Don’t miss this fantastic quartet with Toronto vocalist Melissa Lauren performing wiith Ottawa pianist Mike Manny, Toronto bassist Michael Herring, and Ottawa drummer Scott Latham. Together they’ll perform a diverse program that will include a mix of standards, covers of big band tunes from the 1930s and 1940s, a Berlin ballad or two, some latin tunes, and perhaps a few other surprises.

Toronto-based singer and songwriter Melissa Lauren has smoothly made the transition from veteran swing “crooness” to songwriter. The music – her own brand of old school jazz, Do-wap and blues mixed with Indie pop inflections and sounds; very much a product of her early musical training meeting her adult musical encounters. A recent recipient of Factor Canada’s Juried Sound Recording grant, Melissa is currently recording a new album, to be released in Fall of 2021. Her latest project, “My Voice” is an audience-crafted collection of songs. She has performed at local and international music festivals and series, including the Halifax Jazz Festival, Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival, Beaches International Jazz Festival, Markham Jazz Festival and Oakville International Jazz Festival as well as Canadian Music Week, North By North East Festival, Kensington Market Jazz Festival, Sudbury Jazz Fastival, Toronto Harbourfront Music Series, the Home Smith jazz series, and has had residencies in Toronto at places such as the Rex and the Cameron House. Summer of 2018 saw her a nomination for best artist at the Halifax International Jazz Festival’s Stingray Music Competition. Melissa’s sophomore album, “Your Mess” was released to great charting and review across Canada. The first single released in Canada, “Send Them Away,” was song of the week on CBC radio in Toronto, and nominated for a Toronto Independent Music Award. In addition to her own music, Melissa has been lending her voice to studio work in the electronic music scene. She has sung on five of producer/writer Hibernate’s recently released tracks, one of which was the opening track one of seminal pioneer trance DJ Paul Oakenfold’s compilation albums, released under Perfecto Records.

Mike Manny has been immersed in the world of music since the tender age of 4. Originally from Toronto, he studied at Humber College and was then a scholarship graduate of the prestigious Manhattan School of Music in New York City, Mike joined the Canadian Forces as a musician in 2002 and has since performed extensively with the Forces worldwide while posted in Ottawa and Winnipeg. Now residing (back) in Ottawa, Mike is a very in-demand musician performing with many ensembles including the Ottawa Jazz Orchestra, and with his own trio playing hard-hitting arrangements of classic jazz repertoire in the hard-bop style.

Michael Herring is a double-bassist and composer based in Toronto who writes, performs and records across genre lines, equally comfortable in jazz as in roots settings, including folk, world, and pop/rock. Herring leads and co-leads a number of groups which focus on original music of which he is a major contributor. Herring’s compositions and bass playing can also be heard in the collectives Way North (New York/Toronto collaboration with Petr Cancura, Rebecca Hennessy and Richie Barshay).

Scott Latham is a vibraphonist, percussionist and drummer originally from Nova Scotia. In addition to being active on the local freelance and jazz scenes here in Ottawa, he performs full-time as a member of the Central Band of the Canadian Armed Forces. Scott is in great demand and has recorded and performed with many artists including Mark Ferguson, the Naden Band of the Royal Canadian Navy, and the Royal Canadian Air Force Band.