The NEXT GENERATION JAZZ COLLECTIVE consists of some of Victoria's own youngest and brightest jazz musicians led by multi-instrumentalist and Cellar Music Group recording artist John Lee. This concert will feature the music of Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers from the golden 1961-1964 period when up-and-coming Jazz giants such as Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter and Cedar Walton were making their mark in the Jazz world with their compositions, arrangements and cutting edge improvisations during their tenure with the Messengers.
THIS EVENT WILL NOT BE LIVE STREAMED. IN PERSON ONLY!

OWEN CHOW - Trumpet
COLE ASHLEY - Tenor Saxophone
ZAK KYRIACOU - Trombone
THOMAS ANDERSEN - Piano
MATISSE HURTIG - Bass
JOHN LEE - Drums

Raised in Nanaimo BC, multi-instrumentalist John Lee continues to be one of the highest acclaimed jazz artists nationwide. After showing great interest in music at a young age, Lee developed into a virtuoso by his late teens. Lee moved to Boston in 2010 to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston where he was mentored by Ralph Peterson Jr and Dave Santoro. Lee relocated back to his west coast motherland in 2016 and began his professional career.

Lee's experience as a sideman goes far beyond his years. Raised as a local of Vancouver Island, his early performing experiences were with Canadian artists such as Order of Canada recipient Phil Dwyer and internationally acclaimed Jazz trumpeter Ingrid Jensen. At age 19, Lee made his performance debut in the US with pianist Cyrus Chestnut at Dizzy's Club Coca Cola (Jazz at Lincoln Center) in New York City. Lee spent much of the early 2010's on the bandstand supporting visiting artists in Victoria BC where he performed with American pianists Larry Fuller, George Colligan and Misha Piatigorsky. Starting an association with internationally recognized Jazz saxophonist and impresario Cory Weeds in recent years, Lee was provided many opportunities to share the stage with the who's who of the Jazz world. Since 2017, Lee has performed with many world class visiting artists in Vancouver BC including Terell Stafford, Roy McCurdy, Ralph Moore, Grant Stewart, Jeremy Pelt, Eric Alexander, Joe Farnsworth, Peter Bernstein, Benny Benack III, Alexander Claffy, Mike LeDonne, Lucy Yeghiazaryan, Michael Weiss, Dick Oatts, Jim Rotondi, Nicole Glover and Joe Magnarelli.

With the support of the Cellar Music Group, Lee recorded his first album “The Artist” in 2021 under the Cellar Live record label featuring legendary Jazz drummer Carl Allen. His sophomore recording “Second Wind” featuring Peter Washington and Kenny Washington was released in July 2024.