Angela Verbrugge and Ray Gallon bring “Gershwin, Porter, ‘n Me” at the Wolfe Island Hotel on Friday, June 5th from 6 pm to 8:30 pm

Entrance by gratuity to the musicians. Suggested donation $20 to 30pp
It will be a fine evening!

https://hotelwolfeisland.com/events/angela-verbrugge-gershwin-porter-n-me/

Western Canadian Music Awards ‘Jazz Artist of the Year’ nominee Angela (Clancy) Verbrugge brings Gershwin- and Cole Porter-era standards to life with her signature charm. A finalist in the International Songwriting Competition, Verbrugge weaves in the timeless standards with her own Canadian jazz compositions and lyrics.

The Kingston-born, Amherstview-raised, Vancouver Island-based artist is described as “both hip and a hoot” (JazzWeekly), and has toured in Japan, Hong Kong, S. Korea, Taiwan, Türkiye, the UK, Germany, Luxembourg, France, Italy, and coast to coast in Canada — all since 2021! She has released four albums to great reviews from the international jazz press, topped polls in JazzTimes and All About Jazz, and is regularly played on leading jazz radio programs. Her recorded songs have been streamed almost a million times across platforms. Her early influences include her Kingston friends Bob Ayre, Andy Poole, Paul Chabot, and Murray Wilson.

Backed by a stellar pianist —New York City based, Grammy-nominated jazz pianist Ray Gallon, recognized recently for his recordings as a leader with the likes of Ron Carter, Lewis Nash and Kenny Washington that Angela associate-produced. Ray has been professional Jazz Pianist living in New York City for 45 years. He got his start being mentored by Hank Jones, John Lewis (the Modern Jazz Quartet) and Jaki Byard. As a young man, he started touring with Lionel Hampton (there’s a video of him with Hamp at the Montreal Jazz Fest still on YouTube) accompanying him and some of the most famous names in jazz such as Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Williams, Chaka Khan, Gloria Lynn, Dakota Staton, and touring with the Harper Bros, TS Monk, George Adams in venues including the White House and Kennedy Center. This is a true working jazz musician playing on average four gigs a week in NYC year-round for decades with a touch and breath of vocabulary that only that much experience brings (even just search his name in the SmallsLive archive!). He is a professor at City College of New York in Harlem, and has also been called upon by other programs such as the New School, Vermont Jazz Center, and was Sheila Jordan’s preferred accompanist for her workshops.

Ray and Angela have amazing musical chemistry that is best experienced live, so don’t miss their debut playing Hotel Wolfe Island and for those of you who have heard them at RCHA, hearing Ray on a baby Grand.

Big Smoke Brass is a musical powerhouse delivering heavy-hitting grooves with infectious energy. Since their beginnings on the streets of Toronto in 2017, the band has gone on to give hundreds of performances across Canada, all the while cultivating a unique, modern take on the brass band sound.

The band’s catalogue encapsulates a diverse array of musical hits from every era, as well as a substantial body of original material – featured on radio, television, & web alike. BSB performances are lauded for their overwhelming energy and tight musical showmanship; appearing at countless concerts, festivals & events, Big Smoke Brass thrills all manner of audiences and always leaves them wanting more!

https://bigsmokebrass.com/

https://www.instagram.com/bigsmokebrass/

https://www.youtube.com/c/BigSmokeBrassBand

The RCHA Club: https://kingstonlive.ca/the_club_at_rcha

Dan Douglas                 Trombone, Vocals and Leader
Ross Wooldridge          Clarinet, Co-Leader
Matt Smith                     Trumpet
Phil Disera                     Banjo/Vocals
Doug Burrell                  Tuba

It’s not quite Dixieland and it’s not quite be-bop. But it’s something else!

Since 1984, the Dixie Demons have been entertaining audiences around Ontario with their high-powered style of traditional jazz.

The Dixie Demons Jazz Band was formed in 1984 by Dan Douglas who put the band together with fellow students at Toronto’s Humber College. The band quickly became well known on campus by playing at many social functions for both students and for staff and official college functions. The band’s notoriety continued to grow amongst the local jazz scene mostly due to the fact that all of its members were proficiently playing this seasoned style of jazz while under the age of thirty. After graduating from “Humber”, the band was invited to help represent Ontario at Expo ‘86 and played there everyday for 5 months as part of a large group of student musicians.

40 years later, the band is best known for their onstage appeal, musical virtuosity, and for providing tight and exciting versions of well known classic jazz tunes. Their 2 Cd’s “Live at the Rex” and “Fossil Fuel” have earned them a distinct spot among the many Trad bands around Ontario. The Demons have also written original tunes and perform them alongside cleverly arranged well known standards of the early jazz era during their high energy shows.

As their appreciative audiences will tell you, “This isn’t your normal traditional Jazz Band”