MARKHAM, ON – December 13, 2024 – Destination Markham proudly announces the return of the wildly popular Markham Jazzlicious WinterFest for its third year. Building on the success of the sold-out 2023 and 2024 editions, this year’s series promises even more memorable evenings celebrating the vibrant culinary and musical culture of the City of Markham. With six events planned from late January to March 2025, Markham Jazzlicious WinterFest continues to grow as a must-attend cultural experience in the Greater Toronto Area.
2025 Event Schedule:
Series 1: January 21–25 | 2x-time JUNO Award nominee Alex Bird & The Jazz Mavericks at SMASH Kitchen & Bar
Series 2: January 28–February 1 | 3x-time JUNO Award nominee Jill Barber at Essence of Unionville, Hilton Toronto/Markham
Series 3: February 4–8 | 2x-time JUNO Award nominee Tanika Charles at Laz Authentic Cuisine
Series 4, 5 & 6: Details coming soon!
“Jazzlicious WinterFest has really become one of Markham’s most talked-about events,” says Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti. “What started as a way to support Markham’s local dining scene during the quiet season has turned into a can’t-miss experience, highlighting our world-class chefs and some of the best jazz musicians in Canada. We’re excited to welcome both residents and visitors for another unforgettable season.”
It's the one time of year that is still (almost universally) held in the cozy grip of vocal jazz. Alex Bird & The Jazz Mavericks know this and their offering of 10 *original* Christmas numbers is immediately up there with the American songbook classics that have come to define December as we know it. Bird and Farncombe have chosen a clever entrance with their gambit: the hallowed vibe of Christmas jazz. What we're left with is one of the most inventive Christmas records of modern times. - AlbumoftheYear.org
“For his latest record, the reincarnated jazz crooner teamed up with his musical partner, Ewen Farncombe and his “Jazz Mavericks” to deliver a remarkable Christmas album called, Another Christmas Day, a modern day holiday jazz masterpiece.” - Metronome Magazine (USA)
“If you’re not yet into Alex Bird and the Jazz Mavericks, you’re missing the freshest singer around. Not only does he have a hip delivery, but he writes his own material that is a clever mixture of Mose Allison, Tom Waits and a husky Mel Tormé. Whether Christmas is a time of Christ or Santa, this album is a stocking stuffer. Swing the jingle bells.” - Jazz Weekly (USA)
“Another Christmas Day is an album that manages to mix old and new most effectively, from the sumptuous jazz ballad Every Time This Year – a song with echoes of the best 1950s jazz vocal albums, and which feels like it should be a classic already – through to the more experimental sounds of Ho Ho Hold Me Close. It deserves all the success it gets, and it is up to those who hear the album to spread the word.” - Shane Brown - Author of Bobby Darin: The Ultimate Listeners Guirections (UK)
“With Another Christmas Day, Alex Bird And The Jazz Mavericks deliver an album that feels timeless yet refreshingly modern - and perfect for Holiday and jazz playlists alike.” - Vince Hans at NewAlbumsNow (USA)
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So thrilled to share the latest single in collaboration with Latin Grammy Award winner and legend Cheo! He brought this tune to me, and it had Spanish lyrics. He asked me to write English lyrics for it (something I’ve never done for someone else’s music), all he told me was the song was about dreaming…
We bring to you this musical slice of modern Bossa Nova: Lullaby For Dreaming.
In addition to Ewen Farncombe, it also features Jacob Gorzhaltsan on some dreamy sax, and Neil Ochoa on percussion.
Sincerely hope you dig it!
Beautiful artwork by Zoran Jovicic
Alex Bird, Ewen Farncombe & Cheo treat you to a sweet slice of irresistible Papaya in their groovy new single.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Two Toronto jazzmen and a Brooklyn DJ walk into a bar. And when they all walk out, they’ve written the slap of the summer. OK, that’s a bit of an oversimplification. But it’s still a good thumbnail for how we got Papaya, the intoxicating collaboration between Canadian national jazz treasures Alex Bird and Ewen Farncombe, and Venezuelan-born, New York-based Latin-dance giant Cheo. And boy, is their story a case of being in the right place at the right time.
It all went down when Cheo arrived early for a DJ gig in Toronto and decided to see who was playing nearby. It turned out to be Bird and the Jazz Mavericks, featuring Farncombe on piano. Taken by what he heard, Cheo began corresponding with Bird — and before long, the three had written an exciting set of tunes that played to all their strengths while carving out something vibrant and distinctive in its own right.
Appropriately enough, the first fruit of their alliance we’re getting to sample is Papaya, which evokes the spirit of the Copacabana circa 1968. With the multi-talented Cheo on guitar and Farncombe on Fender Rhodes and Wurlitzer, the track keeps up a head-bobbing, hip-swaying lilt while Bird brings pitch-perfect period enunciation to the imagery dancers “gettin’ way down low (and) swinging to and fro” to a bossa nova beat. Whoever they might be, they certainly seem to be having a time:
“Well, they wave their hands
And they flip their hair
Without a care
Goin’ with the flow.”
Bird and Farncombe brought in their fellow Maverick Jacob Gorzhaltsan to provide tenor sax and flute. While they were all ready, they put down a full EP, the forthcoming Casanova, Bossa Nova, Lover Man. It teams Papaya with three more songs: The title track, All the Way Tonight and Lullaby For Dreaming. The latter two were brought to the table by Cheo and then had their lyrics translated into English by Bird; the other half are Bird/Farncombe compositions with words by Bird and Cheo.
What you’ll hear is the dynamic synthesis of some seriously formidable pedigrees. Undisputed masters of modern vocal jazz, Bird and Farncombe have been nominated for two Junos — first with the Mavericks for 2021’s You Are The Light And The Way and more recently in the 2024 Vocal Jazz Album Of The Year category for their duo recording Songwriter. They also penned the Thanksgiving anthem The Sweetest Moments. In their various configurations, they’re a top draw on club and concert stages across the country.
Cheo, meanwhile, has won one Latin Grammy and been nominated for another 10, in recognition of his far-ranging skills as a guitarist, songwriter, DJ and producer. Over the course of nearly three decades, he’s woven his name tightly into the fabric of Latin music — first in his native Caracas and later in his adopted home of New York, where he performs extensively as both a solo artist and a member of numerous popular bands, including his own dance/funk outfit Los Amigos Invisibles. He’s a vigorous collaborator whose partnership with Neil Ochoa and Alvaro Benavidez as Los Crema Paraiso yielded the 2015 album De Película. During the pandemic, his weekend DJ sets Casaecheo and Bajo Perfil were streamed to over 20,000 live viewers.
Now these highly accomplished boundary-breakers have come together to introduce us to what they call “bossa nova for the 21st century.” Based on their past triumphs and the tantalizing groove of Papaya, they’re clearly on to something. Aren’t you glad Cheo didn’t stop into a pizza joint instead?
Today would have been Bobby Darin’s 88th birthday. I’m very excited to announce this incredible news!!! I recently found and saved what we think are Bobby Darin’s earliest recordings, on acetates recorded at Nola Recording Studios in New York in 1955, when he was about 19 years old! 3 years before he became a star with “Splish Splash”. Bobby started out trying to make it as a songwriter alongside his songwriting partner, the great Don Kirshner. The first acetate contains their “Orange Furniture Jingle”, the very first song they sold for money, thought lost to time. If that wasn’t enough…also discovered on the acetate were lost Bobby Darin originals! Some Rock ‘n’ Roll type tunes, and some Jazz. Unpublished and never copyrighted.
Also, in my find I acquired and saved Bobby’s original demo for “Dealer in Dreams”, which helped get him signed to Decca Records! And then I was also lucky enough in this find to save Bobby’s original demo for “Don’t Call My Name”, which helped get him signed to ATCO records (Atlantic Records)! These wildly historical songwriting demos help fill in the early part of Bobby’s career and show a direct line leading up to his 1958 break with “Splish Splash”. The acetates were originally found in a record bin in Baltimore, and then taken all the way over to Germany, where they sat for many years until making their way to me. I’m currently working with Bobby’s estate to give these a proper release.
Special thanks to Mariana Hutten for helping me clean and restore the very time-weathered and delicate acetate recordings (which you can hear in the near future!) I’m also looking at rearranging & finishing off two of Bobby’s lost originals with Ewen Farncombe. Kind of weird that the very first song Darin sold for money was acquired and saved by me with money that I got from the very first song I sold… “The Sweetest Moments”. Bobby and his music mean a lot to me…that must be some kind of fate. So, I’ve put together a special 88th birthday journey for you.
Bobby was just a kid trying to make a name for himself with his own music, and he ended up doing just that and much more in his short 37 years on this Earth. Come with me for a bit as I take you through these extraordinary finds and also the beginning of Bobby Darin’s career.
Alex Bird & Ewen Farncombe are heading back to the JUNO Awards. “Songwriter” has been nominated for “Best Vocal Jazz” at the 2024 awards happening in Halifax this March.
https://junoawards.ca/nomination/2024-vocal-jazz-album-of-the-year-alex-bird-ewen-farncombe/
Congratulatory billboard on display in Toronto.
https://www.jazzsudbury.com/headliners/
In addition to headlining his first festival; Alex has been asked to close out the 2023 Sudbury Jazz Festival with a workshop for emerging artists.
Alex will be backed by his “Jazz Mavericks”
Ewen Farncombe - Piano
Jacob Gorzhaltsan - Sax
Julian Anderson-Bowes - Bass
Norbert Botos - Drums
