Selkirk College Presents Canadian Jazz Innovator Elizabeth Shepherd
By Bob Hall
Montreal-based jazz musician Elizabeth Shepherd will be kicking off her latest tour at Nelson’s Shambhala Music & Performance Hall where she will be joined on stage by Selkirk College students.
The velvety-voiced pianist arrived on the international scene in 2006 when her debut album Start To Move was voted one of the top jazz albums of the year by the listeners of the influential Gilles Peterson Show on BBC Radio Worldwide.
Since then, the soul-jazz innovator has established herself as one of the most alluring and imaginative artists on the scene today.
Shepherd will be in Nelson on November 16 where she will be giving a pair of clinics for students in the Selkirk College Contemporary Music & Technology Program and in the evening take the stage at the venue on Tenth Street Campus.
“Having Elizabeth come to connect and pass on her knowledge to students is tremendous,” says music program instructor Laura Landsberg.
“We’re very pleased to have her then kick off a tour of British Columbia in Nelson. This is a great opportunity for all music lovers to see her in the intimate setting of the Shambhala Music & Performance Hall.”
Shepherd has been hailed as “a jazz virtuoso blessed with a pop sensibility.” She has been praised by critics worldwide for her arrestingly original writing and soulful delivery.
The four-time Juno Award nominee and two-time Polaris long list artist is fresh off the heels of headlining tours in Mexico and Eastern Canada. She will be performing songs from her acclaimed new album The Signal, which features contributions from Lionel Loueke (Herbie Hancock).
Joining Shepherd on her tour of British Columbia is guitar wizard and long-time collaborator, Michael Occhipinti.Scott Kemp on bass, John Day on trumpet, and local favourite Tony Ferraro on drums.
For the Nelson performance, second-year Selkirk College vocal major students will join Shepherd on stage.
“It will be quite a thrill for our voice students to be on the stage that night, but all students will benefit from her clinics in the day,” says Landsberg. “This type of interaction with touring musicians is extremely valuable for our students.”
Tickets for the November 16 show will be available at the door ($15 and $10 students/seniors). The performance begins at 7:30 p.m.
