Trombonist Nick La Riviere will be joined by pianist Attila Fias, bassist Brock Meades, and drummer Natasha Hoskins for an evening of exciting and improvisational jazz! They'll perform their own take on standards, originals, and other surprises. Listening, communicating, and coming up with musical ideas on the fly, you'll hear musical creation with a freedom that can only be expressed with some of the island's top musicians.

Don’t forget… members take $5 off the purchase price of every ticket for this event! Get your membership here: https://www.nanaimojazzfest.ca/membership

Brought to you by the Nanaimo International Jazz Festival in collaboration with "Busheikin/Villette Present". 

Band Members:

Steve Kaldestad - Tenor Saxophone

Julian Borkowski - Trumpet

Nick Peck - Piano

Kosma Busheikin - Upright Bass

Graham Villette - Drums/Leader

Graham Villette brings a stellar lineup of musicians and music to the opening concert of the 2025 Nanaimo International Jazz Festival. This concert will be held at the Lighthouse Bistro & Pub on Nanaimo's breathtaking waterfront where Villette and his colleague, Kosma Busheikin, present their monthly jazz concert series. For this special occasion Villette has curated a unique evening of music set to captivate, excite and wow the audience. What you can expect is an array of compositions by some of the greatest writers in jazz history such as Benny Golson, Horace Silver, Kenny Dorham, Hank Mobley and more!

Villette is honoured to be accompanied by some of BC's finest musicians for this event. 

Don’t forget… members take $5 off the purchase price of every ticket for this event! Get your membership here: https://www.nanaimojazzfest.ca/membership

Victoria based David Santana is an extraordinary jazz guitarist whose style crosses many musical borders but maintains a soulful and articulate grasp of the jazz genre. Here playing with a jaw-dropping band featuring, Miguelito Valdes (trumpet), Nick Peck (keys), Louis Rudner (Bass) and John Lee drums at the Simonholt Restaurant, Sunday August 31st. 7:30pm.

The David Santana Quartet is a fiery and dynamic jazz ensemble led by David Santana, a Chilean-born, Canadian jazz guitarist and composer. Winner of the Chilean national electric guitar competition Solo para Bravos (2006), David has become a prominent voice in Canada’s jazz scene, performing regularly at top venues and festivals.

​This cutting-edge group features some of the most sought-after jazz musicians in the country: Nick Peck (keys), Miguelito Valdés (trumpet), Louis Rudner (bass) and John Lee (drums).

Together, they bring fresh interpretations to their favorite jazz standards, delivering a powerful blend of passion, creativity, and world-class musicianship. Don’t miss this unforgettable night of music!

Tickets are $30.00 (Students $20.00, Quadwrangle Regulars and NIJFA subscribers $25.00) available from Simonholt (250) 933-3338, Fascinating Rhythm, or online at

Tickets are $35.00 (students, NIJFA subscribers and Quadwrangle regulars $25.00) available from Simonholt (250) 933-3338, Fascinating Rhythm, and online at: ONLINE HERE!

Sounds of Summer present this free, live performance with DOC FINGERS at Heritage Mews in the Old City Quarter.

Sounds of Summer present this free, live performance by John Gogo at Heritage Mews in the Old City Quarter.

Busheikin/Villette are proud to present the one and only Noah Becker. The quartet will also feature Brent Jarvis on the Fender Rhodes. In 2023 this group recorded an album "Mode For Noah" which showcased Beckers original music. Becker has continued to explore the tunes from his album at live shows and always brings a new perspective. For our show at the Lighthouse, we will present a mixture of Beckers tunes and arrangements of classic jazz repoirtoire.
Noah Becker -Saxophone
Brent Jarvis -Fender Rhodes
Kosma Busheikin -Upright Bass
Graham Villette -Drums
About Noah Becker:
Born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1970, Becker's family moved to Canada. Becker first moved to New York City from Canada in 1997 but being a dual citizen of Canada and the US, never lost touch with the music and musicians of British Columbia. Eventually living and touring on both coasts and in Europe, Becker has opened up many new listeners and audiences for his music. In addition to his international reputation as a saxophonist, Becker is a talented visual artist.

Tickets are $20 ($15 for students) and can be bought at the door with credit/debit, cash or etransfer. Reservations are easy to make and free through the Lighthouse website, just put down your name, number of seats and date/time of reservation. The show starts at 530pm but we recommend you arrive around 5pm to get seated.
www.lighthousebistro.ca

*The Lighthouse is an all ages venue and will have its kitchen and bar open for service throughout the show.

Sounds of Summer present this free, live performance by B’BOON at Heritage Mews in the Old City Quarter.

Sounds of Summer present this free, live performance by DAVE TEICHROEB at Heritage Mews in the Old City Quarter.

Join the KEEP RIGHT QUARTET & FRIENDS most Thursday evenings at The Lighthouse on Nanaimo’s downtown waterfront. No cover charge and a full menu. All ages setting.

Sounds of Summer present “SOL ARAVENA” a soft Latin ensemble performing at Heritage Mews in the Old City Quarter. A FREE Performance.

The formidable Kirk MacDonald (tenor sax.) and Bruce Barth (Stanley Turrentine - keyboards ) duet! Featuring Kirk MacDonald (tnr. sax.), Bruce Barth (keys), Toronto-based saxophonist, composer, and educator Kirk MacDonald will be joining forces with renowned New York pianist, composer, and educator Bruce Barth for a series of duet and quintet performances across Canada. Their tour will span from coast to coast, with the duo performing in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and Ontario from late July through mid-August. The quintet will be featured in select performances in and around Toronto. A Quadwrangle / Nanaimo Jazz Festival show. Tickets $30.00 (students, Quadwrangle Regulars and NIJFA Subscribers $25.00). Tickets: https://square.link/u/nU1FMdtJ

Join us for Parksville Museum’s 2025 concert season featuring live blues and jazz. Bring your lawn chair and enjoy the show in our beautiful outdoor courtyard. Gates open at 5 pm. Food Trucks, Beer & Wine Sales, cash and card accepted. Advance tickets at the Museum or online: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/music-the-museum-presents-andrew-greenwood-quintet-tickets-1379087049489?aff=ebdssbdestsearch

The very talented Victoria-based saxophonist and composer, Andrew Greenwood and his quintet will be performing a soulful, captivating selection of music including that of Eddie Harris and Stanley Turrentine.  This exciting jazz concert promises a thrilling conclusion to our fundraising concert series. Concert goers can expect an unforgettable night filled with rich melodies and vibrant rhythms delivered in style.  Don't miss this intimate setting and the opportunity to experience the incredible talent of these artists.

Featuring: 
Andrew Greenwood-Tenor Sax
Owen Chow- Trumpet
Tony Genge-Piano
Ross MacDonald- Bass
Kelby MacNayr- Drums

More info: andrewgreenwood.ca

Sounds of Summer present this free concert with versatile musician Josh Gellman & Band at Wesley Square in the Old City Quarter.

Join us for Parksville Museum’s 2025 concert season featuring live blues and jazz. Bring your lawn chair and enjoy the show in our beautiful outdoor courtyard. Gates open at 5 pm. Food Trucks, Beer & Wine Sales, cash and card accepted. Advance tickets at the Museum or online: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/music-the-museum-presents-brandon-isaak-tickets-1379062526139?aff=oddtdtcreator

Anyone who has listened to a Brandon Isaak album or watched this three-time Juno Award nominated bluesman perform live, knows that he's a gifted, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and performer. Isaak delivers an unforgettable set of traditional style blues with modern themes and clever twists to bring this vintage style new fresh life. His spontaneous stage presence is rife with off the wall humor with, sometimes, dramatic and outrageous physical stage moves.  He is a true presence and has the musical mastery, power and nuances to back it up.  With a varied mix of blues styles blended with his physically entertaining stage moves he always keeps the blues fans engaged and responsive.
 
"I believe Brandon is one of Canada's most talented roots and blues artists today"
-Holger Petersen/ CBC's Saturday Night Blues
 
"The States have Keb Mo', Sweden has Eric Bibb, and now Canada has Brandon Isaak"
-John The Rock Doctor

More info: brandonisaak.ca

Born & raised on Vancouver Island, Josh Warren (Toronto) and Sarah Stevenson (Montréal) are back in town and joining forces for a spectacular one-night-only show at Simonholt. Expect to hear a wide variety of sounds drawing from traditional jazz, latin/afro-cuban music, modern grooves and more. Featuring a star-studded and multi-generational lineup, this isn't one you'll want to miss. Josh and Sarah will be joined by Roy Styffe (saxophone), Nick Peck (piano), and Ryan Bennett (drums).

Tickets are $25.00 (students, Quadwrangle regulars and NIJFA subscribers $20.00). Available from Simonholt (250) 933-3338, Fascinating Rhythm and online HERE

All the proceeds from ticket sales goes to the musicians. We are very appreciative of your support!

Sounds of Summer present a free concert with Joel Lee Band live.at Wesley Square in the Old City Quarter.

Busheikin/Villette are especially excited to present their next show featuring "the hardest working man in Jazz business" Cory Weeds. Weeds is an integral pillar of the Vancouver jazz community and helps connect it with the wider world by bringing internationally acclaimed players to the city. This has built a strong audience for jazz in Vancouver given countless opportunities to up and coming players. His work has also been a big part of our inspiration to start this series at the Lighthouse so we are particularly pleased he can join us for this show. Weeds also happens to be an exceptional musician and has recorded over 20 albums as a leader. He has also performed with countless Jazz legends including Christian Mcbride, Joey Defrancesco and Harold Mabern. For this show we are also featuring the great organist Chris Gestrin who is a long time collaborator with Weeds. Gestrin has worked on a staggering 483 albums and is a top call organist in the BC music scene. Expect a mix of soul, groove, grease and driving swing from this show at Nanaimo most picturesque venue, the Lighthouse Bistro.

Cory Weeds -Saxophone
Chris Gestrin -Hammond Organ
Kosma Busheikin -Upright Bass
Graham Villette -Drums

Tickets are $20 ($15 for students) and can be bought at the door with credit/debit, cash or etransfer. Reservations are easy to make and free through the Lighthouse website, just put down your name, number of seats and date/time of reservation. The show starts at 530pm but we recommend you arrive around 5pm to get seated. www.lighthousebistro.ca
*The Lighthouse is an all ages venue and will have its kitchen and bar open for service throughout the show.

Sounds of Summer presents this free, live performance by JAMES VICKERS & CARSON MAERTZ at Wesley Square in the Old City Quarter.

Join us for Parksville Museum’s 2025 concert season featuring live blues and jazz. Bring your lawn chair and enjoy the show in our beautiful outdoor courtyard. Gates open at 5 pm. Food Trucks, Beer & Wine Sales, cash and card accepted. Advance tickets at the Museum or online: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/music-the-museum-presents-jim-byrnes-tickets-1379047370809?aff=oddtdtcreator

Jim Byrnes is a legendary blues icon, an actor of note, and that artist who lights up every stage with songs and stories, tried and true. Jim Byrnes was born in St. Louis, Missouri – that's blues country. He grew up on the city's north side. One of the neighbourhood bars had Ike and Tina Turner as the house band. As a teenager going to music clubs, he and his buddy were often the only white people in the place. "We never had any problems. We were too naïve and had too much respect for the music and culture – they knew it, they could tell."

By age thirteen, Jim was singing and playing blues guitar. His first professional gig was in 1964. Over the years, he has had the great good fortune to appear with a virtual who's who of the blues. From Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker to Taj Mahal and Robert Cray, Jim has been on the blues highway for 45 years.

More info: jimbyrnes.ca

Sounds of Summer present a free, live performance by A CAPELLA PLUS at Wesley Square in the Old City Quarter!

Join us for Parksville Museum’s 2025 concert season featuring live blues and jazz. Bring your lawn chair and enjoy the show in our beautiful outdoor courtyard. Gates open at 5 pm. Food Trucks, Beer & Wine Sales, cash and card accepted. Advance tickets at the Museum or online: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/music-the-museum-presents-harry-manx-tickets-1378921353889?aff=oddtdtcreator

Harry Manx has spent years fusing eastern musical traditions with the blues, switching effortlessly between conventional guitars, harmonica, and banjo and the decidedly different Mohan veena, a 20-stringed instrument invented by Manx' Indian mentor Vishwa Mohan Bhatt. Manx is often referred to as the "Mysticssippi" Blues Man, because of his expertise in melding both East and West music together and therefore, "creating musical short stories that wed the Blues with the depth of classical Indian ragas".

Over the last 10 years, Harry Manx released 11 Albums and has garnered a room full of awards including "Seven Maple Blues Awards, six Juno nominations, the Canadian Folk Award in 2005 for Best Solo Artist and CBC Radio's "Great Canadian Blues Award" in 2007″. His most recent accomplishment was receiving yet another Juno Nomination for "Blues Album of the Year" for his release, "Bread and Buddha" in 2010. 

More info: harrymanx.com 

The Skye Douglas Project embraces introspection and minimalism while blending Nordic Jazz, World Music, Neo-Classical and Spirituality
in compositions of original music.

The Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Victoria, is pleased to visit Nanaimo on its tour of Vancouver Island this summer. The Cathedral Choir, Youth Choir, and Young Choristers are presenting a Benefit Concert for the Old City Arts Hub in St. Andrew’s United Church. “I am excited both for the choristers to see the breadth and beauty of our diocese and also for the communities up island to be able to experience the world-class choral music that our Cathedral offers.” said the The Right Reverend Anna Greenwood-Lee, Bishop of the Diocese of Islands and Inlets, “The human voice is a beautiful thing and choral music, when so many voices all join together to create beauty, can truly help us glimpse the divine.” 

The Cathedral Choir and Youth Choir is an auditioned ensemble comprising a mixture of experienced volunteers and emerging professional singers. This ensemble provides music for two Sunday services per week as well as other special services throughout the year. The choir is committed to the pursuit of musical excellence and presents a wide and varied repertoire from Renaissance music to newly commissioned choral works.

The Young Chorister Program, founded in 2017 through a partnership between Christ Church Cathedral and The Cathedral School, is the only school-based, fully immersive Anglican Cathedral Chorister program of its kind in Canada.

The choir will sing a varied program of music including Vivaldi’s Magnificat and Bob Chilcott’s  A Little Jazz Mass. “This is a truly enjoyable concert program that we all really love singing,” said the Director of Music, Donald Hunt “and we’re confident that you’ll enjoy listening to it too!

Tickets $25 – Eventbrite, Windowseat Books and at the door

Come join us for an evening of traditional sea shanties and folk songs with the talented Fergus O'Byrne and Jim Payne at the Old City Arts Hub @ St. Andrew's United Church. Get ready to be transported to the rugged shores of Newfoundland as these talented musicians serenade you with tales of the sea! With Nanaimo's own Fiddelium as their guests, don't miss this unique opportunity to experience the rich cultural heritage of Newfoundland through music. Grab your tickets now on line at oldcityartshub.ca or at Windowseat Books #6-321 Wesley Street or at the door. Tickets $40.

"Ardeshir Quintet" — Graham Villette and Kosma Busheikin, the co-presenters of this new monthly jazz series, are working hard to bring the best in Canadian jazz to the music lovers of Nanaimo harbour front. June 14th marks 9 concerts since the series started and the two presenters don't plan on slowing down. More concerts are scheduled from now through until December of this year with lots of talent from near and far. This performance features a large ensemble of five musician's lead by Vancouver saxophonist Ardeshir Pourkeramati and features a rising-star lineup of BC musicians.

Saxophonist Ardeshir Pourkeramati has become a prominent voice in British Columbia's jazz community. Having recently returned to Vancouver after completing his doctoral studies at the Thornton School of Music in Los Angeles, he is now active in a number of musical projects across the city. Rooted in the jazz tradition but driven by a spirit of exploration, Ardeshir's quintet emphasizes deep communication and creative interplay to forge a sound that is both personal and forward-looking.

With Julian Borkowski - Trumpet, Winston Matsushita - Piano, David Caballero - Upright Bass and Graham Villette - Drums

Tickets are $20 ($15 for students) and can be bought at the door with cash, card or etransfer. Reservations are easy to make and free through the Lighthouse website, just put down your name, number of seats and date/time of reservation.
www.lighthousebistro.ca
*The Lighthouse is an all ages venue and will have its kitchen and bar open for service throughout the show.

Quadwrangle Music is very pleased to announce that the extraordinary John Lee will be bringing his, "John Lee: Organic", show to Simonholt Restaurant, June 8th. 7:30pm.

Multi Instrumentalist John Lee was raised in Nanaimo BC. Equally at home playing bass, guitar, piano and drums at the highest level, and has recorded multiple albums with the Cellar Live label. John is a musical phenomenon!

He moved to Boston in 2010 to attend Berklee College of Music, where he was mentored by Ralph Peterson Jr and Dave Santoro.
Lee relocated back to his West Coast motherland in 2016 and began his professional career. This show features John on guitar, Nick Peck on keys and Vancouver drummer Jesse Cahill on drums. A show not to be missed.
Tickets are $25.00 (students, NIJFA subscribers and Quadwrangle Regulars $20.00), available from Simonholt (250) 933-3338, Fascinating Rhythm and online here: https://square.link/u/CdiiNhag

Canadian Folk Music Award winners Fiddelium are returning to the Port with a brand new show of exciting material from around the world. Guest artists this year are the 20-piece Nanaimo Cello Choir. https://www.porttheatre.com/event/nanaimo-fiddle-society-presents-fiddelium/