Jazz at the Columbus Centre: Tribute to George Gershwin

Pianist and composer Anthony D’Alessandro brings his signature swing, scintillating technique and irresistible showmanship to a celebration of one of the most influential composers in jazz and American popular music: George Gershwin.
Featuring beloved selections from Gershwin’s vast catalogue — spanning jazz standards, musicals, and concert works — this performance honours a monumental figure whose music continues to define the Great American Songbook. Joining D’Alessandro are trumpet virtuoso Kevin Turcotte, bassist Paul Novotny, and drummer Daniel Barnes in a truly star‑studded ensemble.
Anthony D’Alessandro - Piano

Kevin Turcotte - Trumpet

Paul Novotny - Bass

Daniel Barnes - Drums

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Anthony D’Alessandro - Piano

Anthony D’Alessandro is a pianist, composer, arranger based in Toronto, Canada. Hailed by WholeNote Magazine as a pianist with a “natural feeling for swing and groove” and “scintillating technique”, and “one of the most impressive young jazz pianists today” by the Jersey Jazz Magazine, he has performed in many notable clubs, concert halls and jazz festivals around the world including the Montreal International Jazz Festival, the Teatro Nescafé de las Artes in Santiago Chile, Birdland Jazz Club and Smalls Jazz Club in New York City, and Koerner Hall in Toronto.

He tours internationally as a bandleader including performances across Canada, the United States, South America, and Europe. He regularly performs alongside a “who’s who” of the industry’s top jazz musicians including international artists such as Benny Benack III, Joe Farnsworth, and Summer Camargo as well as fellow Canadians Caity Gyorgy, Pat LaBarbara, and Ernesto Cervini. D'Alessandro’s most recent album ‘City Lights” is nominated for a JUNO Award, hailed as an album that “swings, breathes, and even smiles” by The Paris Move.
Kevin Turcotte - Trumpet, Flugelhorn

Ottawa native Kevin Turcotte is recognized as one of Canada’s major trumpet talents with an impressive list of recording and touring credentials. The more than 175 CDs he has played on range in style from folk legend Bruce Cockburn to opera star Measha Bruegergossan, and from Rob McConnell and the Boss Brass to the unique and chamber music such as Quisin Nachoff. Kevin’s touring has taken him to Italy, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and the former Soviet Union, garnering at least 20 JUNO nominations and bringing home the coveted prize five times. He has played in bands led by Canadian icons Phil Nimmons, Pat LaBarbera, Claude Ranger, Doug Riley and Don Thompson. Kevin served for decades on faculty at The University of Toronto and is currently the Jazz Brass instructor at York University.
Daniel Barnes - Drums

Drummer, composer and producer Daniel Barnes is the son of internationally renowned classical music composer Milton Barnes. His two album releases to date, “Culmination” and “Classic Beauties”, feature his original compositions, arrangements of standards and some of Canada’s great instrumentalists. They both have become staples on jazz radio in Canada. His group was a finalist in the 2008 Grand Prize of Jazz at the Montreal International Jazz Festival and his original music can be heard in the adventure film “Amazon Extreme”. Daniel backs a top echelon of jazz talent in Canada, having spent three decades with Order of Canada recipient pianist Joe Sealy (playing on the JUNO-winning release “Africville Suite), and has performed at home and abroad with Jackie Richardson, Holly Cole and Adi Braun plus many others, and visiting Americans Don Braden, Dizzy Reese and Ron Westray. Daniel plays on over 50 albums by various artists and has earned distinction in “Global Music” circles through his touring and recording with icons of Ethiopian music Mr. Mahmoud Ahmed, Ms. Aster Aweke and Mr. Hailu Mergia. The Globe and Mail newspaper has described Daniel as “… among the best of his generation”.

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