Video Highlight - Alex Bird & The Jazz Mavericks
Alex Bird& The Jazz Mavericks
Over the last few years, Alex Bird & The Jazz Mavericks have become one of the biggest names on the Canadian Jazz scene. With praise from around the globe, Bird, alongside songwriting & piano partner, Farncombe, has created timeless and heartfelt originals for a modern audience. This talented team has produced something that is completely unique; four original albums in four years. Their sophomore album “You Are the Light and the Way”, backed by their “Jazz Mavericks”, was nominated for “Best Vocal Jazz” at the 2022 JUNO Awards. Similarly, their album “Songwriter” was nominated in the same JUNO category in 2024.
Their Most Recent Project
Most recently, Bird & Farncombe have collaborated with Latin Grammy Winner & Grammy Nominee, Cheo, on an all original Bossa Nova EP entitled “Casanova Bossa Nova Lover Man”. It will be available summer of 2024.
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: Two Toronto jazzmen and a Brooklyn DJ walk into a bar. And when they all walk out, they’ve written the slap of the summer.
-Jenna Melanson, Founder & Editor, Canadian Beats
It all began with a chance meeting when Venezuelan-born, New York-based Latin dance giant Cheo was in town for a DJ gig at Toronto’s famed Rivoli. With a little time on his hands, he stumbled into the nearby Cameron House where Alex Bird and The Jazz Mavericks were performing. A correspondence and collaboration ensued.
The first release from their album, “Papaya” has quickly become a favourite on JAZZ FM.
Bird and Farncombe’s previous album, a duo record, dropped as a surprise of 11 originals entitled, “Songwriter”. Kira Grunenberg at DOWNBEAT MAGAZINE wrote, “Impassioned messages sung and played from one’s heart but worn on a well-dressed sleeve. “Songwriter” is an elegant, romantic, and well-executed gem of a record.” The album was nominated for “Best Vocal Jazz” at the 2024 JUNO awards.
Also in 2022, Bird & Farncombe wrote and released Canada’s Thanksgiving anthem “The Sweetest Moments” which received a national ad campaign across Canada, with interviews on CBC, CTV, and other major news outlets. In September of 2023, Alex, Ewen, and “The Jazz Mavericks” headlined The Sudbury Jazz Festival and finished it off with a workshop for emerging artists.
I’m glad there is Bird.”
Alex literally grew up with the classics. As a young boy he was taken to hang around the Toronto jazz scene and had the opportunity to see and meet many of the greats along the way; Tony Bennett, Diana Krall, Oscar Peterson, Mel Tormé, Ray Charles, Cleo Laine…the list goes on. Without even knowing it, his musical training developed, sitting around at smoky jazz clubs into the wee
small hours of the morning.
up the planet. One of those groundbreaking bands is
Alex Bird and the Jazz Mavericks. Bird and his group of talented players
are rewriting the textbook for vocal-infused Jazz.”
Bird is inspired by many artists of the past, but one of his favourite influences is Elvis Presley. There was no one like Elvis, he just let the music guide him and carved out a unique and original career. Bird takes that spirit of originality into everything he does. Around Alex’s apartment you’ll find many Elvis books, posters, and a large section of his vinyl collection dedicated to “The King”. When Alex’s very first review came out in 2019 from American publication All About Jazz they said, “Vocals are a rival to Michael Bublé with a dash of Edwyn Collins. Edgy stuff. Possibly the new Elvis? Too much? Check it out yourselves.”
