Featured Festival Artists

Ranee Lee
Ranee Lee began her professional stage career as a dancer. From there she moved on to playing drums and tenor saxophone with various touring groups in the United States and Canada.

Ranee settled in Montreal, Quebec thirty-five years ago, and her singing took over from past musical endeavours. Since then, she has become one of Canada’s most popular jazz vocalists and recording artist.

A Dora Mavor Moore Award winning actress, Ranee starred in “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill”, Canada’s first production of the musical portrayal of Billie Holiday, which enjoyed extended runs in both Toronto, and Montreal. Her subsequent recording, “Deep Song” released on Justin Time Records was received with critical acclaim, and brought Ranee’s great vocal talent to the attention of jazz fans and concert producers throughout North America, and Europe. The summer of 1995 produced a Western Canadian Jazz Festival tour, as well as a tour of the United States. In June 1996 a month long South African tour featured Ranee as part of “The Canadian Jazz Giants”.

May of 2001 has found Ranee in yet another Canadian first, co-starring in the role of Sadie Delany, a non musical production of a one hundred and three year old survivor of racism presented at the Saidye Bronfman Centre For the Arts. On February 27,2003 CBC television debuted the Rhombus production of Stormy Weather, the story of the American Composer Harold Arlen, in which Ms. Lee co-stared in the role of Mrs. Owens. This production is scheduled to run throughout Canada, and the United States for some time.

Ranee has also conceived, written, and performed in the production “Dark Divas”, a musical about the lives and times of a few of the many popular black female entertainers of an era. They include Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington, Pearl Bailey, and many more, is a double CD recording, and a Juno Nomination of 2001.

In 2007 Ranee is a published author of her first children’s book, “Nana What Do You Say?” inspired by the song she wrote with the same title and recorded on her 1994 release of “I Thought About You”.

Some career highlights include acting opposite Billy Dee Williams in the movie “Giant Steps” in 1991, an appearance as the opening act for the late George Burns at Montreal’s Place Des Arts in 1993, and a televised adaptation of Lady Day; “White Gardenia”, Which aired on the CTV network during the summer of 1994.

Richard Ring–Guitarist
Born in Montreal Quebec, Richard Ring has been a studio and jazz musician for over forty-five years in the recording and media world. CBC (Radio Canada),Tele Metro pole, and CTV, etc.

He played for several years with the Vic Vogal jazz band, Denny Christianson Big band, and numerous other jazz bands and ensembles. Richard has played with such other notable musicians and artists as, Pepper Adams, Red Mitchell, Milt Hinton, Ray Brown, Donald Byrd, Ed Thigpen, Oliver Jones, Phil Nimmons, Joe Sealy, Archie Alyene, Dave McMurdo, Mike Malone, Dave Young, Gary Williamson, Barry Elms, Brian Dickenson, Ray Downes, Tony Bennett, Charlie Biddle, and Michael Legrand to name just a few.

For more than thirty years, Richard has been Ranee Lee’s musical director, and conductor. He has toured all of Canada, much of Europe, and the United States participating in Jazz festivals, Concerts, and jazz clubs through out his entire career, both as leader, and sideman.

On many jazz recordings you will find his enormous musical contributions. For example, All of Ranee Lee’s recordings, as well Denny Christianson’s “Dooms Day Machine”, “More Pepper”, and “Shark Bait” albums. Oliver Jones “Yuletide Swing” CD, Charlie Biddle’s “In Good Company”, and numerous more. In 1996 Richard’s first solo album was recorded and released on the Justin Time label, “Ring In Minor”.

Richard’s talents as a consummate guitarist have garnered the attention of many fans, and a nomination for jazz album of the year by ADISQ in Quebec for his recording of “Ring In Minor”.

He has augmented his musical talents as instructor of electric guitar At the University of Quebec in Montreal, (UQUAM) since 1991

Amos Garrett
Amos Garrett certainly is one of the most accomplished guitar players working today. Early in his career, Anne Murray hired him to play on the sessions that produced Snowbird. Even more importantly, Ian and Sylvia Tyson asked him to play with The Great Speckled Bird, which (along with the Byrds) was one of the very first country rock groups that changed the direction of pop music. He has recorded with more than 150 other artists, from Jesse Winchester to Stevie Wonder, from Emmylou Harris to Bonnie Raitt, and Todd Rundgren to Martin Mull.

“I had been waiting since Wednesday night to see Canadian Amos Garrett, not often you find him on these shores, and I can tell you he was well worth the wait. Tall and elegant with a rich voice and laid-back easy style, Garrett charmed the crowd and then left them open mouthed with his wonderful guitar-playing.” –Get Rhythm, U.K.

Johnny Summers
Johnny Summers has traveled from Spain and Britain to Hawaii, Los Angeles to New Orleans to play with outstanding musicians and drawing an ever growing following. Always on the lookout for the next musical venture, Summers formed the Calgary Jazz Orchestra in 2004 with 17 of the best of the best jazz artists. Summers and the orchestra gives us their own take on the rich acoustic traditional Big Band sound and fill a room with a full, energetic swing sound that moves and connect players with each other and the audience. He performs with his ensembles which include the Johnny Summers Trio, Quartet, Quintet and the 8-piece Little Big Band, which will be the configuration of his band for the popular Swing Dance/Concert at this year’s Jazz At The Lake Festival.

Jimmy and the Sleepers
Alberta’s best kept secret (so far) delivers gritty, no-nonsense, genuine house rockin’ blues that’s guaranteed to stir you soul.

Based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada—Jimmy and the Sleepers are a gritty, no-nonsense, genuine house rockin' blues band that has been making a splash on the Western Canadian blues scene. Since the release of their self-titled CD, Jimmy and the Sleepers have been smoldering mostly underground, but are more ready than ever to burn out of the frozen Alberta north and showcase their Edmonton-styled blues to the world. For years, Edmonton has had a modest, but reverent blues scene which has fostered a blues sound perhaps a little more traditional. Maybe its those long, cold Canadian Prairie winters whose bone-chillin' winds blow like that of Lake Michigan, whose winds chilled Chicago in the early days of electric blues. Whatever it is, the blues is alive in Edmonton and Jimmy and the Sleepers are disciples of the sound and dedicated to it's roots. Unofficially, the group has been performing together for years as the backup band of choice for an impressive list of blues artists from across the U.S. and Canada. Backing such artists as Lazy Lester, Jody Williams, (Howlin’ Wolf) Larry Garner, Jimmy Burns, Little Mike, and Big Dave McLean, (to name only a few) they have honed their skills as sidemen and are ready to contribute their own confident, edgy sound. Led by veteran blues guitarist Jimmy Guiboche, the band is poised and ready to support their latest release which has been praised by listeners and critics alike, and has had regular play on CBC, CKUA, Galaxie, college radio, along with modest radio play in Europe. They also enjoyed time on both the CKUA charts, and Megatunes top 30 sellers list for several weeks. So when the mood strikes, and you wanna here some genuine, rippin’ Canadian prairie blues, look no further.