Jazz Vocalists: The Aubrey Wilson Quartet & The Ault Sisters October 29th at Artword Artbar

Is year four too early to start reminiscing about earlier iterations of the festival? I’m going to risk it. Long long ago in 2013, when the Steel City Jazz Festival was a mere day or so old, the Aubrey Wilson Quartet played our first show at Homegrown Hamilton. I only got to see a small part of their set; we had multiple shows running at the same time that year and I had to jet off to a concert somewhere else. Luckily for me though that wasn’t the last time I would hear the Aubrey Wilson Quartet, and every time I’ve seen them since they remind me why they’re one of the best groups in town. The band, featuring Aubrey Wilson on vocals, Chris Bruder on piano, Tom Altobelli on bass and Sean Bruce Parker on drums, makes music that’s playful, sensitive and always groovy. Listening to them you get the impression that every song they play is their favourite song, and that they might just convince you it’s your favourite song too.

Joining the Aubrey Wilson Quartet is a group that’s brand new to the Steel City Jazz Festival, and I couldn’t be more excited to hear them play: The Ault Sisters. Featuring Amanda, Alicia and Alanna Ault on vocals, the Ault Sisters have steadily been winning over listeners for the last few years with both their original compositions and material drawing from jazz, R&B and Latin music, all enriched with the sublime sounds of their three-part vocal harmonies. As someone whose early jazz education involved playing a whole lot of Andrew Sisters I definitely feel there’s a lack of jazz vocal harmonies in my life, so I can’t wait to hear the Ault Sisters live (I promise not to shout out my requests for Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen mid-show).

The Aubrey Wilson Quartet and the Ault Sisters perform Saturday, October 29th at Artword Artbar at 8pm. Don’t miss it!