The CONNOR STEWART TRIO The Nanaimo fall jazz season kicks off at the ACME Basement on Thursday evening, Sep. 3rd, 8:00–10:30 pm with CONNOR STEWART visiting from New Orleans to lead a SONNY ROLLINS style trio on tenor sax, featuring two other very talented young players active on the North American jazz scene – bassist JOHN LEE (Boston), and drummer AARON LEVINSON (Vancouver). $12 (250) 754-1088. Bio's below:
=0D=0A=Earning accolades from from colleagues and fans alilke for his emotive playing, multi-instrumentalist CONNOR STEWART (tenor/alto/soprano/bari saxes, clarinet, trumpet, cornet, flugelhorn, flute, vocals) plays soprano sax and clarinet for the “Swamp Donkeys Traditional Jass Band,” tenor sax with the “Shannon Powell Quartet” led by Preservation Hall drummer Shannon Powell (Harry Connick Jr, Dr. John, Diana Krall, John Scofield,) and has recently been invited to join and play trumpet in “The Trumpet Mafia” led by Grammy winning University of New Orleans jazz trumpet studio leader Ashlin Parker (Irvin Mayfield’s New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, Aretha Franklin, Adonis Rose, Ellis/Jason Marsalis.)
=0D=0A=Stewart recently completed a 10 week, 57 show US/European summer tour with the Swamp Donkeys that sold out shows at legendary Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London, Ginny’s Supper Club in Harlem (2), the Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival (3); played 4 shows and appeared on radio at the renowned North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands; opened for Sting at the Monaco Red Cross Ball hosted by the royal family, and for Simple Minds at the Monte Carlo Sporting Summer Festival; and appeared to acclaim at clubs or festivals in St. Louis, Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit, Lansing, Buffalo, New York (Harlem/Manhattan/Brooklyn), New Jersey, Washington DC, England, Scotland, the Netherlands, France, Monaco, and Spain
=0D=0A=On bass is multi-talented (drums/piano/guitar) Nanaimo native JOHN LEE, who has appeared on a number of occasions with top BC jazz musicians during breaks from his studies at Berklee College of Music where he is a prestigious Slaight Scholarship recipient. Home visiting once more before returning to Boston, he recently appeared in trios at Hermann’s Jazz Club in Victoria - on drums with bassist Sean Drabitt and pianist Mark Turner, and on bass with Portland pianist George Colligan (Jack DeJohnette trio) and drummer Kelby McNayr. He has also appeared with Canadian jazz stalwarts including Phil Dwyer, Campbell Ryga, and the Jensen sisters, in Nanaimo with Philadelphia trumpeter Terrell Stafford, and in the U.S. in combos with bassist David Santoro, and pianist Cyrus Chestnut, playing at clubs in Boston, Washington DC, and NY. . Drummer
=0D=0A=AARON LEVINSON is one of the most talented and dedicated young players on the Vancouver jazz scene. He has studied in NY with Ulysses Owen Jr. (Christian McBride Trio), and recently spent 6 months playing in New Orleans and studying with legendary drummers Shannon Powell, and Herlin Riley (Ahmad Jamal, Wynton Marsalis, George Benson). He co-leads one of Vancouver’s longest running young jazz combos, the Rossi Gang, has sat in/subbed/played with other Vancouver bands, and has filled in as host on Nou Dadoun’s A Trane jazz show on CFRO radio. Levinson has appeared previously in Nanaimo at the Port Theatre, and on Kerilee MacDowall’s CHLY Rhythmaning show, with Stewart and the Rossi Gang. They have just finished filming a DVD and cutting a new CD with Stewart on tenor sax, due for release later this year.
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