NEWS RELEASE
RIVER RUN CENTRE
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River Run Centre presents jazz singer-pianist Laila Biali with George Koller and Larnell Lewis on Friday, February 26, at 8 p.m.
The Co-operators Hall performance is presented as part of the Borealis Music Series.
An award-winning Canadian jazz pianist and vocalist, Biali has garnered global recognition for her music, performing at prestigious venues and festivals including the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands, Tokyo’s Cotton Club and Carnegie Hall in New York City.
Biali brings exuberance, creativity and a vast range of expression to her work, infusing traditional jazz with the best of pop, rock and soul to create unique musical arrangements.
With the help of celebrated bassist and multi-instrumentalist Koller and sought-after Canadian drummer Lewis, Biali will showcase her unique jazz-inspired compositions during her River Run Centre performance.
“It is the ultimate task given to the musician… to create a unique signature or fingerprint that is instantly recognizable as their own," noted international music icon Sting. "What is surprising and delightful in Laila Biali is that both as vocalist and pianist she accomplishes this with equal aplomb.”
Last year, Biali released her first album of entirely original music, House of Many Rooms, Laila Biali & The Radiance Project.
The record featured artists including Lisa Fischer, Jo Lawry and Alan Hampton, as well as the Toronto Mass Choir.
Among her other albums are 2012's Live in Concert, recorded at the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto, and the 2010 recording Tracing Light, which received a Juno nomination for best vocal jazz album of the year.
Biali is a SOCAN composer of the year award winner and was also chosen as keyboardist of the year by the National Jazz Awards.
Her credits include touring with Suzanne Vega, Chris Botti and Paula Cole, as well as recording and performing with Sting.
She is also a member of the all-female New York-based neo-classical quartet Rose & the Nightingale.
Vancouver-born, Biali currently divides her time between Toronto and New York City.
Tickets to see Laila Biali with George Koller and Larnell Lewis cost $28 for adults and $26 for seniors.
$20 uGO tickets are available to university and college students with valid ID.
$5 eyeGO tickets are available to high school students with valid ID.
Tickets can be purchased at River Run Centre box office, 35 Woolwich St. in Guelph, by calling 519-763-3000, or online at riverrun.ca/laila-biali.
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