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Vernon Jazz Club welcomes Montreal talent

Elizabeth Shepherd will be on stage Saturday, March 9
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Elizabeth Shepherd will be on stage at the Vernon Jazz Club Saturday, March 9. (Photo submitted)

Velvety-voiced pianist Elizabeth Shepherd arrived on the international scene in 2006 when her debut album Start To Move was voted one of the top jazz albums of the year by the listeners of the influential Gilles Peterson Show on BBC Radio Worldwide.

Since then, the Montreal-based soul-jazz innovator has established herself as one of the most alluring and imaginative artists on the scene today. Versed in equal parts Stevie Wonder, Salvation Army brass bands and classical sonatas, it is perhaps no surprise that this globetrotting talent has developed such a distinct and unique voice.

And it’s a voice she will share with the Vernon Jazz Society at the Jazz Club March 9.

Shepherd has been hailed as “a jazz virtuoso blessed with a pop sensibility,” praised by critics worldwide for her arrestingly original writing and soulful delivery. Along with artists like Esperanza Spalding, Robert Glasper and Jose James, she is seen as part of a wave of jazz musicians bringing the art form to a new generation of music fans.

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The four-time JUNO nominee has released four widely acclaimed records and toured extensively in North America, Europe, Japan and Mexico. She has sold out legendary clubs from Tokyo to Detroit, played major festivals like Montreal and North Sea Jazz Festivals, shared the stage with Victor Wooten, Branford Marsalis and Christian McBride, and opened for Jamie Cullum at The Hollywood Bowl. Shepherd is also the only jazz vocalist to ever have been longlisted for the Polaris Prize – Canada’s most prestigious music prize – an honour she has received twice.

On her most recent and fifth album, The Signal Shepherd has teamed up with guitar genius and Herbie Hancock band member Lionel Loueke as she continues to create jazz for a new generation. Released worldwide through Linus Entertainment (eOne), The Signal has received international acclaim.

Shepherd is on stage at the Jazz Club March 9 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20 and are available online at www.vernonjazz.com.


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