Next Generation Jazz Festival

Thomas Francis is one of Toronto’s leading pianists and is well known for his extensive background in jazz and soul-based musics. Thomas played with Canadian artists such as Juno Award-winning music icon and jazz vocalist Kellylee Evans, Alexis Baro (Juno-nominated jazz artist), Dan Talevski (MMVA nominee), Melanie Durrant (Juno-nominated R&B artist), KC Roberts & The Live Revolution (Toronto funk band), The Reklaws (CCMA-winning country duo), George St. Kitts (Juno-nominated Toronto soul icon), and many more. 

Thomas completed his diploma in Jazz Performance at Humber College, and bachelor of fine arts at York University. In 2017, he completed his master's in Composition at York where his work focused on the relationship between jazz and hip-hop histories and musics and a new breadth course he created, “Hip Hop: A Study of Blackness.” His works received grants such as the 2019 Special Projects grant by the Toronto Jazz Festival and the 2021 Music Recording Project – EP Category grant from Ontario Arts Council. Additionally, he is well known for his musicianship skills in writing and arranging for strings, having established his own contemporary string ensemble, The Four Strings.  

Thomas is the host of The Jazz Gene, a weekly one-hour show on Toronto’s online jazz radio platform, Jazzcast.ca. Thomas has spent the last five years working as a professor of music at Centennial College and is looking forward to joining Humber’s music program as a full-time faculty member this year.

Trombonist, composer and arranger Kelsley Grant received his bachelor of music from McGill University and completed his graduate studies at the Manhattan School of Music. Shortly after leaving New York, he joined Maynard Fergusonʼs Big Bop Noveau and toured the United States, Germany, Switzerland and England. Kelsley has performed with Aretha Franklin, Jackie Richardson, Frank Sinatra Jr., Michael Buble, Maria Schneider, Michel LeGrand, Nicholas Payton, Sophie Milman, Ranee Lee and Nikki Yanofsky. He toured with Forever Swing and took part in the Toronto productions of Annie, Romancing The One I Love, Ainʼt Misbehavinʼ, The Rat Pack, Kinky Boots, Matilda and Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. He has played on several movie soundtracks including Born to Be Blue, Cirque de Soleil Alegría and Les Triplettes De Belleville. Kelsley has been twice nominated for trombonist of the year by the National Jazz Awards. The Jefferson-Grant Quintet won an Opus Award for their first recording and was nominated Acoustic Ensemble of the Year by the National Jazz Awards. Kelsley has served as a faculty member at McGill University, University of Montreal and University of Toronto. He has given master classes and clinics at universities across Canada and is currently a full-time faculty member at Humber College

JUNO-nominated artist Tara Kannangara is a second-generation Sri Lankan-Canadian force of nature, giving you music that is deeply personal, genre-bending and culture blending. All this encompassed by wild trumpet melodies, searing guitar lines, lush synths, and piercing lyricism that will make you turn your head and listen. Originally from Chilliwack, B.C., Tara eventually ended up at the University of Toronto studying music. After years of studying institutionalized art, Tara was compelled to break the veneer built around her experience of music-making. She began to write about being a dreamer, an outsider, and a woman longing to be seen. Tara has been featured in the Toronto Star, Dominionated, Earmilk and has been heard on CBC's The Signal, Sirius XM, The Sunday Edition and NPR Tiny Desk with Lido Pimienta. She also performed on Lido's Grammy-nominated record Miss Colombia. She has had the privilege to work with extraordinary homegrown artists such as two-time Polaris winner Jeremy Dutcher, Charlotte Cornfield, and Witch Prophet. Her own work has been presented at major festivals across North America.

Born and raised in Ottawa, saxophonist Dave Neill moved to Toronto in 1995 to pursue a jazz performance degree from the University of Toronto, where he studied with Alex Dean and Mike Murley.

Working as a performer, adjudicator and clinician, Dave is active on the freelance scene, including jobs with Johnny Mathis, Wayne Newton, Frankie Valli, Regis Philbin and Nikki Yanofsky. He has adjudicated at festivals across Ontario, including the national Musicfest finals, and has given a clinic at OMEA entitled “Breaking Down Barriers for Jazz Improvisation.”

Now a full-time professor at Humber College, Dave teaches a variety of courses, including Business for Creative Industry and Song Materials, as well as private lessons in the woodwind area. Previously, he taught at the University of Toronto from 2004-2016 and the Humber College Community Music School from 2000-2015, as well as mentoring the next generation of performers at the Youth Jazz Canada’s Summer Jazz Workshop and the IMC Jazz Camp.

Dave completed his master’s in jazz performance at the University of Toronto, and has released two CDs as a leader. His debut quartet CD, All In, featured his original compositions, while his follow-up CD, Daylight, was named as one of the top Canadian Jazz CDs of 2014 by Peter Hum of the Ottawa Citizen.

M.Mus. (Jazz Performance) - University of Toronto
B.Mus. (Jazz Studies) - Thompson Rivers University
Diploma (Honours Music) - Humber College

Brian is very active in the Canadian music scene, having performed and recorded with groups including the Rob McConnell Tentet, The Boss Brass, John MacLeod’s Rex Hotel Jazz Orchestra (Juno Award 2010), Hilario Duran’s Latin Jazz Big Band (Juno Award 2006), the Bernie Senensky Quintet and the Barry Elmes Quintet. He has also backed up a lengthy list of international artists including Barbra Streisand, Aretha Franklin, Paul Anka, Diana Krall, and has appeared on dozens of radio/television jingles as well as theatre productions.
Brian has also performed with a variety of classical ensembles including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, and True North Brass. He has performed at jazz festivals around the world, most recently as a featured artist in Daejeon, South Korea. It was an honour for him to perform as an artist/clinician at the 33rd Annual International Trumpet Guild Conference held in Banff, Alberta.
Brian loves working with young musicians and has been a guest performer/clinician at numerous colleges and universities nationwide. He is an Endorsing Artist for the Edwards Brass Instrument Company (Elkhorn, WI) as well as the Gard Instrument Bags (Kolkata, India).

A staple in Canada’s music scene for over three decades, versatile, veteran vocalist Yvette Tollar has performed for audiences across Canada, the United States, Europe and South America. Yvette’s CD, Ima, was nominated for a JUNO Award (Best Vocal Jazz Album). Known for her velvety rich tone, keen musical instincts and soulful delivery of the lyric, Yvette transports audiences to unexpected places and keeps them coming back for more. She is a featured vocalist on numerous recordings including those of Canadian jazz, soul, folk and world music elites such as Elizabeth Shepherd, Michael Occhipinti’s Shine On project, Kevin Breit, John MacMurchy, Marito Marquez, Maryem & Ernie Tollar, Dominic Mancuso and Rich Brown’s Rinsethealgorithm. Yvette has shared stages with jazz masters Sheila Jordan, Dave Holland, Kenny Werner and Don Thompson. Tollar has composed, produced and sung extensively for film, television and radio. She has been the recipient of numerous grants, scholarships and awards from the Canada Council for the Arts, FACTOR, Banff Centre, Toronto Arts Council and the Ontario Arts Council which awarded her the illustrious Chalmers Arts Fellowship. Inspiring generations of young musicians for over 25 years, Yvette has taught voice, piano, songwriting and ensemble performance. As well, she has acted as advisor for recording projects, coached audition hopefuls, conducted masterclasses and workshops, and offered detailtd and insightful feedback as a sought-after adjudicator. Uplifted by her personalized and passionate approach, Yvette’s students have gone on to nominations and coveted wins at The Grammy Awards, JUNO Awards, Canadian Country Music Awards, Indigenous Music Awards, Dora Awards, and more. Since 2015, Yvette has been a faculty member at Humber College where she has taught numerous subjects in the Bachelor of Music, Music Composition and Introduction to Commercial Jazz programs.