UpTown Waterloo Jazz Festival

02/07/2025

Great music is always in season thanks to our friends at The Jazz Room! The Levin Brothers (Pete and Tony who have played with Paul Simon, John Lennon, Peter Gabriel and King Crimson - so they might know a thing or two about great venues) called The Jazz Room "one of the hippest jazz clubs and audiences we had on the whole tour." That's high praise for a jazz gem right here at home! There is great music every weekend.

Join us at The Jazz Room this Saturday night with Bandleader, trombonist and vocalist Charlotte McAfee-Brunner!

A unique blend of Swing, Gypsy, Bebop and more, Charlotte McAfee-Brunner and her Fireflies will take you on a toe-tapping journey to their favourite places. Exciting bebop Clarinet, swinging Trombone, firey gypsy Guitar and engaging basslines come together in a beautiful way you might not expect. Charlotte McAfee-Brunner interprets the lyrics of Great American Songbook classics in a way that reaches the hearts of young and old.

12/25/2024

Season's Greetings and Merry Christmas from your friends at the Sun Life UpTown Waterloo Jazz Festival! Thanks to all our volunteers, sponsors, vendors, musicians, grant organizations, production staff and, most importantly, our audience who comes to enjoy our Festival year after year. We cannot do it without you!!

By the way, it's not too late to get that wonderful someone a special gift - tickets to our Fundraiser featuring Matt Dusk on 20 March at Tapestry Hall are on sale now!!
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/uptown-waterloo-jazz-festival-presents-matt-dusk-sings-tony-bennett-tickets-1111921008669?aff=oddtdtcreator

12/13/2024

Don't know what to get that special someone for the holidays? Come and spend an evening with Matt Dusk at the beautiful Tapestry Hall in Cambridge!

Doors at 7p.m.
Concert at 7:30 p.m.

The SunLife Uptown Waterloo Jazz Festival is presenting this concert to support the 2025 festival this July!

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/uptown-waterloo-jazz-festival-presents-matt-dusk-sings-tony-bennett-tickets-1111921008669?aff=oddtdtcreator

12/05/2024

Great music for the holidays from our friends at The Jazz Room !!! What shows are you going to?!?

This Friday “Larry’s Jazz Guys” are back!
This time they’ll be ringing in the holiday season with a brand-new lineup of tunes, each one with that special vibe that you’ve come to expect from Larry and the Guys! This year, Larry is thrilled to welcome back to the stage the inimitable Dave Martin on trombone! Dave is a founding member of LJG, and is Larry’s “Brother from Another Mother!” He’s making the trek from his home in Montreal to hop onto the Jazz Room stage with the other two Daves, Paul, Matt, and Larry! Yes, we still have our LJG minimum of having a lineup of 50% Daves! It’s officially the Holidays at The Jazz Room, so join us tonight and let the festivities begin!

11/21/2024

Welcome back to the KW Symphony!!

Celebrate the holiday season with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony! Join conductor Evan Mitchell and narrator Tom Allen for a festive concert of classic carols and symphonic holiday favourites (is it even the holidays if you haven't heard the KWS perform Sleigh Ride??) ...and more!

THREE PERFORMANCES: December 20, 7:30pm & December 21, 2:30 & 7:30pm at St. Matthew's Centre, 54 Benton Street, Kitchener. Tickets at https://KWSCelebration.eventbrite.ca (link in bio)

11/21/2024

Catch some great music every week at the Jazz Room! We are so fortunate to have such a wonderful venue in our Community!!

This Saturday night at The Jazz Room is excited to welcome the Ferenc Botos Jazz Quartet!

Born into a musical family, Frank became a first call drummer in Hungary at an early age. He worked and recorded with Hungary’s most well known musicians including Szakcsi, Tony Lakatos, Robert Lakatos, Gabor Gado. Frank studied at the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music with Gyula Kovacs and Ivan Nesztor. After leaving the school in 1991, Frank won first place in the “Krakow International Jazz Competition” in Poland. He has played on the main stages of European jazz festivals. In 1998 Frank Botos immigrated to Canada. Shortly after arriving in Canada with his brother Robi Botos, (winner of the “Montreux Jazz Festival Solo Piano Competition 2005″), Frank and Robi became well established in the Toronto jazz scene as “The Botos Brothers”. They soon released their independent CD featuring Pat LaBarbara, Don Thompson and Attila Darvas, which has received extensive airplay. Frank continued his professional development in Canada by studying with renowned jazz educator Jim Blackley. Since then, Frank has worked with such international and local stars as Bela Fleck and Jean Luc-Ponty (Toronto International Jazz Festival main stage 2005), Avishai Cohen (Hungarian Jazz Festival 2005),Sonny Fortune(Hungarian Jazz Festival 2006), Mario Rodrigues, Joe Sealy and Paul Novotny (Du Maruier International Jazz Festival Toronto 1999), Dave Young, Pat LaBarbara, Don Thompson, Kirk MacDonald, Mike Murley, Michael Stewart,Phil Dwyer, Hugh Fraser, Jake Langley, Steve Wallace, Bernie Senensky,Stan Fomin, Shawan Nykwist, Neil Swanson, Gene Dinovi, David Braid, Lorne Lofsky, Shelley Berger, Nancy Walker,Mike Downs, and Kirk Lightsey to name few.

09/12/2024

Just a quick reminder about the fantastic Opening Night our friends at the Belmont Village Bestival have planned for tomorrow night!! It's going to be another great weekend of music in the Region of Waterloo and the weather looks spectacular!! See you there - there will be so much to see and do!!
Explore Waterloo Region

🎵 Bestival alert! In just under a month, the Belmont & Glasgow stage is the place to be! 🎤

On Sept 13th, & his all-star lineup are bringing the heat. Join us at 7pm for a night of epic tunes and good vibes! 🌟

Check out the full schedule: belmontvillagebestival.com

Shout out to our Headliner Sponsors: Cook Homes & Donovan Insurance Brokers

.kellerman

09/08/2024

Summer is not over!! Be sure to check out the Belmont Village Bestival next weekend. Our friends at the Bestival sure know how to throw a party - just look at that stellar lineup!! We hope to see you there!

🎶 Bestival Saturday is stacked!

From the Grand Harmony Chorus at 11:30 AM to the Danny Michel Band closing it out at 9 PM, the Belmont Village Bestival is bringing non-stop music magic. 🎤

Join us at the Glasgow & Union stages for an epic day of live performances! Don’t miss a beat! 🎸

Full schedule: belmontvillagebestival.com

Thank you Headliner Sponsors: Cook Homes & Donovan Insurance Brokers

Belmont Village Kitchener

08/08/2024

Our friends at the Kitchener Blues Festival have done it again!! Best of luck to the artists, volunteers, organizers and sponsors from all of us at the Sun Life UpTown Waterloo Jazz Festival! The kick off to the Blues Festival tonight with Colin James (the ticketed Fundraiser) starts a fantastic weekend of music, the rest of which is FREE! Take a look at this wonderful program - it's jam packed with fabulous artists! What shows are you going to see?

Waterloo Record Feature Pages - Blues Festival 2024 Headliner

08/06/2024

It's almost here! Our friends at the Kitchener Blues Festival kick things off this Thursday with their annual fundraiser which features Colin James and Matt Weidinger. Tickets are only $40! It's a great way to support this wonderful Festival and the value just can't be beat! See you there.

Get event information and buy your tickets at Ticketscene!

07/22/2024

That’s a wrap for another year! We hope you enjoyed the Sun Life UpTown Waterloo Jazz Festival as much as we enjoyed putting it together for you! Our heartfelt thanks go out to all our wonderful volunteers - we could not possibly do it without you. Thank you also to our generous sponsors who keep supporting us so you can enjoy world-class live music FREE! Thanks also to the fabulous musicians who enrich our lives with their beautiful art. And finally, thanks to everyone who came out to the Festival. Whether you donated, bought a beverage or some merch, or just came out to enjoy the music. It all helps to keep the Festival vibrant!! See you next year!

07/20/2024

Great news! Our 2024 Program is finally up and running! Thanks to all who mentioned it. We love technology! We really do!!

07/20/2024

Sun, 21 July @ 3:00 pm
Headlining our Sunday is the 2024 JUNO-nominated The Canadian Jazz Collective. This newly created group of established and award-winning Canadian jazz artists is taking audiences and critics by storm. With a collaborative approach to the presentation of original Canadian jazz, the Collective’s repertoire features of original compositions by saxophonist Kirk MacDonald, trumpeter Derrick Gardner, and guitarist Lorne Lofsky, all specially arranged for this ensemble. This exciting group was formed with the purpose of creative collaboration and to showcase the musicians’ world-class artistry and original compositions. The Canadian Jazz Collective Septet comprises leaders Kirk MacDonald (saxophonist/composer), Derrick Gardner (trumpeter/composer), and Lorne Lofsky (guitarist/composer), along with rising star clarinetist Virginia MacDonald, bassist Neil Swainson, pianist Brian Dickinson, and Austrian drummer Bernd Reiter. Since its inception in May 2022, The CJC has made highly successful tours through Europe, Canada, and the U.S. They have released two albums – including the 2024 JUNO-nominated Septology. Fresh off their performance at the Rochester International Jazz Festival, we are so lucky to this group of all-stars on our stage!
https://www.facebook.com/canadianjazzcollective

07/19/2024

All set to go!! The fun starts at 4:15!!

07/19/2024

Another new sponsor is contributing to this year's Festival! Our thanks to Delta Hotels by Marriott Waterloo for contributing to our event! As with all our sponsors, please support them when you can. See you at the Festival!!

07/19/2024

Sat, 20 July @ 9:30 pm
Hilario Durán and his Latin Jazz Big Band hit the stage as Saturday night's headliner. This will be one for the ages - there are 19 musicians in the band!! That is the largest group ever to appear on our stage so hold onto your hats! This is one of only 3 concerts this large group will give this summer so we are very fortunate to have them!
Cuban-Canadian jazz pianist Hilario Durán is a fixture on the Toronto music scene. Durán immigrated in 1998 to Canada and was named as One of the 10 Most Influential Hispanic Canadians in 2009. Hilario has been named Best Artist of the Year 2013 by the Toronto Musicians’ Association and also as 2014 Best Vision Award Winner (Premio a la Trayectoria) for his work as entrepreneur as a director of his musical company, ES MI MUSICA PRODUCTIONS. Hilario is a 2018 Recipient of the Louis Applebaum Composers Award by the Ontario Arts Foundation. He is also an educator at Toronto’s Humber College, acting as a piano teacher and ensemble director. He is a multi JUNO award winner and was nominated for a GRAMMY this year. Get there early as you don't want to miss this performance!