Let the timeless charisma and romantic storytelling of Frank Sinatra’s repertoire warm a Vancouver Island January evening. Hermann’s Jazz Club invites you to a special concert with acclaimed jazz vocalist Angela Verbrugge, back from fall tours to Europe and Asia. Verbrugge was nominated for Jazz Artist of the Year at the 2024 Western Canadian Music Awards and recently topped both the All About Jazz and JazzTimes polls.
Enjoy intimate trio renditions of moonlight and nighttime themed traditional pop and jazz standards alongside Angela’s charming originals in our warm, Downtown Victoria jazz club. Angela is joined by dazzling Grammy-nominated New York City pianist Ray Gallon, Detroit-born bassist Louis Rudner, and rising star Nanaimo drummer Graham Villette.
It’s an evening of thrilling melodies, sophisticated artistry, and Sinatra spirit. This concert is sure to have your ol’ eyes twinkling, even if they’re not blue like Frank’s!
Known for her heartfelt interpretations, clever original lyrics, timeless style, and captivating stage presence, don’t miss West Coast–based jazz artist Angela Verbrugge as she returns to the stage at Hermann’s January 23rd with NYC pianist Ray Gallon. Angela and Ray are celebrating the release of their new album, In the Wonder of the Night, a vocal jazz collection of standards and originals that explore how nighttime makes space for romance, connection, and contemplation, several tracks of which were inspired by Moonlight Sinatra.
Possessing a “winsome, brightly-burnished, pliable voice, ample emotional intelligence, and conspicuously good taste… now is the time for Angela Verbrugge”, writes Andrew Gilbert for JazzTimes Magazine. Inspired by Carmen McRae, Ella Fitzgerald, Anita O’Day, and other jazz vocalists popular in the 1940s/50s, Angela brings tenderness, wit, and passion to her interpretations of standards. Her originals are inspired by the classic Gershwin–Cole Porter tradition. Her collaborations include songwriting with Caity Gyorgy, Ken Fowser, Nick Hempton, Neal Miner and Ray Gallon.
Since 2021, Angela has performed across Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, TĂĽrkiye, England, Germany, Luxembourg, Italy, France, and from coast to coast in Canada. She has won reader polls in JazzTimes and All About Jazz, released four acclaimed albums on US and German record labels, and was recently nominated for Jazz Artist of the Year at the Western Canadian Music Awards. Her music is played by CBC Saturday Night Jazz and on prominent jazz programs around the world. Her catalogue has accumulated almost a million streams across music platforms. Verbrugge has shared the stage with leading Canadian jazz artists such as Neil Swainson, Terry Clarke, Miles Black, and Reg Schwager.
Ray Gallon is a veteran New York jazz pianist whose expressive, swinging style bridges bebop tradition and modern creativity, whom Ahmad Jamal called “extraordinary”. Mentored by the likes of John Lewis, Hank Jones, and Jaki Byard, Gallon has performed worldwide with icons including Ron Carter, Lionel Hampton, Art Farmer, Benny Golson, Les Paul, and Wycliffe Gordon, and has appeared at the White House and Kennedy Center alongside Dizzy Gillespie, Milt Jackson, and Joe Williams. An in-demand accompanist in New York and beyond, he accompanied Jon Hendricks, Sheila Jordan, Jane Monheit, and Chaka Khan. His acclaimed Cellar Live trio albums Grand Company (with Ron Carter and Lewis Nash) and Make Your Move (with David Wong and Kenny Washington) showcase his inventive originals and inspired interpretations of standards. A full-time faculty member at The City College of New York in Harlem, Gallon has also taught at Juilliard and The New School. Pianist Bill Charlap calls his work “informed, passionate, and personal… with a wrought-iron jazz vocabulary.”
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