Ben Ball grew up in Sarnia, Ontario, and began playing drums at age thirteen. At the age of seventeen he enrolled in Humber College and completed the Applied Music program by the age of twenty. During his student sojourn, he became focused on jazz music and after graduating from Humber, received a Canada Council project grant to study with Chris McCann in Kingston, Ontario. After touring and playing at various jazz clubs around Toronto, Ben received another project grant from the Canada Council and decided to move to New York to pursue his interest in jazz music.

During his two-year stay in New York, Ben played at the 55 Bar, Sonny’s Place and many more venues. He worked with such musicians as Billy Mitchell, Kermit Driscoll, Joe Knight, Ken Hatfield, Carol Sudhalter and many others. During this time he got a call to play in South Korea. After playing for three years in Korea, Ben decided to study further and enrolled in the University of Toronto jazz bachelor's program. He graduated in 2001 and then proceeded to study and get his bachelor of education from O.I.S.E. at the University of Toronto.

Upon completing his studies at the University of Toronto, Ben accepted a full-time contract-based teaching position in the Applied Music Department of PaekChe Institute of the Arts in South Korea. While in Korea, Ben worked with many visiting musicians including Kirk Macdonald, Lorne Lofsky, John Patitucci, Brian Dickinson, Ted Quinlan, Mike Downes, Jae Chung, Kenji Omae and many others.

He maintains an active international touring schedule and has played at many international jazz festivals including The New York J.V.C. Jazz Festival, Montreal International Jazz Festival, The MooJu International Jazz Festival, Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival, and many more. He has released three recordings as a leader: Words Within (2005), Type None (2011), and 401 Towards London (2015). Ben completed his master's of music (Jazz Performance) at McGill University in 2007 and taught jazz drums at Humber College until 2020. Since that time he has been active playing in Korea, Japan, Canada and the U.S. and is excited to announce the uppoming release of his forth recording, Chronicle. This new jazz recording was inspired by eight visual works and is performed by the Ben Ball Quartet.

Collin Barrett, MA, is a musician, producer, record/mix engineer, composer and educator.

Collin started playing bass at the age of twelve and began engineering and producing two years later. His diverse playing of many musical styles keeps him in demand on the Toronto music scene. Collin has been in musical situations with chart-topping international artists such as André 3000, Cee Lo Green, Julian Lennon, Esthero, Wynton Marsalis, The 5th Dimension, The Drifters, The Marvelettes and Thelma Houston. Collin was the musical director for artists that shared the stage as an opening act with Beyoncé, Snoop Dogg, Ne-Yo, Trombone Shorty, Mary J. Blige, John Legend, Oscar Peterson and George Benson. Canadian artists credits include Leonard Cohen, Tom Cochrane, Sonia Collymore, Jesse Cook, Jully Black, Holly Cole, Brian Hughes, Carol Welsman, Randy Bachman, Eva Avila, Amy Sky, Murray McLauchlan, Sarah Slean, The Shuffle Demons, The Montuno Police and The Parachute Club.

Collin produced, co-wrote, recorded and mixed two records that won the Juno Award. Other productions include Melanie Fiona, Snow, 3 Deep, Drop 4 and The Dammage.

Two-time JUNO-nominated musician Shirantha Beddage is a baritone saxophonist, composer and educator from Toronto, Canada. His original music combines hard bop and modern jazz to create a sound that is both accessible and sophisticated.

He has released three critically-acclaimed albums as a leader: Roots and Branches, Identity (2013 JUNO nominee) and Momentum (2017 JUNO nominee). As a sideman, he has been featured on recordings with the Order of Canada Band, Suzie Arioli, Laila Biali, Nancy Walker, Mike Downes and many others. His compositional skills have won him accolades such as the Montreal Jazz Festival Galaxie Rising Star Award, recognitions at the Canadian Songwriting Competition, and placements in the Emmy-winning TV series “Fargo”.

Shirantha currently serves as Head of Theory and Harmony in the Humber College Bachelor of Music program, where he teaches courses in Music Theory, Pedagogy, and Ensemble. He was previously Director of Jazz Studies at the Columbus State University Schwob School of Music (Columbus, Georgia, USA). He also adjudicates regularly at festivals throughout the country including MusicFest Canada, where he serves as Vice-Chairman of Instrumental Jazz. His innovative teaching methods have earned him national recognition as an Apple Distinguished Educator (ADE). He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree (D.M.A.) in Jazz Studies from the Eastman School of Music (New York, USA), a Master of Music degree in Jazz Studies from William Paterson University (New Jersey, USA), and a Bachelor of Music degree from Humber College.

Shirantha is a Yamaha saxophone artist and performs on the YBS-62.

For more information, please visit http://www.shiranthabeddage.com/

Peter Cook has credits as music editor, mastering engineer, recording engineer and/or producer on over 400 CDs including over 20 Juno Award-winning CDs. He has worked as music producer, recording engineer and editor on a number of Rhombus Media films and in the process won three Gemini Awards for best sound. He teaches courses in the Music Production department of Humber’s Bachelor of Music degree and is the course lead for the capstone Directed Study project.

Prior to joining the faculty at Humber in 2010, Peter worked at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for 19 years. From 1991-2007 he was Senior Music Editor and Mastering Engineer for CBC Records. Peter has remastered recordings of Glenn Gould, Maureen Forrester among many others and has edited and mastered recordings of every major classical orchestra, ensemble and soloist in Canada including the Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver Symphony Orchestras, Canadian Opera Company, Charles Dutoit, Mario Bernardi, Pinchas Zukerman, James Ehnes, Ben Heppner, Isabel Bayrakdarian, Michael Schade, and Russel Braun as well as jazz and world music artists such as Don Thompson, Guido Basso, Mike Murley, and Laila Biali.

From 2007-2010 Peter was responsible for CBC Radio 2's ""Concerts On Demand"" website and helped to guide the network's first online presence with blogs, social networking, podcasts and live audio streaming.

Peter has been a guest lecturer at McGill University's Master of Music in Sound Recording program since 1986 and at the Banff Centre's Audio programs. He served on the Board of Governors of the international Audio Engineering Society from 2006 – 2016, including a four year stint as Vice President.

Peter is a graduate of the Master of Music in Sound Recording program at McGill University.

Alex Dean is renowned as one of Canada’s foremost jazz saxophonists. Reedman, Alex Dean has played and recorded with the who’s who of legendary musicians, bands, ensembles, and orchestra’s, during his career as an award-winning musician, clinician, artistic director and jazz educator. His playing credentials include work with Gil Evans, Kenny Wheeler, Mel Torme, Aretha Franklin, Natalie Cole, Harry Connick Jr., Pat Labarbera, Phil Nimmons, and the Toronto Symphony. He occupied the tenor saxophone chair with Robb McConnell’s Grammy-winning, The Boss Brass (17 nominations/3 wins) for many years and recorded their last ten albums with Concord Records. Dean was also a charter member of Rob McConnell’s Tentet.

Innumerable recording credits include the recent soundtrack of the video game Cupheads which debuted at #1 on the Jazz Billboard charts in 2019 and the Alex Dean Jazz Orchestra recording, a tribute to Canadian Jazz Artists recorded in 2017 due for release late 2020, Robb McConnell’s CD entitled Tentet (Justin Time) which won Canadian Juno in 2001, and the Power Trio “D.E.W. East”, (Dean, drummer Barry Elmes, and Steve Wallace on bass) second recording D.E.W East meet Nick Brignola (Cornerstone) which garnered critical acclaim. Over the past 30+ years, Alex had appeared on numerous Canadian Juno Award-winning Jazz albums as well as Grammy award winners with The Boss Brass. Alex Dean Quartet/Quintet recordings include Dreamsville, Both Feet, At this Point, and Kaitlyn’s Waltz. Kaitlyn’s Waltz was voted Best Jazz CD of by the Jazz Report Magazine and one of the top ten jazz CD releases by New York’s Village Voice.

For 20 years, Alex Dean was the Artistic Director of the highly regarded Kincardine Summer Jazz Festival/Camp on Lake Huron Ontario, assembling an awarding winning faculty with Jerry Bergonzi, Bill Mays, Joe Labarbera, Pat Labarbera and Renee Rosnes.
Alex is a widely respected clinician/adjudicator in Canada and the United States. Over the years his publications include numerous articles on saxophone technique and improvisation.
He was a faculty member/Senior Lecturer at the University of Toronto and Humber College concurrently from 1993-2012 teaching saxophone and advanced improvisation. He accepted a full professorship at the Faculty of Music, Humber College in 2012.

Best known for his multi-platinum success with rock artist Kim Mitchell, Paul has forged a career that encompasses funk, fusion, jazz and latin, working with such diverse artists as Tom Scott, Domenic Troiano, David Blamires, Lawrence Gowan, Dave Restivo, Colm Wilkinson, Doug Riley, Hilario Duran, David Clayton-Thomas, Roger Hodgson, Rik Emmett, and Lighthouse to name a few.

As a Juno Award-winner and respected session player, Paul has performed at P.I.T. and the N.A.M.M. shows in L.A., twice at the Montreal Drumfest, at the Cape Breton Drumfest, and most recently at the Quebec International Drumfest in 2017. He is one of SABIAN cymbals most popular and effective clinicians. Always active on the studio scene, Paul has recorded numerous jingles and worked on TV shows such as Degrassi Junior High, Top Cops, Counterstrike, E.N.G. and How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?

Paul has taught part time at Humber College in Toronto for the past 33 years and written several articles for Modern Drummer magazine. He also taught and performed at KOSA 2010, and at the Stickman Drum Experience in Regina in 2013.

Paul has two books: DeLong Way To Polyrhythmic Creativity On The Drumset and DeLong Way To Musical Phrasing On The Drumset. Both are distributed worldwide by Hudson Music.

In 1994, Paul became involved in musical theatre, first subbing on shows such as Tommy, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Rent in Toronto, and then touring across Canada and the U.S. with those same productions. He was the first sub on the Toronto production of The Lion King for four years, and in 2004 was first chair for the musical Hairspray. Next came Hair in 2006 and Peter Pan in 2007.

Paul has his own band, ONE WORD, which plays fusion classics by the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Tony Williams Lifetime, Return To Forever, etc. For the past 15 years, he has performed with Jeans ’n Classics, which pairs a rock band with a symphony orchestra, and played with various tribute acts including Brass Transit (Chicago tribute) and Pretzel Logic (Steely Dan tribute).

Paul stays busy recording drum tracks for various artists at his home studio in Toronto.

YouTube: greatgs52

“One of my favorite bass players.” – Pat Metheny

Multiple JUNO Award-winner Mike Downes is a Canadian bassist, composer, arranger and educator. Described “as gifted a composer as he is a bassist," his melodic approach to bass playing, composing and arranging has kept him at the forefront of the Canadian jazz scene since the 1980s.*

Mike's extensive discography includes projects as a bandleader, performer, composer and producer. His own Ripple Effect won a 2014 JUNO Award for Traditional Jazz Album of the Year and Root Structure was the 2018 JUNO Award winner for Jazz Album of the Year: Solo. Root Structure inspired UK Vibe to write, “5/5 - This album is as close to perfect as it is possible to get and fully warrants its rating here. Buy it!”

Mike has performed with a long list of international jazz artists including Chris Potter, Pat Metheny, John Abercrombie, Kenny Wheeler, Dave Liebman and Donny McCaslin, and Canadians Don Thompson, Kirk MacDonald, Pat LaBarbera, Robi Botos, Molly Johnson and many more. He has performed throughout Europe, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Mexico, Iceland, the United States and Canada.

Mike is the bass department head at Humber College in Toronto, the author of The Jazz Bass Line Book and the co-author of Jazz and Contemporary Music Theory.

Keep up with Mike on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and learn more at mikedownes.com.

“This bass ace is incapable of letting you down.” - Midwest Record
"Mike’s time playing is delightfully inventive...his lines are clear, hip, and agile. His technique and intonation are extraordinary." Kim Richmond, Jazz Player Magazine
*"As gifted a composer as he is a bassist..." - International Society of Bassists
“Downes' playing is marked by an unerring and versatile technique, the kind of bass playing that's never static yet nevertheless establishes a firm foundation.” - Textura
"Very rarely is this cumbersome-looking instrument heard on disc with such majesty." RPM magazine

Canadian Screen Award nominee (2021 Achievement in Music - Original Song for The Cuban) and winner of the Louis Applebaum Composers Award, Hilario Duran is well recognized for his piano playing and composing skills.

The Cuban-born Hilario Duran grew up in Havana into a musical family surrounded by various musical influences. His first work as a professional musician was Cuba's Los Papa Cun-Cun Ensemble.

Later on, in the 70s, he was Chucho Valdés' chosen successor in Cuba's most modern big band, Orquesta Cubana de Música Moderna.

Hilario was also a pianist, arranger and composer of Arturo Sandoval Group. In 1990, Hilario was the director of the band called Perspectiva, formed with the remained members of Arturo's band when Sandoval immigrated to the US.

After making his mark in Cuba, Duran continued to essay his skills as a pianist, composer, arranger and musical director of remarkable virtuosity. He is one of Cuba's premier exponents of Latin jazz.

Since arriving in Canada, Hilario has made a name for himself. He is a multi-Canadian Juno Award winner and nominee; an American Grammy nominee; a multi-Canadian National Jazz Award winner and nominee; and the proud recipient of the 2007 Chico O'Farrill Lifetime Achievement Award, from Latin Jazz USA, for his outstanding contributions to Afro-Cuban jazz and Latin jazz. In addition, he has recently been recognized as the winner in the Latin jazz category of the Latin Awards Canada 2020, 6th Edition.

Cuban-Canadian jazz pianist Hilario Duran is a fixture on the Toronto music scene. Duran immigrated in 1998 to Canada and was named One of the Ten Most influential Hispanic Canadians in 2009. Also, Hilario has been named Best Artist of the Year 2013 by the Toronto Musicians' Association and the 2014 Best Vision Award Winner (Premio a la Trayectoria).

Hilario Duran represents an essential aspect in contemporary Cuban music and Cuban music history; he is a virtuoso player, arranger, composer, and bandleader in his own right.

Award-winning pianist and composer Adrean Farrugia began playing piano at the age of 12. By age 16 he recognized that he would dedicate his life to music. Since then he has become recognized as one of Canada’s most sought-after pianists and composers, having shared the music he loves locally and globally with various bands across Canada, the United States, London, UK; Paris, Tokyo, Tel Aviv, Australia, Poland, and The Netherlands with artists such as Ernie Watts, Sheila Jordan, Brad Goode, Cyrille Aimee, Matt Dusk, Molly Johnson, Joel Frahm, Ernesto Cervini, The Worst Pop Band Ever, and others.

Adrean serves on the faculties of Mohawk College, the University of Toronto, and Humber College and has conducted
masterclasses and workshops for students at the University of Colorado at Boulder, the Sydney Conservatorium, the Polish Jazz Society Summer Workshop, and the University of Toronto.

Adrean has played on more than 40 albums to date, garnering two Juno Awards, eight Juno Award nominations, a Mark Award for Best Production Music Artist from the Production Music Association of America, Pianist of the Year at the Hamilton Arts Awards, and a nomination for the Ontario Arts Council’s Louis Applebaum Composer’s Award.

Adrean believes that music is a powerful form of communication that has the power to heal and inspire both the performer and the listener, as well as revealing a higher sense of being which exists in all people, and it is this belief that drives his continued journey and commitment to musical growth and sharing.

Adrean Farrugia is endorsed by Shigeru Kawai Pianos.

Thomas Francis is one of Toronto’s leading pianists and is well-known for his extensive background in jazz and soul-based musics. He grew up in a house full of music, and has a shared a family lineage of musicianship. Thomas became sensitive to the structure of classical and standards while feeding off of the musicality and expression of jazz, soul, Latin and funk musics.

Entering Humber’s Community Music School children’s program at the age of three was the beginning of a long training process for Thomas. He began his piano lessons at age five – eventually making his way to jazz studies at age eight. At 16, Thomas was awarded Downbeat’s Outstanding Performance award, and in the summer of 2007 joined the Toronto All-Star Big Band. He completed his diploma at Humber College’s full-time program, and went on to complete his BFA in Music at York University. In 2017, Thomas completed his Master of Arts in Composition, for which he wrote a thesis on the relationship between jazz and hip-hop musics. Outside of piano and keyboard performance, Thomas is well known for his musicianship skills in writing and arranging for strings having established his own contemporary string ensemble, The Four Strings.

Thomas has performed and recorded with Canadian soul icons, country and pop artists, and Juno Award-winning artists, and can be seen in his element with his instrumental hip-hop/jazz ensemble, Thomas Francis Friends.

Named one of Canada’s Best Jazz Musicians Under 35 by the CBC in 2017, Trevor Giancola continues to perform and tour as a guitarist, band leader and educator. Trevor’s first album, Fundamental (2016), has been described as “one of the most assured and interesting jazz albums of the year, with an incredible cast of supporting musicians” (cbcmusic.com), and his “deep feelings for music are obvious in the breadth and emotional resonance he brings... playing with innate grace and beautiful, loping lines, Giancola plays wise beyond his years” (Da Gama, WholeNote Magazine). Trevor’s second release, Sonnet 18, on TQM Records was released in the fall of 2019 and features Seamus Blake on saxophone, Rick Rosato on bass, and Adam Arruda on drums. The album was very well received by peers and critics alike with WholeNote Magazine praising Trevor for his “intelligent compositions, and [for being] the tie that binds the music together, playing with clarity, intelligence and [an] enviable tone, from the album’s most sensitive moments to its most aggressive.” Notably, Trevor has shared the stage with Seamus Blake, John Abercrombie, Donny McCaslin, and many other Canadian artists, namely Sophie Milman, Phil Dwyer, Mike Murley, Kelly Jefferson, Tia Brazda, and John Macleod. Currently, Trevor is completing a master’s degree in music composition at York University and is part of the music faculty at Humber College.

Justin Gray is a producer, bassist, composer, and educator based in Toronto. As an electric bassist, double bassist, and bass veena player, Justin performs in a variety of traditional and contemporary music ensembles from around the world. Additionally, Justin leads his own contemporary world music ensemble, Justin Gray & Synthesis.

As a producer, recording, mixing, and mastering engineer, Justin has worked with artists from across the globe in a diverse range of musical styles (www.synthesissound.com).

Over the course of his career, Justin has received a number of awards and distinctions, including nominations for World Music Album of the Year (CFMA 2020), Best Solo Artist (CFMA 2018), and the Emerging Jazz Artist Award (Toronto Arts Foundation 2015). He is the 2015 recipient of the Shanti Chakravarty Award for Excellence in Indian Classical Performance (York University).

As a performing artist, Justin is endorsed by Godfrey Guitars, Markbass Amplifiers, D’Addario Canada, Radial Engineering, Lava Cable, and Source Audio.

Johnny Griffith is a multi-Juno Award-nominated saxophonist, composer and producer who has played and recorded with numerous artists including Don Thompson, Hawksley Workman, Jeremy Pelt, Charlie Hunter, The Wailers, Fishbone, Ernesto Cervini’s Tune Town, Alex Dean, Laila Biali, Al Henderson Quintet, Brandi Disterheft and Terra Hazelton, to name a few, and is a member of the popular Canadian funk/hip hop group the Pocket Dwellers. He has toured extensively across Canada, the United States, and Europe performing at all the major Canadian music festivals as well as several international venues, including the Montreaux Jazz Festival in Switzerland.  
 
Johnny co-leads the Griffith Hiltz Trio (GHT) with guitarist Nathan Hiltz, arriving on the scene with the 2009 album Now & Then, produced by and featuring Canadian jazz legend Don Thompson. Their debut album was selected by Terry McElligott at Jazz FM 91 as Jazz Album of the Year and was nominated for a Grand Prix du Jazz from the Montreal Jazz festival. Their second, more experimental release, This is What You Get, was produced by Canadian cult icon Hawksley Workman and sat at #1 on the national jazz charts for three weeks in 2013. Amid the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, GHT released its third album, Arcade, a nostalgic chiptune-jazz fusion nod to the music of film and video games of the 1980s.
  
The Johnny Griffith Quintet is the artist’s first solo venture and launched with Dance with the Lady in 2015. Featuring NYC’s Jeremy Pelt on trumpet, the album was the featured release on WBGO Jazz radio New Jersey. 2018 saw the release of The Lion, Camel and Child, again with Pelt, previewing at the TD Toronto Jazz Festival 2018.  
  
In 2015, Johnny created the non-profit independent jazz label G-B Records and has gone on to produce and/or engineer Nathan Hiltz’s Songs Poetic and Samways, Whitney Ross-Barris' The Bright Lunch Trio, Graeme Stephen’s Projector Trio, Adrean Farrugia/Joel Frahm’s Blued Dharma, Chris Wallace’s Many Names, Andy Ballantyne’s Play on Words and UK’s NeWt Trio’s “Drip.”

Johnny is also an active film and television composer. He has composed the scores for the films Still to Go and The Recipe, both films appearing in the Toronto International Film Festival, the Los Angeles International Short Film Festival, Montreal World Film Festival and the Vancouver International Film Festival. He is also a freelance composer for the Bell/CTV media group.

Born in St. Boniface, Manitoba, Johnny has a Bachelor of Music from Humber College, a master’s degree in jazz performance from University of Toronto, and for the past 12 years, he has been a Humber Music faculty member.  Johnny Griffith currently lives and performs in Toronto, Canada.

Toronto-born musician Will Jarvis is a busy freelance bassist, composer and educator who has been performing professionally since 1980. He is a graduate of the Humber College/TRU Bachelor of Music program and holds a Master of Arts in Composition from York University in Toronto.

Will has gained a reputation as a very versatile player and is equally comfortable playing jazz, rhythm and blues, funk, and jazz fusion as well as Brazilian and Afro-Cuban music.

Will has had the pleasure of performing with Latin jazz artists Tito Puente, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Paquito D'Rivera, Hilton Ruiz, Hilario Duran, Luis Conte and Dave Valentin. He has also performed and recorded with many outstanding Canadian artists including David Clayton-Thomas, Vernon Dorge, Bruce Cassidy's Anti-Gravity Machine, The Code, Jackie Richardson, Carlos Del Junco, Louise Pitre, Trevor Dick Band, Sinal Aberto and many more. Along with his own group, Will currently performs and records as a member of the multi-award-winning group Manteca.

In 2015, Will released his debut recording as a leader, Con Gracias, featuring some of Canada’s premier musicians including Hilario Duran, Bill McBirnie, Luis Orbegoso, Rosendo Chendy Léon Arocha, Kevin Turcotte and Don Thompson. The award-winning recording features a collection of all-original Latin jazz compositions based on an array of contemporary and traditional Afro-Cuban styles containing beautiful melodies and sizzling grooves.

As an educator, Will has been teaching at the college and university level for over thirty years. In addition to teaching at Humber College he is also on the music faculty at Mohawk College with previous positions at McMaster University and York University.

Pete Johnston is a Juno Award-winning bassist and composer. He was born in Windsor, Nova Scotia, and studied composition and bass at Dalhousie University in Halifax. Following a two-year tour of North America with the Johnny Favourite Swing Orchestra, Pete moved to Toronto in 2001 to pursued graduate studies in composition and ethnomusicology at York University. After completing his doctoral studies in 2010, Pete resumed his post behind the bass, studying with renowned bassists Barre Phillips and Gary Peacock and performing in numerous groups around Toronto including Aurochs, See Through Trio, See Through 4 and Stranger Still. Pete currently teaches music at Ryerson University and Humber College.

Originally hailing from Belfast, Northern Ireland, Canadian drummer Mark Kelso has made Toronto, Canada, his home for quite some time. Not only is he a skilled musician who plays drums and percussion, but he is also a singer, producer and composer as well. As a sideman Mark has earned four Juno awards and has been nominated twice as a leader with his own two groups, The Jazz Exiles (2016) and the Chronicles of Fezziwig Project (2020). Mark has been artistic director for the Jazz Room in Waterloo since 2016 and the head of the percussion department at Humber College since 2005.

Mark’s ability to play a wide variety of musical styles has helped him become one of Canada’s most sought-after drummers. An all around player, he has worked/recorded with a wide array of artists such as Pat Metheny, Donny McCaslin, Laila Biali, Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Michael Bublé, Changuito, David Clayton-Thomas, Holly Cole, Larry Coryell, Eliana Cuevas, Paquito D’Riveria, Hilario Duran, David Foster, Dave Grusin, Herbie Hancock, Olivia Newton John, Molly Johnson, Chaka Khan, Pat LaBarbera, Donnell Leahy, Natalie MacMaster, Bob Mintzer, Peter Murphy (Bauhaus), Donny Osmond, Danilo Perez, Chris Potter, Jovino Santos Neto, NOJO, Richard Page (Mr. Mister), Bonnie Raitt, Maria Schneider, John Scofield, Ron Sexsmith, Mike Stern, Soul Stew, James Taylor, Susan Tedeschi, Ian Tyson, Gino Vannelli, Carol Welsman and his own band, The Jazz Exiles. Mark runs Groovy Drums Studio where he records drum tracks for many artists around the world. To date, he has played on over 350 recordings, and in 2016 Mark released his very first instructional DVD, Musician First, Drummer Second, to great acclaim.

Aside from playing many TV and radio jingles and movie soundtracks, Mark has also been featured in DRUMHEAD, Drums, Etc, Canadian Musician and Modern Drummer magazines, and has also been a featured clinician/performer at the Montreal Drumfest, IAJE, Musicfest, KOSA, Percussive Arts Society, Regina Drum Festival, Whack Bam Thudd festival, The Stickman Drum Experience, Victoria Drum Festival, the Ralph Angelillo Drum Festival, and the Cape Breton Drum Festival. Mark endorses and is a featured clinician for Yamaha Drums, Paiste Cymbals, Evans Drumheads, HeadHunters drumsticks, and Plunge Audio in-ear monitors.

Music educator, musicologist, composer/songwriter, producer, author and guitarist, Brad Klump received his master's in music education at Indiana University (studying with David Baker) and undertook PhD work in ethnomusicology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (with Bruno Nettl and Lawrence Gushee) and York University (with Rob Bowman).

As a guitarist, he has performed with such jazz artists as Bob Mintzer, Steve Houghton, Orin Isaacs, and Sam Rivers among others. As a composer, Brad has scored music for film and commercials, produced dance remixes, and wrote songs for many artists including Speech of the Grammy-award winning group Arrested Development. Brad was hired full time in 2004 to design, implement and oversee Humber’s innovative Bachelor of Music degree. He became the first professor in Canada to offer a credited course in bluegrass music.

Larnell Lewis is a Grammy Award-winning musician, composer, producer, and educator. Based in Toronto, he has established himself among the most diverse and in-demand drummers in the world. 

Since 2012, Larnell has been playing with three-time Grammy Award-winning band Snarky Puppy. Larnell leads successful ensembles of his own and has toured the globe with highly reputable contemporary musicians, including Quincy Jones, Laila Biali, Jeremy Ledbetter, Etienne Charles, Gregory Porter, Benny Golson, Lalah Hathaway, Jacob Collier, John Scofield, Pat Metheny, Lisa Fisher, Kurt Elling, Gary Burton, and more. Larnell’s immense talent, fierce creativity, and evolving musical style keep him in demand as a collaborator for artists internationally. 

In June 2018, Larnell independently released his debut album, In The Moment. This project explores Larnell’s deep connection to jazz, fusion, and his Afro-Caribbean roots. The album features performances from a wide range of musicians such as fellow Snarky Puppy band mates Shaun Martin, Mark Lettieri, Juno Award-winners Mike Downes, Robi Botos, and many others. His latest release, Relive The Moment (2020), is a reimagining of his compositions from In The Moment, with new drum performances, recorded at Jukasa Studios. In addition to his success as recording artist, performer, and director, Larnell is a dedicated music educator. He is a professor of music at Humber College, Canada’s most respected institution for post-secondary music education. 

Whether performing on the world stage with internationally acclaimed artists, or playing local gigs in Toronto, Larnell Lewis is consistently a passionate and joyful creator, as well as one of the most skilled, musical drummers today. Larnell Lewis is endorsed by Yamaha Drums, Zildjian, Promark, Evans, D’Addario, Prologix, and Latin Percussion.

Hannah is the program manager for all Humber Music diploma and degree programs and is a Ph.D. Candidate at Queen’s University. She served as a research fellow at Queen’s University for the Toronto’s City Diplomacy: Arts, Heritage, and Culture project, affiliated with the North American Cultural Diplomacy Institute (NACDI). Her dissertation research explores musician communities in Mexico City and Toronto. Hannah is a member of the City of Toronto Music Advisory Committee. Her debut album, Green River Sessions (2014), charted on US college radio and received sustained worldwide airplay on more than three hundred stations. She headlined the Polanco International Jazz Festival in México City with her band in 2016, and performed as a soloist at the National Library of Congress in Washington. Hannah co-produced the only Canadian recording of Byzantine Greek liturgical music, Imnos: Hymns of Faith, in collaboration with the St. Prophet Elias Greek Orthodox community and alongside producer and bassist Paco Luviano. Her compositions have garnered international attention, both for her debut album, Green River Sessions, and also for the Canadian independent film release The Devil’s Tail. Produced by Ardent Pictures, this film highlighted the perils of border crossing between México and the United States; the film was nominated for and won several film festival prizes. Hannah is co-composer with Paco Luviano for the work “Espera, Esperanto,” (arr. Hilario Duran), featuring Dorjee Tsering (late) on the 2018 release Kuné: Canada's Global Orchestra (Universal Canada). In January 2020, Kuné and “Espera, Esperanto” had their Canadian symphonic debut with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.

With an established reputation as one of Canada’s leading saxophonists, Kirk MacDonald cut his first record at the age of thirteen. Throughout his career, he has received numerous awards, and has worked with many leading musicians in a variety of musical genres. He has performed on over fifty CDs as both leader and sideman, and has participated in numerous national broadcast recordings for CBC Radio.

In addition to performing extensively throughout Canada, he has also performed in the USA, United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Holland, Monaco, Australia, Korea, Bermuda, and the Bahamas.

For over 30 years, Kirk MacDonald has worked and recorded with many leading Canadian, American and international jazz musicians including Claude Ranger, Dave Young, Sam Noto, Sonny Greenwich, Kenny Wheeler, Eddie Henderson, Harold Mabern, Walter Bishop Jr., Tom Harrell, Vic Juris, Peter Bernstein, Adam Nussbaum, Rich Perry, Kurt Elling, David Virelles, Ralph Bowen, Dick Oatts, Ben Monder, Seamus Blake, Jonathan Blake, Lorne Lofsky, Bob Mover, Pat LaBarbera, John Taylor, Ron McClure, Jack DeJohnette, Mike Stern, Jim McNeely, Bob Mintzer, Vince Mendoza, John Clayton, Chris Potter, Glenn Ferris, Maria Schneider, Dave Grusin, Danilo Perez, Adam Rogers, Dennis Mackrel, Nancy Walker, Barry Romberg, Andre White, Rob Smith, Brian Dickinson, Denny Christianson, Bernie Senensky, Phil Nimmons, James Moody, Rosemary Clooney, and the Humber College Faculty Ensemble.

Over 100 performances of Kirk MacDonald’s compositions appear on 25 albums, both as leader and on recordings by other artists. Kirk has established a substantial body of original work as a saxophonist/composer over the past three decades. As a followup to his award-winning recordings Symmetry, with Tom Harrell, and Vista Obscura, with Harold Mabern, MacDonald released Common Ground, a double CD of his compositions arranged by Joe Sullivan for Jazz Orchestra, and Silent Voices, a co-led quartet outing with renowned saxophonist Pat LaBarbera, featuring American jazz great Adam Nussbaum on drums. MacDonald’s 2019 recording, Generations, brings him back full circle to his roots in a program of jazz standards and the Great American Songbook. Generations features three generations of musicians: the legendary pianist Harold Mabern at age 82 and MacDonald’s wonderfully talented daughter Virginia MacDonald, at age 23, on clarinet. Kirk's latest CD, Trane of Thought, co-led with Pat LaBarbera received a 2021 Juno nomination for best jazz recording.

Kirk MacDonald has been active as an educator for 30 years at leading jazz studies programs such as The University of Toronto, Humber College and McGill University. Through his work with these programs, numerous live performances, recordings, master classes and workshops throughout Canada and internationally, Kirk has become one of Canada’s most respected and in-demand educators.

For close to three decades, MacDonald has been a leader in his field of performance, composition and education and has had a huge and lasting influence on many of Canada’s younger generation of musicians. Many former students have gone on to forge national and international careers in many genres of music.

Professional highlights as a leader:

• 16 CDs as Leader/Co-Leader
• 2 JUNO Awards, 7 Nominations
• 1 East Coast Music Award, 2 Nominations
• 2 Jazz Report Awards
• Toronto Musicians’ Association Life Time Achievement Award
• SOCAN’s Hagood Hardy Award for Composition
• International Jazz Soloist Award - Monaco
• Over 100 performances of Kirk MacDonald’s compositions appear on over 25 recordings

Professional work/education:

• Over 40 CDs as Sideman with 4 JUNO Nominations
• 2 Distinguished Faculty Awards

Toronto-born drummer, multi-instrumentalist, and vocalist Steve Mancuso has been active as an educator, and performing artist on the Canadian music scene since 1988.

In 2008, Steve earned his MA in ethnomusicology (Cuba, Africa) at York University. He is presently completing a PhD (ABD) at York University under the guidance of South Indian master drummer Dr. Trichy Sankaran, focusing on the art of Konnakkol, the spoken rhythmic language of the Carnatic musical tradition. He has also studied privately with master educators such as Francis Kofi Akotuah, Bruce Becker, Jim Blackley, José Luis Quintana, and Marcos Suzano, among others.

Steve is currently on faculty at both Humber College and Centennial College (MIAP) where he instructs contemporary drum set, world percussion, and various performance and pedagogical ensembles. In addition, Steve is an educator and clinician endorsed by Bosphorus Cymbals, Vic Firth Sticks and Mallets, and Remo Drum Heads.

Andrew Mullin is an audio engineer and educator who is passionate about capturing and shaping sound and empowering musicians to realize their artistic vision. Whether running a large-format console in a commercial studio or operating his mobile recording rig in a one-car garage, Andrew is distinguished by his ability to enhance the creative potential of those around him. Andrew completed a bachelor’s degree in music in 2006 at McGill University and went on to earn a master’s degree in sound recording in 2008. During this time, he studied with George Massenburg and completed post-production work with the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra. As a freelance audio engineer, Andrew has been fortunate to collaborate with a wide range of artists including The O’Pears, Justin Dunlop, Bear Mountain, The Wooden Sky, Nick Doneff, Vivienne Wilder, Gord Hyland, Union Duke, Georgian Bay, The Ladom Ensemble; with projects by Amanda Tosoff (Words) and Mark Kelso (The Chronicles of Fezziwig) earning Juno nominations. Andrew joined the music production team at Humber College in 2010 as a staff engineer, recording and mixing over 50 student EPs before transitioning to teaching full time.

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).

Anthony Panacci attended the Humber Music jazz program from 1976 to 1980 and has also received his grade 10 Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. He is currently on faculty at Humber teaching jazz piano and in the recording studio department.

Since 1976, he has been playing extensively in the Canadian music scene both live and in the studio. Anthony is a very versatile musician who plays jazz in festivals and clubs across Canada, notably in Toronto, Montreal and Quebec City. In 1986, he toured Canada with classical guitarist Liona Boyd. He has played and recorded pop and country with David Clayton Thomas, Petula Clark, Shirley Eikhard, the Mersey Brothers and Pete Wade, and Latin jazz with the Montuno Police, Robby Ameen and his own project, Eclectica Latino, featuring Raul Pineda and Roberto Viscaino.

Anthony also owns a full digital recording studio in his house where he engineers and produces for bands, singers and music for TV, radio and many different jazz projects, including his own, Eclectica Latino and Blues for Jazz, and his wife Mary’s Her Perfume.

In 2016 and 2017, Anthony played in the house band for the CBC Canadian Screen Awards with Norm MacDonald and Howie Mandel. He was Mississauga's musician of the year award in 1999 and received the 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award for Mississauga.

Erica Procunier is a Canadian composer for film and other media. Her credits include scores for film, television, theatre, advertisement and interactive productions. She was commissioned by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Toronto International Film Festival to compose the score for DAM! The Story of Kit the Beaver, a live film-concert for the celebration of Canada’s 150th birthday. The film premiered live in concert with the TSO and toured across Canada to be performed by the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, the Kingston Symphony Orchestra and the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra.

Erica recently scored Apple TV+'s Emmy-winning show Ghostwriter. For the CBC, she has scored the rowdy comedy series Little Dog and the children’s series Detention Adventure. Erica has worked on critically acclaimed films such as Pat Mills’ hit misfit comedy Don’t Talk to Irene, starring Geena Davis, and Thyrone Tommy’s anxiety-ridden drama Mariner, both official selections at the Toronto International Film Festival. Her composition, "Precipice," was the centrepiece of Seneca College's Nuit Blanche exhibition in Toronto, which included artwork by over 60 students and faculty all inspired by the same piece of music.

Erica was selected to attend Berlinale Talents 2019 and is an alumna composer of the Canadian Film Centre’s Slaight Family Music Lab. She is on the board of directors of the Screen Composers Guild of Canada and holds a Master of Music Composition from Western University.

Kim Ratcliffe’s experience covers a wide variety of musical endeavors. As a teenager in Victoria, he was playing six nights a week in bar bands, studying classical guitar, and discovering jazz. Known primarily as a guitarist, he also plays mandolins in the Toronto production of Come From Away and co-leads the jazz/rock band 13go, which has featured special guest Vernon Reid. He has been a member of Paul Delong’s fusion group One Word, the Walrus Guitar Quartet (chamber music with David Occhipinti, Ted Quinlan and Roddy Elias), the jazz quartet Rat4, and toured or recorded with singers Holly Cole, Colm Wilkinson, Ron Sexmith and others. He has been a member of genre-bending new music ensemble Hemispheres and avant funk band Gotham City, studied and performed with composers David Mott and James Tenney, worked in theatre and played in many of Toronto’s top dance bands. Kim has taught at Humber and Mohawk Colleges, and currently has a couple new projects on the way.

After 52 years at the drums, Barry has established himself as one of Canada’s most unique drum set stylists. Barry has worked with some of Canada’s finest musicians, led his own groups, accompanied international artists, and has been featured on over 150 recordings, including 18 as a leader.

Barry was a Juno Award-winning sideman in 1991 and has 11 more Juno nominations from 2001 to 2012. Barry Romberg’s Random Access was nominated for Best Electric Group at the National Jazz Awards (NJA) in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2009, winning in 2008. Barry was also nominated as the NJA's Drummer of the Year for four consecutive years starting in 2006. In 2008, The Random Access Large Ensemble was nominated as Best Big Band and Barry, Producer of the Year. The CD by The Random Access Large Ensemble, Existential Detective, was nominated for a Juno Award in the Contemporary Jazz Recording category in 2009.

Over the years, Barry has worked with the likes of Gil Evans, Hank Jones, Joe Henderson, Lee Konitz, Donny McCaslin,
Ben Monder, Don Pullen, Kenny Wheeler, Ritchie Bierach, Don Byron, Sam Rivers, Rez Abassi, Jeff Coffin and George Garzone, to name a few. Barry is also a featured member of bands led by Michael Occhipinti, Geoff Young, Kirk Macdonald, Lorne Lofsky, and Al Henderson.

Dr. Andrew Scott is a guitarist, writer and educator.

Amanda Tosoff (MA in Musicology - Music Theory) is a B.C-raised, Toronto-based pianist, composer, and educator with six albums to her credit. As a bandleader and side-woman, she has performed with internationally-recognized artists such as Emilie-Claire Barlow, Ingrid and Christine Jensen, Brad Turner, Phil Dwyer, and many more. Her own groups have been featured at festivals across Canada and abroad, and have opened for jazz luminaries such as Bobby Hutcherson, Renee Rosnes, Oliver Jones, and Luciana Souza. Amanda has received various honours, including the Montréal Jazz Festival Grand Prix de Jazz, and the Toronto Arts Foundation Emerging Jazz Artist Award – and most recently, a Juno nomination and mention on the Polaris Prize "Longer List,” for her album Words.

Through her richly varied body of work, Amanda has gained recognition as “an assured, forward-thinking voice” (Greg Buium, Vancouver Sun) on the Canadian jazz scene and beyond – not only as a composer and performer, but also as an educator. She is on faculty at Humber College, and has been a featured artist and clinician at universities and conferences, including the 2020 Canadian Jazz Summit at the University of Manitoba. Amanda is also co-artistic director of online education organization, Music Arts Collective, alongside bassist Jodi Proznick and arts-administrator Francesca Fung. 

In Amanda’s artistry, one hears a rigorous, deeply felt command of the jazz piano lineage as well as an eagerness to push beyond labels, finding inspiration from various sources and disciplines. This is most evident on Amanda’s acclaimed recording Words, which featured highly regarded singer Felicity Williams (of such bands as Broken Social Scene and Bahamas). Blending poetry, jazz, art-song and folk-pop, Words garnered great acclaim and revealed “a well-developed knack for animating her material with fine counterpoint and colourful sonic combinations” (Peter Hum, Ottawa Citizen). It also landed Amanda her first Juno nomination (Canada’s equivalent of the Grammys).

With Amanda’s sixth release as a leader, Earth Voices, she continues to pursue the creative and stylistic leap she began on Words, once again drawing on poetry with a deep personal and emotional connection. Along with strings and guest saxophonists Allison Au and Kelly Jefferson, she invites Alex Goodman, fellow Canadian and now one of New York’s most vital young guitarists, to work wonders and broaden her ensemble texture. She also enlists a sterling and versatile cast of singers — Emilie-Claire Barlow, Robin Dann, Michelle Willis, Alex Samaras, Laila Biali, Lydia Persaud and Felicity Williams — to give new life to words by Edgar Allan-Poe, Pablo Neruda, Rumi, Marjorie Pickthall and Walt Whitman, among other original material and inventive arrangements of songs by Joni Mitchell, Luciana Souza, Chris Thile and Mike Ross of Soulpepper Theatre. With a “calm demeanor and complete confidence” (Cadence Magazine), and with an honest, genuine and giving spirit, Tosoff stands poised to share with the world the next stages in her evolution.