There will be magic in the air as vocalist Kinga Heming takes the stage at the Vernon Jazz Club Saturday night.
Heming will be backed by some of the Okanagan’s finest jazz musicians, including Neville Bowman (piano), Loni Moger (guitar), Bernie Addington (bass), and Scott Gamble (drums).
The band will be playing songs from Heming’s debut album, It’s Magic, as well as favourites such as It Might As Well Be Spring (Hammerstein and Rogers), Fever (Peggy Lee), and You’re Nobody ‘Til Somebody Loves You (Larry Stock).
When asked what her favourite thing about performing is, Heming replied, “Capturing the audience and engaging with my band; telling a story from experience and having the audience feel what it is I’m feeling in the moment.”
Born in Poland, Heming’s first musical influences as a child were her parents. Her mother would play Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and other great jazz artists around the house and her father played in his own cabaret.
After moving to Canada, Heming was accepted into the vocal program at Canterbury, a government funded school for the arts. On her musical journey she found her own favourite jazz vocalists who helped shape her sound. These were legendary voices such as Natalie Cole, Sarah Vaughan, Diana Krall, and Ella Fitzgerald.
Later, Heming studied jazz at Humber College in Toronto. It was in this musically vibrant city that she shared the stage with Renee Rosnes, Guido Basso, and Juno award winner Don Thompson. She also sang a duet with the late Jeff Healey at the bar he owned.
Heming has toured throughout Canada with Bill King’s group, The Real Divas, and has sung the national anthem for the NHL, NBA, and AHL.
Bowman is well-known throughout the B.C. Interior as an accomplished accompanist, composer, arranger, vocalist, and instrumentalist. He was a former member of the award winning Just in Time trio and indie rock group Ten2Nine. He recently wrote the music for two original stage productions as well as an original commissioned work for Ballet Kelowna entitled Redux Continuum.
Moger graduated from the Berklee College of Music with a degree in commercial arranging. He has played with musicians like Tuck and Patti, Bo Didley, Big Miller, and P.J. Perry.
This spring Bowman will be adjudicating at the B.C. Interior Jazz Festival.
Addington enjoys a successful career as a freelance musician and private instructor. He has studied under renowned bassist Rick Kilburn and has toured extensively throughout North America, Europe, and Australia. His unique sound can be heard on numerous recordings.
Playing many genres in multiple bands, Gamble is in high demand both for live and studio work.
He was named musician of the year at the 2006 B.C. Interior Music Awards and is also a successful graphic artist. Gamble has played with Dee Daniels, Bill King, Carol Welsman, as well as pop artists Daniel Powter and Greg Sczebel. He has been on the Vernon Jazz Club stage numerous times in the past couple years with bands such as Groove Engine, Rann Berry and the Random Act, Julie Masi, and most recently, Amanda Morazain.
Kian Water and Bruce Collis will open for the show.
Water is a multi-instrumentalist whose first influences include The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, and Pink Floyd. He is currently working on his second album that will be released this summer.
Collis has studied percussion both locally and in Cuba. He has a particular passion for Afro-Cuban music.
Heming and the Neville Bowman Quartet take the stage at the Vernon Jazz Club (3000-31st St.) Saturday, Jan. 24 at 8 p.m. Doors open with performance by Water and Collis at 7:15 p.m. Tickets are $20 at the Bean Scene, Bean to Cup and at www.vernonjazz.ca.
