The Coast Bastion Inn Ballroom provides the intimate setting to celebrate our 10th year presenting live jazz in Nanaimo! We'll recognize Nanaimo's incredible history and promising future in jazz. Local, dedicated jazz enthusiasts will be honoured for their vision, imagination and commitment to the Festival from its initiation through its growth to today.

Share a table with friends or make new ones over your mutual love of live music. We'll pay homage to the hundreds of performances the Festival has brought to Nanaimo over the past decade and some of the people who’ve made it possible. Doors open an hour before showtime with lobby entertainment. Bar and appy services will be offered during the evening. 

With a palpable authenticity, towering five-octave range, and a powerful blues and gospel-tinged jazz vocal approach, Dr. Dee Daniels has built a sterling reputation amongst jazz fans and critics around the world for over five decades.

One critic says, “Daniels is effortless and fluid in reaches that defy other singers. Her voice is so enchanting that the words she sings almost don’t matter. She embodies the music, the sound becomes flesh.”

Dee has 15 CDs as a leader and has performed and/or recorded with the who’s who of the Jazz world, including Jazz legends, both past and present. The list includes Benny Green, Houston Person, Russell Malone, Wycliffe Gordon, Cyrus Chestnut, Ken Peplowski, Kenny Barron, Toots Thielemans, Hank and Elvin Jones, Monty Alexander, Lionel Hampton, and Herb Ellis. She is the recipient of many awards in music, education, and community services. Her awards include the 2022 Pop Award (Germany) for Album of the Year; Legacy Award from the National Congress of Black Women Foundation; the Western Canadian Music Award; Global Music Award; the Commemorative Medal for the Golden Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II; induction into the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame; and a 2009 Honorary Doctorate Degree of Fine Arts.

Downtown street level parking is free and underground parking (elevator to the hotel lobby) in the Harbourfront Centre Parkade is plentiful ($.75 first two hours). More than two dozen downtown restaurants and night spots welcome your patronage before and after the show -- or make your way to the late night annual Jazz Jam at the Vault Cafe - a Festival tradition!