Jazz @ Midday: Brenda Earle Stokes Quartet
All the way from New York City, the Brenda Earle Stokes Quartet, joins us for our Jazz @ Midday series to perform an exciting concert filled with original compositions. All welcome!
October 3, 2024
Jazz at Midday: Brenda Earle Stokes
McLean Performance Studio
12:30 – 1:30pm
FREE
Brenda Earle Stokes – piano & voice
Rebecca Hennessy – trumpet
Dan Fortin – bass
Ethan Ardelli – drums
York Music alumni, Brenda Earle Stokes, hailed as “a breezy delight” by Time Out New York, possesses a unique musical versatility in both jazz vocal and piano traditions. Her music, rooted in jazz, also shares influences in Brazilian and rock music.
As a bandleader, she has toured clubs and festivals across the US, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia and has released 6 albums on her own label. As a follow-up to her critically acclaimed 2014 studio album Right About Now, Stokes sought to challenge herself to dig deep and share the full scope of her talents in the most intimate setting possible.
In her latest album Solo Sessions Volume 1, Brenda explores the rarely-recorded format of solo piano/voice, showcasing her mesmerizing fluidity as both singer and pianist. Recorded in a single four-hour session in her hometown of Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, Brenda explores a wide spectrum of material, including jazz standards, original compositions, and seldom-her compositions by Dave Brubeck and Steve Swallow. She rounds out the recording with lush jazz arrangements of songs recorded by k.d. lang, Michael McDonald, and Huey Lewis, showing the full range of her musical curiosities.
