February and March are not the most glamorous months of the year; between salt-stained boots, wind-whipped skin, and the knowledge that spring will mostly just be more winter, it’s a miracle that any of us get out at all. Things, however, are not all that bad: though we must endure the season, we are also officially in the middle of “the concert season” (i.e. the annually curated sequences of shows booked by presenters and/or venues, which around here typically run from September to June).
Southern Ontario’s halls, mid-size, large and small, have a lot of wonderful programming going on, musicians have worked through their holiday chops, and the only major impediment to having a good time at gigs is the concert subzero anxiety about getting sick. (Even a trip to the grocery store feels like taking a walk through an epidemiological minefield; please, I beg of you, do not sneeze on the cheese.)
Rose for your valentine: If you’re thinking about taking your partner out for a romantic Valentine’s Day (before breaking out the erotic dice for a romantic Valentine’s Night), look no further than The Rose Theatre in Brampton, which will be hosting Jully Black on February 14. A relatively new venue – construction was completed in 2006 – The Rose’s main theatre is a horseshoe-shaped affair just shy of 900 seats, the farthest of which is only 90 feet (27.4 metres, for the metrically “woke”) from the stage. The stage itself is wide and deep, allowing performers to stretch out and put on the kind of show that would otherwise only be possible in a much larger venue.
Black has been a mainstay of the Canadian music scene since the mid-2000s, with the release of her albums This Is Me and Revival, the latter of which won a Juno award for R&B/Soul recording of the year (one of several major award wins and many nominations, from the late 1990s to the present). Her career has included collaborations with fellow Canadians Kardinal Offishall, Saukrates, and Choclair, as well as major American artists such as Nas and Destiny’s Child. A strong, sophisticated singer with ample vocal power and control, Black is no stranger to large stages, and her performance at The Rose is taking place as part of a cross-Canadian tour, with other stops in Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.
Evans at Aurora: On February 22 at the Aurora Cultural Centre, another stellar night of vocal performances will be taking place, as Kellylee Evans takes the stage with an opening set by Sammy Jackson. Evans will likely be a familiar name to Canadian jazz fans, as she’s been a mainstay on the vocal jazz circuit for many years. Attending Carleton University, she originally did degrees in both English and Law, before turning her attention to music full time. In 2004, she took second place in the prestigious Thelonious Monk Competition, in front of a panel that included Quincy Jones, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Kurt Elling, and won a Juno award in 2011, for her album Nina, inspired by the life and work of Nina Simone. In 2013, a most unusual misfortune occurred: Evans was struck by lightning while inside her own home. Following a long recovery, she returned to making music, and by 2018 had been nominated for another Juno award for her album Come On. In 2024, she had two releases: the EP Show Love, a blend of R&B, funk and jazz, and the holiday album Winter Song.
Though Evans and Jackson are very different as songwriters and vocal technicians, the fact that they’re sharing a bill makes a lot of sense. Like Evans, Jackson has real jazz bonafides – she graduated from the University of Toronto’s jazz studies program – and has been consistently active on the music scene. Also like Evans, Jackson is stylistically adventurous, mixing R&B, pop and other genres with jazz to create a musical universe all her own. Her newest album, In The Meantime, features the talents of guitarist Thom Fleming, keyboardist Chris Pruden, bassist Mark Godfrey and drummer Ian Wright, four musicians with whom Jackson has regularly collaborated, and sees Jackson concentrating on soulful, direct vocals to deliver her imaginative original lyrics.
Kidjo at Koerner: Back in Toronto, Koerner Hall has a number of returning artists playing in March – a testament to the venue’s comfort, style and excellent acoustics – both onstage and in the audience. On March 1, saxophonist Jane Bunnett collaborates with Cuban musicians Orlando “Maraca” Valle (flute), the Santiago Sax Quartet and pianist Hilario Durán, with new music written specifically for this performance. On March 8, Mexican-American rock band Los Lobos takes the stage, with their Grammy-winning combination of Tex-Mex, blues, folk and other musical traditions. And on March 25, catch Beninese-French singer Angélique Kidjo – also a Grammy winner – in her fourth appearance at Koerner Hall. Kidjo has been a star for some time, boasting collaborations with the likes of Branford Marsalis, Sting, Tina Turner and Santana, to name a few. Singing in a variety of languages, including French, Yorùbá, English and Fon, Kidjo is a captivating presence on stage, and no stranger to performing in rooms of every size.
Colin Story is a jazz guitarist, writer and teacher based in Toronto. He can be reached at www.colinstory.com, and on Instagram and X.
