things; having fun, and grooving hard. The band has a wide range of influence, with elements from jazz and bebop, to R&B, hiphop, funk and Afro and Latin grooves.

The band is composed of Alex Pedherny on Saxophone, Costa Chatzis on drums, Nathanael Pollard on keys, and Liam Brown on bass. After a very successful 2022, the band has refined not just their sound, but their feel – always making sure the audience enjoys danceable music while they artistically express themselves. This year, they will be sharing that concept and moto with many more audiences across southern Ontario, bringing new sounds, and fresh grooves to new people.

Ryan Gazzola‘s music combines pop songwriting with retro musicianship and musicality. Originally from Vancouver, the Toronto-based singer-songwriter is releasing a single every two to three months in 2021/22leading up to an album titled Hues of Heartbreak. “With this project, I am attempting to create a modern pop record built on the backbone of funk and soul instrumentation”, Gazzola explains, “it draws inspiration from Maroon 5, John Mayer, Daft Punk, Tom Mischand Stevie Wonder”.

John Amato brings his take on classic and modern jazz standards, swinging and singing in the likes of Frank Sinatra, Mel Torme and Michael Buble.

Being raised by a jazz musician father, John was exposed to all the classics at a young age and has been singing as a jazz musician since he was 17. Now with a degree from Humber college’s vocal jazz program, he performs for audiences, arranges, teaches and runs his own bands. With a great respect for the music and its history, he sings every song with a smooth dynamic energy. He has sung at venues and concert halls across Ontario as a featuring artist and with the Toronto All-Star Big Band.

John brings with him some of Toronto’s finest up-and-coming talents; Jesse Whitely (Feb 18th) David Burlacu (Feb 18th) John Kervin (March 9th, March 18th) Aaron Blewett (March 9th, March 18th) and Matt Savard.

The Sean Stanley Quartet proudly plays Swing, Jazz and Blues. The music of Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Erroll Garner and Ray Charles as well as Sean’s original compositions. Their music ranges from hot and fiery to smooth and sweet but is always based in Blues and improvisation.

Heather Bambrick is a JUNO-nominated vocalist who has collaborated with Phil Nimmons, Fred Hirsch, Gene DiNovi, Guido Basso, Lea Delaria, Rob McConnell, Peter Appleyard, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra, and others. Heather has released three solo recordings, including You’ll Never Know, which was nominated for Vocal Jazz Recording of the Year at the 2017 JUNO Awards and Jazz Recording of the Year at the 2018 East Coast Music Awards. Her new recording is set for release in early 2019. Heather has been a featured guest on numerous projects, and has been awarded Canada’s National Jazz Award for Vocalist of the Year.

Beyond singing, Heather is one of Canada’s top voice actors, voicing characters for commercial campaigns and several animated series including Emmy-nominated Wild Kratts, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, and Justin Time. She is also an award-winning broadcaster on JAZZ.FM91
(Canada’s only all-Jazz radio station), and a highly regarded adjudicator and clinician, working at schools and festivals across Canada.

A “bridge between traditional & modern saxophone playing”, the Toronto-based “giant of Canadian jazz” Kirk MacDonald has over 50 CDs as leader and sideman. The saxophonist, prolific composer and multiple Juno Award-winner and nominee MacDonald has been recognized as one of Canada’s greatest for over three decades. MacDonald has played around the world in the USA, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. Most recently, his Generations Quartet was touring in India playing at the Jaipur Jazz Festival, the National Centre of Performing Arts in Mumbai and other venues in India right before the onset of COVID-19 in March of 2020.

Kirk is joined by Virginia MacDonald who, at the age of twenty-eight, has notably established herself as a respected, sought-after and world-leading clarinetist internationally. Kirk and Virginia will be joined by Toronto-based drummer Morgan Childs and bassist Mike Downes, both regular players on the international Jazz scene.