TD PEI Jazz & Blues presents our annual 2018 Doug Riley Concert, featuring this year’s Doug Riley Artist Ken Fornetran, 2018 ECMA Jazz Award winner Paul Tynan and Emmanuelle LeBlanc of Vishtèn – Thursday June 28 7:00pm at St. Paul’s Church.
Again our festival puts the focus on celebrating the incredible depth of music talent here in Atlantic Canada, beginning with this intimate jazz show at the beautiful and historic St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Charlottetown.
Ken Fornetran is this year’s “Doug Riley Artist” for the 2018 TD PEI Jazz and Blues Festival. Our Doug Riley Award is presented each year to an Island musician who exemplifies the spirit of dedication to musical excellence and to developing the jazz and blues community as personified by Doug Riley, the late great keyboard master, composer, producer and arts exponent who chose PEI as his home.
For this years Doug Riley Concert, Ken will present an intimate evening of music that crosses genre labels, with special guests Emmanuelle LeBlanc of Vishtèn and trumpeter Paul Tynan who recently won the 2018 ECMA for Best Jazz Recording. The concert will be held at the historic and beautiful St. Paul’s Anglican Church, one of the best sounding venues for jazz in Atlantic Canada.
Ken’s program draws from a wide variety of his influences including classics by John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman alongside original compositions, and music by James Taylor, Rickie Lee Jones, Woody Guthrie, Michael McGoldrick and more, all showcasing the art of the interplay of melody and harmony. As usual they will also include a few songs written or performed by Doug Riley whose influential career also drew from many styles and genres. Also performing for our opening concert of the festival will be Ian Toms guitar, Chris Martell bass and Daniel Verdecchia drums
Emmanuelle LeBlanc is a multi-instrumentalist and composer who specializes in traditional and contemporary Acadian/Celtic music. A skilled and innovative percussionist, she is widely recognized as a master of podorythmie (foot percussion) and bodhran. She has pioneered her melodic instrument of choice-the tin whistle- with a signature blend of traditional Acadian, Irish, Cajun, and rock sensibilities. With her band Vishtèn, she has performed extensively throughout North America, Europe and Australia and has received 4 ECMAs, 4 MusicPEI Awards and Québec’s Édith Butler Award for La Francophonie Canadienne.
Trumpet and flugelhorn player Paul Tynan won the 2018 ECMA for “Jazz Recording of the Year” for his album with partner Aaron Lington entitled Bicoastal Collective: Chapter Five. A past Downbeat Award winner, Paul is presently a full Professor of Music at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia teaching jazz trumpet, jazz history, and arranging.
Paul has released ten recordings as a leader/co-leader and has performed with numerous jazz artists such as The Pacific Mambo Orchestra, Chris Potter, Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Jerry Bergonzi, Clark Terry, Bob Brookmeyer, Jim McNeely, Joel Frahm, and Matt Wilson. As a jazz recording artist he has appeared on over sixty recordings as a trumpet player, composer, arranger, and/or producer along side musicians like Lynn Seaton, Marcus Wolfe, Stockton Helbing, David Braid, Joel Fountain, Bobby Selvaggio, Kenny Werner, Kenny Wheeler, Dan Haerle, Ben Street, and Jamey Haddad.
Ken Fornetran moved to PEI in 2012, and has been very active in the local music scene performing regularly across the Maritimes with Paul Tynan, Tom Easley, Island Jazz, Alan Dowling, and Ian Toms. Ken has taught saxophone and woodwinds at St. F.X. University and Holland College School of Performing Arts (SOPA). Originally from Windsor Ontario, Ken studied music at Humber College in Toronto and has performed at most of Canada’s major jazz festivals and clubs with many of Canada’s finest musicians including Bernie Senensky, Norman Marshall Villeneuve, David Occhipinti, Roy Styffe, Bob Mover, Jerry Fuller, and others. He has played in a wide variety musical settings ranging from jazz great Curtis Fuller to Canadian pop icon Alan Frew (Glass Tiger) and Classic Albums Live. His debut CD recording “Shadows and Short Stories” received an impressive 4 star review in Downbeat Magazine and was later listed as of of the “Best CD’s of the Year” in the same prestigious magazine. In addition to his career as a musician, Ken has also earned a reputation as one of Canada’s finest woodwind repair technicians.
Musicians:
Ken Fornetran, saxes
Ian Toms, guitar
Christopher Martell, acoustic bass
Daniel Verdecchia, drums
with special guests
Paul Tynan, trumpet and flugelhorn
Emmanuelle LeBlanc, percussion, tin whistle and voice
Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door, plus taxes and fees
Doors open at 6:30pm and the music will start at 7pm
St. Paul’s Anglican Church corner of Prince and Grafton streets in downtown Charlottetown
Advance tickets and All Events Festival Passes are available online
or at the Eastlink Centre Charlottetown.
