I Left My Heart: A Tribute to Tony Bennett

Fri. April 14th 2023 7:00 - 9:00 doors at 5:30 (All Ages)
Livestream + In Person $25 plus fees/tax, advance purchase recommended, walk-ins welcome
Enjoy a Friday evening dinner and date out in downtown Victoria at the oldest continuously-operating jazz club in Canada with one of the busiest jazz vocalists in Western Canada. Angela is putting together a night to pay homage to one of the great voices and interpreters of the century, Tony Bennett. You’ll hear classic songs like I Left My Heart in San Francisco, Cheek to Cheek, The Good Life, and Don’t Get Around Much Anymore as Angela and her stellar quartet mine from his over 70 albums and releases. The classics you know and love will be performed alongside some of Angela’s originals inspired by traditional songbook repertoire. Angela is touring in Japan in early March, and since beginning her career in 2013, she has released two critically-acclaimed albums. Her piano trio’s sound, inspired by Tony’s recording with the Bill Charlap trio and swinging groups like the Oscar Peterson trio, will provide the perfect harmonic and rhythmic elements to bring this repertoire to life.

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About Angela:
After winning the 2020 JazzTimes’ Readers' Poll for Best Female Vocalist, Angela Verbrugge has kept a busy tour schedule with performances in Japan, Turkey, Germany, England, as well as across Canada. Taking inspiration from vintage musicals, the swing era, blues, and bebop, the charismatic vocalist pens original lyrics and compositions in the style of classic standards. Angela relocated to Victoira in 2019 from Vancouver. She performs these alongside repertoire from the Great American Songbook, such as tunes popularized by Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, and Julie London. Angela recorded her 2019 album in New York City, co-produced by bassist Cameron Brown. Toronto Music Report writes that Angela is “a gem of a vocalist who makes all her chosen material sound magical.” JazzWeekly describes the former actress as “fun and quirky, hip and a hoot, wispy and romantic; she slithers and oozes, and cleverly swings.” She won competitive grants from the British Columbian and Canadian governments to support the release of her second album, Love for Connoisseurs. Original songs from this project have been featured on leading Spotify editorial playlists.

About Ashley:
Ashley Wey is known as the former artistic programming director for Hermann’s Jazz Club where she guided Victoria’s thriving music scene for several years, but at the core of all she does, she is a world-class jazz pianist. While she has released several jazz albums that showcase her piano and vocal talents, Ashley’s most recent project is entirely original project melding alternative folk, pop, and jazz. She is a first-call accompanist on Vancouver Island, but also an interantional bandleader of her own right. She studied under the Canadian jazz greats such as Don Thompson in Toronto before touring the world on cruise ships around the world with four-time Grammy Award winner, Manny Kelloughis. She has worked with Canadian Idol winner Eva Avila, Juno Award-winners Brandi Disterheft, Mae Moore, Emily Braden, and all the leading vocalists in Victoria.

About Louis:
One of the busiest musicians on Vancouver Island, Louis Rudner is an upright and electric bassist, educator, and music arranger and music copyist. He earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s in Music Performance on the Double Bass/Jazz Studies near his hometown, at Michigan State University. After several years of travelling the world on cruise ship gigs, he has settled into Victoria with his wife, pianist, Ashley Wey. Louis is a regular member of many local groups, as well as playing with many more British Columbia greats and touring artists. He finds himself performing most days of the week, and when he’s not performing, he’s educating the next generation.

About Damian:
Damian Graham, the leader of the Best Guys in Town, is an in-demand drummer in jazz and a variety of genres including Latin, oldies, rock, pop, and even metal. Performance highlights include travelling the world to perform; he has shared the stage with Joshua Redman, Grammy-winning Cecil McBee, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Holly Cole, The Shuffle Demons, Buddy Guy, Colin James, and Joey DeFrancesco amongst