Jane Bunnett & Maqueque Release Playing With Fire

Fri Jan 20, 2023
Jane Bunnett & Maqueque

Playing With Fire could refer to the feeling emanating from any member of Maqueque, the all-women band formed by veteran Toronto jazz musician Jane Bunnett with young female grads of the Cuban conservatory.

Check it out on YouTube here:

 A decade ago, Bunnett met the core of the band at a jam session with her band Spirits of Havana, at the Cohiba Hotel in that city. Ten years later, Maqueque has created opportunities for composing and performing extraordinary jazz that has taken the pioneering ensemble around the world. It has expanded to include not only women players from Cuba, but also the brilliant vocalist Joanna Majoko (from Zimbabwe) and musicians from the Dominican Republic, Latin America, Spain and Lebanon.

Heather Bambrick, Jane Bunnett, Reg Schwager & MORE to Perform at JazzinToronto’s Free 4-Day Festival this July

Fri Jun 11, 2021
Heather Bambrick, Jane Bunnett, Reg Schwager & MORE

Heather Bambrick, Jane Bunnett, Reg Schwager, Neil Swainson and more are standing by, ready to go live for JazzinToronto’s newly announced upcoming festival this July 20th - 23rd!

JazzinToronto Live: A Community Celebration is a free festival set to live-stream from some of the city’s most beloved venues. The four-day digital event will present an exciting roster teeming with the diverse talent the City of Toronto has to offer — including Laura Hubert, Rebecca Hennessy, Alexis Baro, Nathan Hiltz, Donovan Locke, Jesse Ryan and Caity Gyorgy.

“JazzinToronto started in 2018 as a daily listings service on Instagram,” Founder and Co-Director Lina Welch shares. “Our mission is to connect Toronto jazz audiences, musicians, venues, and presenters — which has only become even more important during this challenging time.”

Check out the Teaser here on YouTube:

Jane Bunnett & Maqueque Stand On Firm Ground / Tierra Firme with 2020 JUNO Award Nomination

Fri Feb 21, 2020
Jane Bunnett & Maqueque

Five-time JUNO Award winner and three-time GRAMMY Award nominee — plus the recipient of the Order of Canada, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, and the Premier’s Award for Excellence — Jane Bunnett and her all-female collective Maqueque have been nominated for a 2020 JUNO Award. 

The nod for Jazz Album of the Year: Group comes for the collective’s latest release, On Firm Ground / Tierra Firme (Linus Entertainment). 

In just five years, Bunnett harnessed her veteran jazz icon status and talent as a soprano saxophone player, flautist and composer to evolve Maqueque from a creative mentorship into a GRAMMY Award-nominated, critically acclaimed and industry heralded support platform that honours, amplifies and elevates the newest generation of young, female musicians hailing from around the world. 

Watch Jane Bunnett and Maqueque here:
Monkey See Monkey Do
https://youtu.be/Hnh-LEhThzA

BTW-Starring Jane Bunnett, Emilia, Beautiful Nothing, Andria Simone, LIRA, The Jessica Stuart Few, Kathleen Edwards, Constantines

Fri Jul 04 2014
Beautiful Nothing

Toronto-based Andria Simone & Those Guys are on a major roll. They closed out June with a trip to Cognac, France to pick up an award as winner of the Hennessy artistry talent quest. During the week in France they opened for major European star Ben L’Oncle Soul and Monophonique as well as two or three other concerts, where they appeared on the same bills as Robert Plant, Taj Mahal, Lily Allen, Hiromi, Steven Seagal and Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne. Back in Toronto from Paris July 5 Andria and Those Guys will be met by two cars to drive them up to Jazz On The Mountain At Blue Mountain where they’ll open for The Commodores that evening.  July 9 finds the band in NYC to play the prestigious Rockwood Music Hall.

Back in the T.Dot, on July 19,it’s the main stage for the Beaches International Jazz Festival in Toronto’s East end. Come August 21 Andria Simone & Those Guys return to 3030 on Dundas Street West where they packed the room on their last show there, April 17. There won’t likely be many added summer dates , as the band have begun work on their as yet untitled sophomore album.