Jazz Ensemble
Halifax Hearing Too
A DalJazz Ensemble Concert
Directed by Chris Mitchell and featuring Jah’Mila, Aquakultre, Raymond Sewell, Calen Kinney, Jeff Reilly, James Shaw and Nicole Jordan.
Joseph Strug Concert Hall | 1385 Seymour St. Halifax NS
April 4 | 7:30pm
$15/$10 tickets: dal.ca/artscentre box office fees will apply
Hearing Halifax Too tells the story of K'jipuktuk (Halifax) as a broadly diverse city that is home to international, indigenous, and historical black communities. Through their original music each of these incredible guest artists share individual stories about their relationship with K’jipuktuk, creating a musical narrative that is truly unique to the landscape of this region.
Chris Mitchell is an engaging and innovative artist. Heralded as one of Canada’s finest instrumentalists, Chris has contributed to the music scene in several diverse and exciting ways. A versatile player, Chris is a sought-after talent across a variety of genres performing with a myriad of artist’s including David Foster, Natalie Cole, Lionel Richie, Ray Charles, Rosemary Clooney, Phil Woods, Kenny Wheeler, Jackie Richardson, Michael Kaeshammer, and Doug Riley to name a few. Chris has recently toured with The Afro Cuban Jazz and Beyond Quintet which features Ignacio Berroa, Hilario Duran, Roberto Occhipinti and Jorge Luis Torres. Chris has toured extensively in North America, Europe and in Asia and has also performed with a numerous symphony orchestras across Canada. His extensive experience as a performer, composer and arranger has culminated in the production of four solo instrumental albums to date. As a result of his 1997 release “The Witches of Redbeard” featuring jazz icon Phil Woods, The Chris Mitchell Quintet was the recipient of the prestigious “Prix De Jazz DuMaurier” performing at the 1999 Montreal Jazz Festival. Chris has also been nominated and received numerous other awards including an ECMA for jazz artist of the year. As a sideman, Chris has also recorded with numerous Juno and ECMA winning artists. Chris also operates a successful music production company – MitchMusic.
Currently active in various musical groups, Chris also holds a long-time Faculty position at the Fountain School of Performing Arts, Dalhousie University in Halifax.
Aquakultre is the artistic voice of Lance Sampson — an uncommonly versatile singer, rapper, composer and storyteller from Halifax, NS. Since winning the 2018 CBC Searchlight competition, Aquakultre has released two Polaris-nominated albums and a multitude of genre-diverse, multi-media collaborations, establishing him as a significant musical and cultural presence. The live show is a warm-hearted party where all are welcomed by Aquakultre’s big voice and bigger stage presence. Through all his works, via poetic lyrics and straight-up jams, Aquakultre is on a mission to share his love for his unique and beautiful corner of the culture.
Raymond Sewell is an L'nu author and professor at Saint Mary's University in the department of English. Raymond also releases music on occasion and has performed extensively.
Calen Kinney - Since relocating to Halifax in 2009, Calen has been leaving an indelible mark as a fiddler in the vibrant Halifax music scene. From his early days with the Regal Beagle Band, he swiftly found his knack for play in band settings and performing with a tenacious flair. With a musical journey spanning 15 years, he has become an integral part of various bands and collaborations, sharing the stage with notable names like The Stanfields, Jimmy Rankin and Rankin & the Broken Reeds. Despite gracing stages around the globe, Halifax remains his true musical home, where he continues to regularly perform with several groups.”
Jeff Reilly - Jeff Reilly is a musician with a broad and extensive scope of work. A twice Juno-nominated bass clarinetist as well as a composer, conductor, improviser, and producer, Jeff has appeared a soloist with the Elora Singers, Symphony Nova Scotia, the Winnipeg New Music Festival, Elmer Iseler Singers, I Musici de Montreal, the Canadian Chamber Choir, Calgary’s Luminous Voices, Ottawa’s 13 Strings and across Canada, USA, Europe and Asia in the groundbreaking trio Sanctuary. His approach to music blurs any simple distinctions between improvisation and composition, and he strives to do it with such integrity that we are reminded that these distinctions are moot.
Jeff has recorded and performed with Jerry Granelli, Ben Caplan, Barry Guy, Maya Homburger, John Potter, Peter Togni, Suzie Leblanc and Tom Allen. He is active in many musical projects including the Blackwood Duo, New Hermitage, Upstream Music and with James Shaw’s Vesuvius Big Band. As a soloist on the famous ECM New Series label, his virtuosic performance of Peter-Anthony Togni’s Lamentations of Jeremiah was praised by the British critic Norman Lebrecht as “extending across the history of sound, from monotony to modernism, in a performance that is dominant and often hypnotic”
A long-time music producer with the Canadian Broadcasting corporation, he has produced hundreds of concert recordings of classical, jazz, world and contemporary music, hundreds of studio sessions and over 25 CD’s of Canadian jazz and classical music. Over the years 6 of his CD productions have received Juno nominations.
Jeff has composed dozens of works for orchestra, big band, jazz composer’s orchestras, bass clarinet ensembles, chamber jazz groups and for his duo Blackwood with long-time collaborator Peter-Anthony Togni. His most recent suite of compositions for James Shaw’s Vesuvius Big Band was premiered at the Halifax Jazz Festival in 2023.
Jeff is the regular conductor of the Upstream Orchestra, a jazz composer’s orchestra based in Halifax.
James Shaw is an ambitious and dedicated musician, James Shaw is based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and is a composer, arranger, saxophonist, conductor and educator. In 2016, Shaw started The Vesuvius Big Band, which he writes, arranges, performs and conducts with. Their debut release, Live at Open Waters Festival was nominated for the 2022 ECMA and MNS: Jazz Recording of the Year. Their latest project saw the 18 piece big band premiere 7 new compositions at the 2023 Halifax Jazz Festival. Most recently, Shaw’s quintet album, III/V has been nominated for MNS 2023: Jazz Recording of the
Year. He is an active freelance musician in the Maritime music scene playing with artists such as Roxy and the Underground Soul Sound, Rankin McInnis, Dave Sampson, Jah’Mila, Andru Branch and the Halfway Tree, and many others.
Dr. Nicole Jordan, A Canadian-Trinidadian, “Dr. J.” spent her formative years in Halifax, Nova Scotia, then made her career in England and The Netherlands as a vocalist, creator, and academic. Dr. J. holds a PhD in Performance Studies/Music Psychology from the University of Sheffield (UK), a Master of Science in Music Psychology from Keele University (UK), and Bachelor of Music from Acadia University (CAN). Her own creative work is multidisciplinary and draws upon voice, story, movement and visual arts to tell stories of her multicultural experience.
Since returning to Nova Scotia in 2021, she has joined the faculty at the Fountain School of Performing Arts at Dalhousie University as Assistant Professor of Voice, DalChorus director, and advisor on equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility (EDIA) in the arts. She has recently joined the boards of the Nova Scotia Choral Federation, Camerata Singers, and the Canadian Chamber Choir to pursue her passions for choral music, community engagement, and advocacy for Black and Indigenous singers in Nova Scotia.