BEGIN:VCALENDAR METHOD:PUBLISH CALSCALE:GREGORIAN PRODID:-//EVDB//www.eventful.com//EN VERSION:2.0 X-WR-CALNAME:Ben Jansson Quartet in Toronto\, Canada at The Rex Hotel Jazz & Blues Bar - Eventful BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART:20090108T000000 DTSTAMP:20090120T002934Z SUMMARY:Ben Jansson Quartet DESCRIPTION: From Michigan: Ben Jansson-Sax Richard Whiteman - Piano S teve Wallace - BassSly Juhas - DrumsAs well as playing in numerous jaz z festivals nationally and internationally such as\, the North Sea Jaz z Festival in the Hague\, Holland and the Toronto Downtown Jazz Festiv al Ben has played gigs opening up for the Count Basie Orchestra\, Eart ha Kitt\, Dave Brubeck and Ray Charles. Recently\, Ben has played with vocal greats Aretha Franklin\, Patti Labelle and in September 2006 wa s a featured soloist for jazz great Diane Schuur along with the Wayne State University bigband at the Detroit International Jazz Festival. A s a leader\, the Ben Jansson Quintet recently recorded its first album at the Firefly Club in Ann Arbor\, Michigan (Dec. 2006). The CD Featu res New York guitarist Randy Napoleon\, Piano great Rick Roe\, bassist Paul keller\, and drummer Pete Siers. Ben's playing is Straight-ahead \, a mix of fiery bebop and hard driving swing. Ballads and lyricism a re also among Ben's strengths as a jazz musician. He has recorded seve ral of his own compositions and arrangements and continues to compose and progress as a musician. A sound that is unique and which also reca lls his influences and heroes: Stan Getz\, Sonny Rollins\, Lester Youn g\, Charlie Parker\, Coleman Hawkins. Originally\, beginning on the Al to saxophone Ben switched over to tenor sax at the age of sixteen whil e attending Community High School in Ann Arbor\, MI and studying with multi-instrumentalist and jazz educator Mike Grace. At this time Ben a lso began to study with Detroit's legendary saxophonist George Benson and while still in high school Mr. Benson invited Ben to sit in with h is quartet at the Botsford Inn Jazz festival in Detroit. In 1996 Ben m oved to Toronto\, Canada to begin studying exclusively with renowned j azz saxophonist Pat Labarbera at Humber College. While in Toronto Ben had the opportunity to play with many of Canada's finest jazz musician s including: Pat Labarbera\, Don Thompson\, Phil Dwyer\, Jake Wilkinso n\, Josh Brown\, Mike Murley\, Kevin Turcotte\, Alex Dean and Bernie S enensky. In 2003 Ben moved back to the Detroit area and has been stead ily moving up in popularity and demand among musicians and audiences w ho like uncompromising\, soulful\, swinging music. Ben Jansson Quartet From Michigan: Ben Jansson-Sax Richard Whiteman - Piano Steve Wallace - BassSly Juhas - DrumsAs well as playing in numerous jazz festivals n ationally and internationally such as\, the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Hague\, Holland and the Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival Ben has pl ayed gigs opening up for the Count Basie Orchestra\, Eartha Kitt\, Dav e Brubeck and Ray Charles. Recently\, Ben has played with vocal greats Aretha Franklin\, Patti Labelle and in September 2006 was a featured soloist for jazz great Diane Schuur along with the Wayne State Univers ity bigband at the Detroit International Jazz Festival. As a leader\, the Ben Jansson Quintet recently recorded its first album at the Firef ly Club in Ann Arbor\, Michigan (Dec. 2006). The CD Features New York guitarist Randy Napoleon\, Piano great Rick Roe\, bassist Paul keller\ , and drummer Pete Siers. Ben's playing is Straight-ahead\, a mix of f iery bebop and hard driving swing. Ballads and lyricism are also among Ben's strengths as a jazz musician. He has recorded several of his ow n compositions and arrangements and continues to compose and progress as a musician. A sound that is unique and which also recalls his influ ences and heroes: Stan Getz\, Sonny Rollins\, Lester Young\, Charlie P arker\, Coleman Hawkins. Originally\, beginning on the Alto saxophone Ben switched over to tenor sax at the age of sixteen while attending C ommunity High School in Ann Arbor\, MI and studying with multi-instrum entalist and jazz educator Mike Grace. At this time Ben also began to study with Detroit's legendary saxophonist George Benson and while sti ll in high school Mr. Benson invited Ben to sit in with his quartet at the Botsford Inn Jazz festival in Detroit. In 1996 Ben moved to Toron to\, Canada to begin studying exclusively with renowned jazz saxophoni st Pat Labarbera at Humber College. While in Toronto Ben had the oppor tunity to play with many of Canada's finest jazz musicians including: Pat Labarbera\, Don Thompson\, Phil Dwyer\, Jake Wilkinson\, Josh Brow n\, Mike Murley\, Kevin Turcotte\, Alex Dean and Bernie Senensky. In 2 003 Ben moved back to the Detroit area and has been steadily moving up in popularity and demand among musicians and audiences who like uncom promising\, soulful\, swinging music. Performances this month: JAN 8ba nd link http://www.myspace.com/benjanssonjazz Performances this month : JAN 8band link http://www.myspace.com/benjanssonjazz LOCATION:The Rex Hotel Jazz & Blues Bar @ 194 Queen St West Toronto ON , Toronto, Ontario M5V 1Z1 Canada SEQUENCE:1232411374 UID:E0-001-018375599-6 URL:http://eventful.com/E0-001-018375599-6 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR