the players
Born in 1944 in rural Alberta, Bill began playing the guitar when he was about 13 or so and celebrated his 15th birthday while on the road with a band. Since then he has toured the world playing and writing all styles of music from jazz to classical and is one of the most sought after arrangers of symphonic music in Canada. In 1971 he moved from Calgary to Toronto and began working with some great local and internationally acclaimed musicians: Howard Cable, Guido Basso, Hagood Hardy, Peter Desotto, Red Norvo, Art Van Damme, Phil Nimmons, Peter Appleyard, Lenny Solomon, New Music Concerts, and many more. He has recorded jingles, CD’s, movie scores, tv and radio broadcasts, and has worked in orchestras playing for theatre shows and for such artists as Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Petula Clarke, Eartha Kitt, Vic Damone, and Tony Bennett, to name a few. He toured with Lena Horne for several years. Miss Horne said, "He plays so pretty I want to stop singing and just listen". He was John McDermott’s musical director and guitarist for many years and has appeared as guest soloist with several symphony orchestras. Bill finessed his string writing skills while with Quintessence - a string quartet with an added guitar.
He still writes, records for, and performs with: trio Norte, Bowfire, Quartetto Gelato, Dadawa, The Done Me Wrongs, Jazz Epicure, Allyson Morris, Kelli Trottier, Ron Korb, and George Gao. For a number of years he has been a member of The Shaw Festival Orchestra and often travels to Ottawa to play with The National Arts Centre Orchestra. Currently Bill is in collaboration with Lewis Mele in the development of "Bridges", a guitar and bass duo, as well as writing for and playing banjo and guitar with the Wintergarten Orchestra - a group dedicated to playing music from the 1920's and 30's. Recently he co-produced Tom Leadbeater’s latest cd and played in the pit (as well as an on stage accompanying flamenco dancer Fernando Mira) for Strictly Ballroom. Bill intends to continue his musical life as a free lance composer/arranger/performer for many years.
Kevin hails from Newfoundland, where he began a love affair with things that make noise at an early age. He hasn’t stopped since, experimenting with the textures of percussion and playing withBig Rude Jake, Jack Zorawski and Joel Miller. He studied music with Andre White at McGill University and has performed at the prestigious Montreal JazzFestival and the Sound Symposium in St. John’s. Kevin is interested in time travel, perpetual motion (it’s what he does best) and tricycles.
Classically trained, Ron’s first love has always been Jazz. He has been professionally performing and recording, (locally and abroad), with a number of different groups since 1971. Ron has also appeared in numerous TV shows and Films as a musician extra, including being a main band member in the Oscar winning film “Chicago”. He was one of the original members of the well known Hard Bop band “Kollage”, where he performed and recorded with the group for their first nine years. Currently, Ron can be seen working with Juno award winner Bob DeAngelis. In addition to teaching privately, Ron is the bass instructor at the acclaimed St. Michael’s College School in Toronto.
Jordan Klapman is a pianist, accompanist, bandleader, music director, silent film accompanist, and popular music history lecturer. He performs mainstream and traditional jazz, The Great American Songbook, as well as world and Jewish music at festivals, clubs, concert halls, theatres, and special events of all kinds. He’s appeared at Roy Thomson Hall, Koerner Hall for IdeaCITY, on CBC Radio and television, Birdland’s Cast Party in New York City, on CITY TV, and on JazzFM as a show co-host with the late Jeff Healey. Jordan also composes and plays piano for The Wintergarten Orchestra. A very active silent film accompanist, Jordan frequently composes and performs his own retro-style scores for the classic dramas and comedies of the silent era. His CV includes dozens of performances at venues including The TIFF LightBox, Silent Sundays at The Revue Theatre, The Toronto Silent Film Festival, The University of Toronto Media Commons, The Vintage Film Festival, and The Toronto Jewish Film Festival. For over 40 years, Jordan has specialized in 20th century popular music— including traditional Dixieland, Jazz Age dance music, European cabaret, Tin Pan Alley, klezmer— and his original retro compositions.
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