When:
June 28, 2025 @ 8:00 pm – 10:30 pm
2025-06-28T20:00:00-04:00
2025-06-28T22:30:00-04:00
Cost:
$30.00
“Over the last few years, Alex Bird has become one of the most exciting names on the Canadian Jazz scene. With praise from around the globe and alongside songwriting & piano partner Ewen Farncombe, Bird has created timeless and heartfelt originals for a modern audience. Over the last few years, this talented team has produced something that is completely unique: three original & independent albums in three years. Their sophomore album, You Are the Light and the Way, backed by their Jazz Mavericks, was nominated for “Best Vocal Jazz” at the 2022 JUNO Awards.
Bird and Farncombe’s latest album, a duo record, dropped as a surprise of 11 originals entitled Songwriter. Kira Grunenberg at DOWNBEAT MAGAZINE wrote, “Impassioned messages sung and played from one’s heart but worn on a well-dressed sleeve. Songwriter is an elegant, romantic, and well-executed gem of a record.”
Also in 2022, Bird & Farncombe wrote and released Canada’s Thanksgiving anthem, The Sweetest Moments, which received a national ad campaign across Canada, with interviews on CBC, CTV, and other major news outlets. Songwriter was nominated for “Best Vocal Jazz” at the 2024 JUNO Awards.
From headlining the Sudbury Jazz Festival in 2023 to making appearances at The Markham Jazz Festival, The Kensington Market Jazz Festival, and The Niagara Jazz Festival, and playing such top-notch music venues as The Jazz Bistro, Upstairs Jazz, Knox Hall, Reid’s Distillery, The Old Mill, and Sellers & Newel; Alex Bird & The Jazz Mavericks are continuing their growing momentum.
In the Summer of 2024, Bird & Farncombe released an all-original Bossa Nova EP in collaboration with Latin Grammy Award Winner and Grammy Nominee Cheo, the founding member of one of the biggest bands to come out of Venezuela, the jazz/funk band Los Amigos Invisibles, discovered by David Bryne. To kick off 2025, Alex Bird & The Jazz Mavericks were the headlining opening act for Markham’s prestigious “Jazzlicious Winterfest” series, with 5 nights of shows.
Bird was adopted from Romania and came to Canada at six weeks old. He literally grew up with the classics. Starting at the age of two, he was taken to hang around the Toronto Jazz scene and had the opportunity to see and meet many of the greats along the way: Tony Bennett, Diana Krall, Ray Brown, Oscar Peterson, Mel Tormé, Ray Charles…the list goes on. Without even knowing it, his musical training developed, sitting around at smoky Jazz clubs into the wee small hours of the morning.”
Personnel:
Alex Bird – Vocals
Eric Liang – Piano
Jacob Gorzhaltsan – Sax
Julian Anderson-Bowes – Bass
Norbert Botos – Drums
