| 2008 |
Booking Now:
[Aug 2008] George Evans is establishing a Cabaret venue on the Church Street Strip in Toronto for the 2008-2009 season. George is booking 55-60 minute self-contained acts for performances to begin Fridays in September. George will also be on-site event-managing and hosting the venue each evening. Go to www.statlersonchurch.com or the Statlers Facebook group for schedule and audition information.
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George Evans returning to NY Cabaret:
[July 2008] After the success of the Mac-Award nominated duo show "Night Songs For City-Dwellers" with Mary Foster Conklin, George has booked a return to NY cabaret this fall. Playing the Laurie Beechman Theatre on the closing weekend the Cabaret Convention, George will debut not one, but two contrasting shows on two opposing nights; “Happy Madness: songs of love and hypomania” and “Glad to be Unhappy: music to slit your wrists by.” Audiences will be in for a roller coaster ride of unusual musical selections form the pop repertoire. The shows play November 1 & 2 at the Laurie Beechman Theatre, 407 W 42nd Street, Manhattan, NY.
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"Live at the Cellar" finally coming to disc and digital:
[June 2008] This previously unreleased live recording from May of 2006 is now available in a special Limited Edition pressing. The inadvertent destruction of recordings from the first night meant there would be no source material for alternate takes, and so we held the recording back. Nonetheless, we've chosen now to bring it to you in recognition of a remarkable west-coast night in the midst of the "Bewitched" album tour. Recorded live at the Cellar in Vancouver, this highly swinging program consists of traditional pop standards, played with few restrictions before a very live audience. Since only this recording exists, what you'll hear is exactly what went down in the second set, at 10:30 pm on Saturday, May 13th, 2006. Almost as good as being there, but with no cover, no minimum, and no hangover!
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[May] George Evans will be in Shanghai, China the week of May 5th, launching a new room along side fellow Torontonian John Alcorn, and an expat band -- two out of Three Crooners ain't half bad!
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[April] A prominent Italian jazz publication has published a feature with photo on George in the current issue number 64. Accompanying the glossy mag is a compilatoon CD which includes "To The Ends Of The Earth" from the "Bewitched" album.
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[March] George Evans and Mary Foster Conklin are nominated MAC Awards "Best Jazz Duo or Group" for their show Night Songs For CIty Dwellers, presented at the Metropolitan Room in October 2007.
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[February] George Evans is nominated Male Vocalist of The Year in the National Jazz Awards (Canada). Rather than being a purely label-driven or celebrity-driven category, the nominees for male vocalist are all respected independent musicians with years of experience both on record and in the field. How refreshing!
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[January 23] George celebrated his 45th birthday at Dominion on Queen in a two-night engagement with his trio featuring Lee Wallace (g) Steve Wallace (b) and Archie Alleyne (d). The Jazz.fm Jazz Safari came out both nights (two full busloads) and fun was had by all.
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| 2007 |
iTunes Christmas Update:
[December 2007] Four titles in the M-Swing catalog, "Bewitched", "Movie Songs", "Eyes For You", and "From Moment To Moment" have been selling online thrugh iTunes and several other digital storefronts since September 2007. We're pleased to announce that not only are two further titles "I'm All Smiles" and "Moodswing" on their way to iTunes just after the holidays, with enhanced artwork and bonus tracks, but the previously announced "One At A Time: the ballad collection" is also headed to iTunes for your listening pleasure. Look for these titles to appear as soon as the database is refreshed, either sometime around the holidays, or just into the New Year. Merry Christmas!
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| Jazz.fm Christmas Special:
[December 16, 2007] Heather Bambrick hosted a live music special today on Jazz.fm featuring a sampling of la creme of Toronto vocalists, along with the instrumental talents of Dave Restivo and Mike McClennan on piano and bass respectively. George Evans performed two original songs, the first a new Canadian song by composer Jake Wilkinson entitled The Happiest Christmas, full of the joy of the season. The second, After The Holidays by New Yorker John Meyer, was written in 1968 for Juday Garland and remains sadly neglected, despite being one of the most effecting songs ever written for the season.
The special will re-air Christmas Day on Jazz.fm 91.1 in Toronto, and on the internet through www.jazz.fm
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| Ontario Independent Music Awards:
[November 2007] George Evans was nominated "best jazz" in the Ontario Independent Music Awards.
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| The Jazz Singers - New book to include George Evans:
[November 2007] George Evans has been picked as one of the top 525 jazz singers of all time and will be in featured in the forthcoming book "The Jazz Singers" by Scott Yanow, coming in 2008 from Hal Leonard Publishing. (Let's hope he's somewhere in the middle of the list, rather than the end. ;-).
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| Mary Foster Conklin and George Evans at the Metropolitan Room [October 2007] Jazz vocalists Mary Foster Conklin and George Evans bring their show "Night Songs For City Dwellers"THE METROPOLITAN ROOM (34 West 22nd Street, NYC - 212-206-0440 - http://www.metropolitanroom.com/ ) for three performances. Showtimes are Wednesday, October 23rd at 9:30 pm, Thursday, October 24th at 10:00 pm and Saturday, October 27th at 5:00 pm. After a successful run at the newly opened Live at Courthouse Jazz Club in Toronto this past June, Mary Foster Conklin and Canadian singer George Evans reunite to share their collective passion for city life after dark in an evening of songs by Quincy Jones, Peggy Lee, Dave Frishberg, Curtis Lewis, Johnny Mercer, Sammy Cahn, Joni Mitchell, Benny Carter and many more.
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"One At A Time: the ballad collection" Coming To iTunes:
[September 2007] The best of ballads from George Evans' commercial releases coming to iTunes as a digital-only collection for first-time listeners and fans alike. 14 carefully selected and sequenced performances will set a mood for your intimate passtimes. Look for "One At A Time: the ballad collection 1996-2006" coming soon to iTunes.
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The Full M-Swing Catalogue Coming To iTunes:
[August 2007] What took us so long? Frankly, we have no good answer for that, except that George himself is very old-school when it comes to collecting hard-copy music products, and would probably be more passionate about releasing the M-Swing catalogue on vinyl than digital. That said, we have finally managed to twist his arm and let those fans who now buy digitally collect his albums in digital formats for their listening pleasure. Look for George's titles to appear on iTunes in the weeks to come.
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[March 22] Bewitched voted #3 in international Japanese "Best of 2006" for traditional jazz vocal. CLICK HERE
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[February 15] George Evans is nominated Male Vocalist of the Year in the National Jazz Awards (Canada.) Online voting commences third week of February. Watch for details on how to vote for your favourite artists nominated in this year's Awards derby.
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[February] West coast tour dates being added now. Watch for details on concert engagements last week of April, first week of May in the calendar section of this site.
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[January 23] Celebrating my birthday in style this year with a line-up of great gigs for 2007. Lots of exciting things to look forward to locally, as well as on the West Coast, and beyond. Stay tuned for details as they're posted in the calendar section of this site. [ge]
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| 2006 |
[May 22] A word from a Seattle jazz fan: "Caught you at The Cellar in Vancouver recently (both nights). Simply fantastic, nothing less! I've emailed Cory at The Cellar that he's already got a pre-order from me for your Cellar Live release. Thanks again for the great evenings of entertainment and musical education. BTW, I especially appreciated that knockout cover of my favorite track from Sassy's Tivoli album - man, do you swing!! Cheers - Blair Kangley"
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[May 13] Having a blast out in Vancouver at The Cellar this week. Recording live with my West Coast Trio, guests including vocalists Kate Hammett-Vaughan and Karin Plato, and The Cellar's own Cory Weeds on alto sax. [ge]
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[May 4] George is on his way back from Montréal, where he has been remixing tracks for the new Bewitched CD. The strings are in the can, and they sound fantastic. Look for promotional copies of Bewitched to appear shortly, with sale copies showing up at appearances toward the end of May.
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| April M-Swing Newsletter posted HERE |
[April 22] George has just appeared for a three-night run at Danny's Skylight Room in midtown Manhattan with John DiMartino on piano and Bill Moring on the bass. This was George's first NYC engagement since 1998, and audiences were warm and inviting. Read a review HERE.
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| March M-Swing Newsletter posted HERE |
[February ] George and his Toronto quartet have recorded seven new tunes, a number of which to be included on the new "Bewitched" album in February, and the balance to appear with other favourite ballads from George's catalogue on the forthcoming "Ballad Collection" later in 2006.
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2005
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[December 11] George and his Toronto quartet have recorded seven new tunes, a number of which to be included on the new "Bewitched" album in February, and the balance to appear with other favourite ballads from George's catalogue on the forthcoming "Ballad Collection" later in 2006.
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[December 2] Thanks to RBC and its clients for a successful duo of events in both Montréal and Toronto. The private facilities in both cities are top-knotch with lovely pianos and great staff. A special thanks for taking such good care of us. [GE]
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| November M-Swing Newsletter posted HERE |
[November 5] George will be appearing in Montréal and Toronto this month. Check the appearances page for public and private concert info for November.
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[October 10] The next George Evans release is "Bewitched" and it's coming soon. Click on the CD Catalogue page for details and to pre-order your copy today.
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| September M-Swing Newsletter posted HERE |
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[August 29] George heads to Vancouver this week for a round of west-coast appearances. Check the calendar page for details.
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[July 28] This week, George is in Montréal working on a French-language industrial project for P&G. Next week, he heads to P&G's base of operations in Cincinnati, Ohio to finish the post-production work on this same presentation. Being bilingual (French/English) and originally from Cincy, George is P&G's man-to-call to get the job done. On his return to Toronto, George will be prepping for his west-coast musical tour which starts the end of August.
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[July 25] M-Swing Music is pleased to announce that we have agreed to a deal with Festival in Vancouver for distribution of all four Indie titles in the M-Swing back catalogue. Festival takes over the reigns from Distribution Fusion III in Montréal (who handled the first two George Evans solo releases) making available for the first time at retail the critically acclaimed albums "Eyes For You" and "From Moment To Moment."
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[July 11] We are preparing a late Summer tour to the Canadian West Coast. George Evans will appear for a week in Vancouver with Tilden Webb and his trio, and the wonderful Phil Dwyer on sax. Check the schedule page for all the details.
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| July M-Swing Newsletter posted HERE |
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[June 28] With the advent of a new item in the M-Swing catalogue coming for Fall 2005, we are currently in talks with Canadian firms with a view to having them assume distribution of all five independent George Evans M-Swing titles. This would make available for the first time in stores George's critically praised albums from 2001 and 2002, as well as the forthcoming "Bewitched." Watch for an announcement shortly.
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[June 18] The CRTC announced on Thursday that the first subscription radio services have been licensed for air in Canada. We are pleased to inform you that George Evans is a part of the proposal from Canadian Satellite Radio and XM. Look for further announcements in the weeks to come regarding the CSR launch date and wide array of programming they will carry from coast-to-coast-to-coast.
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| May M-Swing Newsletter posted HERE |
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[April 11] M-Swing Music is preparing the recent George Evans CBC Radio Jazz Beat session for a commercial release. Conceived as a 12-track album project, "Bewitched" will contain seven of the original eight selections recorded for Jazz Beat, plus an additional five from the 2002 sessions that yielded "Eyes For You" with the late Jerry Fuller on drums. M-Swing will soon announce a release date for this charming disc, a mix of standards and rarities that fans of the music of George Evans will be sure to enjoy.
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| April M-Swing Newsletter posted HERE |
[March 26] Jazz legend Anita O'Day will perform at York University's Burton Auditorium on April 10th as a part of a tribute to her life and work. For more information, click here. George Evans programmed Anita O'Day: The Diva Series for Verve Records in NYC. Anita calls her Diva Series disc "the best one-disc collection ever produced from my Verve recordings."
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[March 6] On New York City radio tonight, WBAI's Everything Old Is New Again with host David Kenney presented a career retrospective of the music of George Evans, featuring nine songs from his album catalogue, including two from his debut release (Moodswing, 1997) and three from the new Movie Songs release on Maximum Jazz/Universal.
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| March M-Swing Newsletter posted HERE |
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[Feb 14] George Evans opened a week-long engagement at the Top o' the Senator in Toronto, this time appearning with the Montréal Movie Songs Quartet. This is George's sixth year of regular engagements at this revered Canadian jazz venue, and his third Valentine Week stint.
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| February M-Swing Newsletter posted HERE |
| Late 2004 |
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[Dec 4] George Evans debuts at the Cellar in Vancouver, one of a small number of Canadian vocalists to play a major weekend engagement in this revered instrumental room.
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[Nov 19] The new "Movie Songs" album [Maximum Jazz MAX16352] is featured tonight on After Hours on CBC Radio nationwide.
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[Nov 14] The new George Evans album, entitled "Movie Songs" [Maximum Jazz MAX16352] is now available online, and will be in stores everywhere starting Tuesday, November 16th. With a combination high-quality package and lower pricing point, "Movie Songs" is perfect for holiday gift-giving.
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| November '04 M-Swing Newsletter posted HERE |
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[Oct 19] The Peterborough Examiner reviewed George Evans' concert appearance with the Mark Eisenman Trio as: "...Exuberant... Fun-filled... George Evans has a wonderfully strong and flexible voice... and a great sense of rhythm which allows him to take many liberties with the music."
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[Oct 10] "Here Come The Boys' is set to promote on TVO's Studio Two. Three boys from the top ten disc (including George Evans) will perform in studio this week for air later this season.
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[Oct 4] The National Post: In a full-page review of "Here Come The Boys," Robert Cushman says that Producer George Evans has "done both his peers and his listeners a service by assembling (this) superior sampler. Read the full article HERE.
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[Oct 3] "George Evans: Movie Songs" is in the can and being packaged for a November release. "Movie Songs" will appear in stores the week of November 16th, but will be made available to internet buyers on November 1st. Purchase your copy in advance of the street date through the ordering section on this site!
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[Oct 1] "Here Come The Boys" is charting Top Ten on the Chartattack and Earshot Canadian Jazz album charts! Congratulations to all the 'Boys" for their collective success!
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[Aug 22] George travelled to Montréal to record a new CD project featuring his Montréal trio and a horn section playing charts by Phil Dwyer. "Movie Songs" is anticipated for release this fall. Stay tuned for updates.
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[Aug 18] George performed with a stellar ensemble at the Montréal Bistro, including Reg Schwager, Archie Alleyne, Pat Collins, and featuring Don Thompson on vibes. The evening, presenting songs from the repertoire of Norvo and Bailey, and additionally from the repertoire of Shearing with vocalists, was an unqualified success. Look for this as a special concert feature starting the 2004-2005 season.
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| August '04 M-Swing Newsletter posted HERE |
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