John Roney on piano
John RoneyJOHN RONEY obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in jazz piano, classical piano, and composition from the University of Toronto in 2000. He relocated to Montreal in 2001 to complete his Masters Degree at McGill University, but returned to Toronto to lead his John Roney Trio (with Artie Roth on bass and Kevin Coady on drums) in a “Sound of Toronto Jazz” Concert at the Ontario Science Centre on March 4, 2002.
Since he settled in Montreal, he has performed frequently with local and international artists the local jazz scene. His musical collaborations with Chet Doxas, Remi Bolduc, Effendi JazzLab, Bernard Primeau, and Jean Christophe Beney have led to tours throughout Canada, Europe, and The Middle East, and several recordings for CBC/Radio Canada, Global Television, JustinTime Records, Effendi Records, and Swingin’ Time Productions, as well as live performances across Canada and Europe.
His work with classical soprano Natalie Choquette has comprised performances all over the world including Canada, Japan, China, Europe, and Western Africa. Roney has performed and/or recorded with legendary international artists including drummers Peter Erskine and Steve Houghton; bassists Christian McBride and Alain Caron; composers Johnny Mandel, Gary Kulesha , and Alf Clausen; Belgian guitarist Phillipe Catherine; and saxophonists Seamus Blake, Nick Brignola, Francois Theberge, Michael Blake, Jerry Bergonzi, and Donny McCaslin.
In 1999, he began hosting the late-night jam sessions at the du Maurier Downtown Jazz Festival in Toronto, and has led jam sessions at the Montreal International Jazz Festival since 2006. In September of 2005, he was chosen to host the week-long 10th anniversary celebration at the Upstairs Jazz Club in Montreal, leading his trio in performances featuring special guest artists including Oliver Jones, Charles Ellison, and vocalist Sheila Jordan.
John Roney has served on the faculty at SUNY Potsdam in New York, and is currently a member of the faculty at both McGill University and CEGEP Marie Victorin in Montreal.
Rémi-Jean Leblanc on bass:
As a member of a trio, a quartet or an ensemble, double bass player Remi-Jean Leblanc holds a special place in the Montreal music community. He’s also taken his passion for music on the road, with performances in the Carribean, England, Azerbaidjan and China. In 2008, Leblanc played at the Festival acadien de Caraquet with John Roney on piano and Samuel Joly on drums. In the same year, he performed alongside Emilie-Claire Barlow in Sackville, New Brunswick.
Phil Melanson on drums:
Originally from New Brunswick, Philippe Melanson developed a taste for jazz early on thanks to his father, an accomplished bass player. After high school, he moved to Montreal to study drums with André White and Chris McCann at McGill University. The year 2007 was an important one for Philippe; he performed at the Montreal Jazz Festival with Yannick Rieu and Adrian Vedady, worked on François Bourassa's most recent album Rasstones and travelled to China on two occasions, once with Bourassa and once with Rieu. He has since then accompanied Bourassa on a European tour of 6 countries and to India in the fall of 2008. Philippe is currently collaborating with several different artists, including Yannick Rieu, Jeff Johnston, Marianne Trudel and Bryan McNamara. He also plays in various ensembles, including the François Bourassa, Malcolm Sailor, Anna Webber and Jake Henry quartets, Indigone Trio as well as the experimental groups Ka Noo and Marathon.
Jake Henry on trumpet:
Jake Henry obtained his B. Mus. from McGill University in 2008, having been accepted on scholarship to study jazz guitar and trumpet. He is an alumnus of the Banff Centre for the Performing Arts, and has studied with Lorne Lofsky, Bill Mahar, Remi Bolduc, Chris McCann, Erik Hove, and Dave Douglas.
For the past few years, Henry has focused on trumpet, freelancing in Montreal for numerous corporate, studio and public performance engagements. He’s performed in ensembles under the direction of Greg Osby, Marcus Strickland, Ron DiLauro and Vic Vogel, among others, and performed and recorded alongside artists such as Erik Hove, Chet Doxas, Dave Liebman, Arcade Fire and “TV on the Radio”. Jake's has performed across Canada, and in Germany, Switzerland and France.