REBECCA HENNESSY TRIO
5.30
Rebecca Hennessy is a multi-instrumentalist, singer and composer. On February 7th, 2025, she is releasing a live album recorded at the Jazz Room in Kitchener-Waterloo featuring her full-band, Makeshift Island. This live album follows two other vocal albums released since 2020,“Joy Will Find Us”, and “All The Little Things You Do”. All three albums feature wold-renowned guitarist Kevin Breit (Sisters Euclid/Norah Jones), Michael Herring, Dave Clark and Tania Gill. Besides these recent vocal albums, Rebecca has released 9 other albums to date as co-leader or bandleader and has toured Mexico, Panama, Sri Lanka, Europe, USA and extensively in Canada. She has also performed and recorded with internationally recognized artists including Adele, Kevin Breit, Ron Sexsmith, Andy Kim, Owen Pallett, Broken Social Scene, Feist, Ab Baars and Ken Vandermark. In 2021 she joined the Yamaha Artist roster and currently plays on a YTR-8310Z. She was the
bandleader and trumpeter for Massey Hall’s Women’s Blues Revue (2013-2022) and in 2018, won the Toronto Arts Foundation Emerging Jazz Artist Award and was nominated for Montreal Jazz Festival Grand Prix de Jazz in 2016.
NII OSABU
8.00
Nii Osabu is a Ghanaian highlife and African traditional musician, songwriter & music producer currently based in Toronto, Canada. Starting music at 10 and following in the footsteps of his musical father, he now has over 30 singles to his credit and a debut album coming soon. Notable singles include "Marhaba" (Year of Return song), "Beshwe Womma" Covid-19 Awareness, & "Arise Africa" (popular on Ghana’s Rainbow Radio). Three of his songs are in the docuseries ‘Beads Build Bridges’, featured in Los Angeles’ Pan African Film Fest. In addition to playing solo shows, he is also the founder and the lead vocalist of the Afro Boys Band, which performs African music with a unique blend of highlife & Ghanaian traditional styles.
In Canada, Nii has performed at festivals like the Family Day Festival by Aga Khan Museum, Travellers Tour Festival by Kitchener Public Library, Ottawa Italian Festival 2024, Taste of Ghana in Toronto, Homowo Festival in the Park 2024, Homowo Dinner Dance 2024, Miss Tourism CommonWealth 2024, Acoustic Africa 2024 and many others. Some live music venues in Toronto such as Drom Taberna, Dakota Tavern, the Function Bar, Emmet Ray and many others have also witnessed the electrifying performances of Nii Osabu and his band.
15$ cover after 10pm, with all proceeds going directly to the musicians performing.
DUMAI DUNAI
11.30
Slavic dub-punk missionaries Dumai Dunai have been winning the hearts of audiences all over the world since they first burst onto the scene in 2022. With members from Ukraine, Bulgaria, and Canada, the multi-lingual seven-piece combines the deep grooves of dub with the energy of punk rock, the raw ecstasy of the blasting horns of Balkan wedding brass bands, and the joys and sorrows of Ukrainian village polyphony.
Their debut album “Sometime Between Now and Never,” released in June 2024, received excellent reviews and a nomination for Global Roots Album of the Year from the Canadian Folk Music Awards.
Featuring past and present members of the Lemon Bucket Orkestra, Boogat, and Bad Uncle, Dumai Dunai exists somewhere between the underground scene of their beloved Montreal and the mountains and valleys of their Slavic homelands.
“An intelligent partying kind of a band.” - Songlines Magazine
JACOB SOUCY
2.30
Vancouver-born, Toronto-based trumpeter, composer, & producer Jacob Soucy writes and performs jazz-funk originals through the fusion of beat-making with live band arrangements. His debut album, Vision Is Essential was released in August 2024.