Laila Biali

Multi award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter, pianist and CBC Music national radio host Laila Biali has headlined festivals and venues spanning five continents from New York City’s Carnegie Hall to Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts, and supported international icon Sting. Her 2020 album release, Out of Dust, received rave reviews and was nominated for a 2021 JUNO Award. Laila was also honoured by SOCAN Music with the Hagood Hardy Award for Excellence in Songwriting. In 2019, Laila’s eponymous release won her a JUNO Award (Canada’s GRAMMY) for “Vocal Jazz Album of the Year.” The year prior, she was awarded top prize at the Canadian Songwriting Competition in the Jazz category. Laila was also the youngest-ever double winner at Canada’s National Jazz Awards when she was named “SOCAN Composer of the Year” and “Keyboardist of the Year.” She received her first JUNO nomination for Tracing Light (2011), and a spot on DownBeat Magazine’s “Best Albums of the Year” for both Live in Concert (2013) and Out of Dust (2020). In September of 2017, Laila was brought on as the host for CBC Music’s national radio show, Saturday Night Jazz, a weekly show broadcast to millions of listeners across Canada. While Laila continues to earn high honours in the jazz world, her signature sound transcends genre as she “masterfully mixes jazz and pop, bringing virtuosity and unpredictability to songs that are concise and catchy” (Washington Post). Her latest release – Your Requests – showcases personal arrangements of jazz classics requested by her social media community and features guest vocalists Kurt Elling, Emilie-Claire Barlow, and Caity Gyorgy as well as instrumentalists Anat Cohen, Grégoire Maret, Kelly Jefferson, Michael Davidson, George Koller, Larnell Lewis, Ben Wittman and Maninho Costa.

“Biali’s voice – spanning registers – is pure and warm. She’s also fearless on piano and, above else, in her imagination.” – DownBeat Magazine

“There’s no boxing Laila Biali in … Capable of making you laugh and cry all at once.” – All About Jazz

“Biali provides the positive, come-together messaging we need in these challenging times.” – Parade Magazine

“… moving, inspiring, and life-affirming songs.” – SOCAN Music

Vince Maccarone's Los Variants

Turbo Street Funk

Turbo Street Funk is a New Orleans-inspired brass-rock quintet from Toronto, Canada. With over 200 performances across Ontario, Quebec, New England and Canada's East Coast, Turbo Street Funk has gained a reputation for explosive live shows, opening for artists such as Terra Lightfoot, Five Alarm Funk, The Lost Fingers, The Shuffle Demons, Rita Chiarelli, The Soul Motivators and Emmanuel Jal.

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Kalya Ramu

In 2019, Ramu released her debut full-length album, "Living in a Dream", generously supported by FACTOR. Shortly after this release, the title track was featured on the soundtrack of CBC show "Frankie Drake Mysteries." Ramu’s second album, "Duo" (2021), is a close collaboration with pianist and composer Ewen Farncombe. The five-track album of original material highlights their artistic synergy. More recently Ramu has released two singles featuring Brazilian guitarist André Valério. The first, "Algo Contigo," features the composition of Argentinian songwriter Chico Novarro, and the second “Hold Me Close” is an original composition by Ramu and Valério and features the playing of flutist Rob Christian.

Beyond music, Ramu is a talented visual artist, specializing in watercolor portraiture. Her illustrations grace the pages of Cannopy Magazine (@cannopyarts), with her work featured on multiple print issues and covers. She also undertakes portrait commissions and album artwork projects for clients across Canada and the US. Currently, visitors to Hirut Cafe in East Danforth, Toronto can admire and purchase some of Ramu's original works displayed on its walls.