PRESS RELEASE: The 2014 Steel City Jazz Festival is almost here! The Steel City Jazz Festival is a Hamilton-based music festival celebrating the city’s talented and diverse jazz community. Now in its second year, the festival kicks off on October 15 and runs until October 26 at two of Hamilton’s premiere jazz venues, Artword Artbar (15 Colbourne Street) and The Pearl Company (16 Steven Street).
Performers: Sophia Perlman and Adrean Farrugia, the Brad Cheeseman Group, Quarter to Nine, the Hamilton Dixieland All-Stars, The Carlos Rodriguez Latin Jazz Group, the Jazz Connection Big Band, the Aaron Zukewich Trio, Spanjazz, Chris Platt and Bob Shields, the Blank Quintet, Colin Fisher and Mike Gennaro, the Sean Dowhaniuk Group, the Jason Jones Unit, the Messore-Palka Quintet and Eschaton.
Week One events:
Wednesday October 15, at 8 pm, $15. The Steel City Jazz Festival at Artword Artbar.
The Hamilton Dixieland All-Stars kick off the 2014 Steel City Jazz Festival with traditional New Orleans jazz: Frank Musico trumpet, Don Templeton trombone, Don Hall clarinet, Matt Kennedy piano, Jimmy Howard bass and Steve Wilson drums.
Thursday October 16, at 8 pm, $10, students $5. The Steel City Jazz Festival at Artword Artbar.
Jazz Guitar Styles: Chris Platt and Bob Shields guitar duo, playing jazz standards, plus the Jason Jones Unit, Jason Jones guitar and Scott Taplay guitar, with Jill McKenna bass, playing gypsy and swing jazz
Friday October 17, at 8 pm, $10, students $5. The Steel City Jazz Festival at Artword Artbar.
New Jazz Compositions: The Aaron Zukewich Trio, featuring Joel Banks bass, Joel Haynes drums and Aaron Zukewich piano/compositions, plus The Sean Dowhaniuk Group: Sean Dowhaniuk guitar/compositions, Riley Keller alto saxophone, Mike Rajna drums, Josh Smiley piano, Ethan Tilbury bass.
Saturday October 18, at 8 pm, $15. The Steel City Jazz Festival at Artword Artbar.
A Night of Latin Jazz: featuring Rob Fekete piano, Mike Filice flute and tenor sax, Carlos Rodriguez drums, Fhanor Molina bass, and special guest Ashley St. Pierre on vocals.
Sunday October 19, at 7:30 pm, $15, students $10, The Steel City Jazz Festival at Artword Artbar.
Special concert by jazz duo Adrean Farrugia piano and Sophia Perlman vocals, with an adventurous and playful approach to jazz standards, and an uncanny ability to read each other’s musical minds.
Week Two events: …
Wednesday October 22, at 8 pm, $5, The Steel City Jazz Festival at Christ’s Church Cathedral.
An evening of free jazz featuring two duos: local favourites and SCJF-alum Eschaton, followed by saxophonist Colin Fisher and drummer Mike Gennaro.
Thursday October 23, at 8 pm, $20. The Steel City Jazz Festival at The Pearl Company.
The Brad Cheeseman Group: Brad Cheeseman’s first release as leader, Mixed Messages, offers all the twists, turns and subtleties of the best modern jazz music, so it’s no surprise that it was awarded the 2013 Hamilton Music Award for Instrumental Recording of the Year.
plus The Blank Quintet: a group of young Toronto musicians creating their own adventurous take on modern jazz. Max Forster trumpet & flugelhorn, Nick Marshal trombone, Sean Clary guitar, Nick Arseneau bass, Alejandro Luna drums.
Friday October 24, at 8 pm, $20. The Steel City Jazz Festival at The Pearl Company.
The Jazz Connection Big Band: a well-established 17-piece jazz ensemble delivering high energy, uncompromising and straight ahead jazz, funk, and Latin combining the highest level of musicianship and great charts in an entertaining show that equally engages both the jazz enthusiast and the casual listener.
Saturday October 25, at 8 pm, $20. The Steel City Jazz Festival at The Pearl Company.
Spanjazz: An evening of original jazz compositions inspired by world beat rhythms and composed by Gary Santucci: with Chris Bruder on keyboards; Steve Wilson drums; Brandon Walker multi-reeds; Ian McGillivary trumpet; Jillian McKenna bass; Gary Santucci guitar.
Sunday October 26, at 7:30 pm, $20. The Steel City Jazz Festival closing concert at The Pearl Company.
Quarter to Nine: a musical act with Shari Vandermolen on vocals with a 5-piece band. Influences include Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Etta James, Billie Holiday and “big-band sound” bringing you Jazz Standards, risqué blues and torch songs peppered with just the right amount of showtunes for good measure.
plus the Messore-Palka Quintet: featuring Thomas Messore vocals, Amber-Leigh Palka vocals, Scott Taplay guitar, Matthew Pullicino drums, Hope Bozzo bass.
Full concert listings, including performances times and ticket prices, can be found at www.steelcityjazzfestival.com/schedule. Tickets to all performances can be purchased at the door, and reservations can be placed by emailing steelcityjazzfestival@gmail.com or by contacting the host venue:
Artword Artbar, 905-543-8512, https://www.artword.net/artbar
The Pearl Company, 905-524-0606, http://www.thepearlcompany.ca
The Steel City Jazz Festival is a grassroots festival made possible through donations from community members and our sponsor NLP Canada Training.
For more information, interviews and media passes, please contact: Chris Ferguson, Festival Director 905-616-5960 chris.ferguson5@gmail.com
