Bright Side Festival: The Confluence Project

Sorry! This event is sold out! Click here to see the complete festival line-up: https://www.theatre1308.com/all-events

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Calgary's poet laureate Wakefield Brewster and NYC tap dancer Lisa La Touche join drummer Jon McCaslin and his jazz trio to offer a unique collaboration of spoken word, tap, rhythm and improvisation. Come experience these dynamic artists as they work together and combine their respective art forms to create a truly unique experience that is sure to resonate!

Complete festival line-up: https://theatre1308.com/all-events

About the Artists

Since 1999, Wakefield Brewster (aka Da Lyrical Pitbull) has been known as one of Canada’s most popular and prolific performance poets. Born and raised in Toronto, by parents hailing from the island of Barbados, he has resided in Calgary since 2006. He has spoken across Canada and makes countless appearances on a regular basis in a variety of ways, for a myriad of reasons, throughout each and every single year. Brewster is currently Calgary's Poet Laureate.

As a proud Canadian and New Yorker, tap artist Lisa La Touche’s credits are world renowned. She was an original cast member in Broadway’s Shuffle Along and previous highlights include touring with the Savion Glover production Stepz and performing with STOMP. Since 2010 she has run her own performance company Tap Phonics and has been commissioned to present for such organizations as The Brooklyn Museum and Fall For Dance North. As an educator she has taught extensively for NYU, The School of Jacob’s Pillow, the University of Calgary and Decidedly Jazz Danceworks. Her most recent endeavors have been writing and directing her debut film TRAX encompassing her journey back to Alberta while discovering important local black history and also collaborating with drummer Jon McCaslin in their new production TapBassDrums.

Jazz drummer Jon McCaslin is no stranger to audiences at Theatre 1308 and for him, "Rhythm is his Business". He is active as a drummer, composer, sideman and bandleader across Canada. An eternal student of the drums, McCaslin looks to "lift the bandstand" and those around him through his life-long study and expression of rhythm and jazz music. He regularly works with Calgary's Decidedly Jazz Danceworks, the Prime Time Big Band, Tim Tamashiro and many other Calgary jazz artists. Jon curates the Calgary Jazz Composers Collective concert series and is also the author of Four on the Floor, one of the world's most read on-line jazz drumming blogs.

Brewster, La Touche will be joined for this special performance by the amazing Chris Tauchner on keyboards and Finn McConnell on bass. 

About Jazz @ 1308

Curated by jazz drummer Dr. Jon McCaslin, the original and creative voices of Calgary's jazz scene come alive, on stage at Theatre 1308.

This concert series features a diverse collection of sonic ideas, visions, styles, instruments and ensembles, all of which of fall under the wide reaching definition of jazz music. The central theme that binds these diverse and eclectic sounds together is that the artists involved represent the creative and forward thinkers of Calgary's Jazz community. These are the artists who have committed themselves to their craft, as improvisors and composers, and seek to create, collaborate and inspire. These local jazz artists aspire to share their diverse experiences and talents, and to create dynamic and original music in their own community. Come witness the present and the future of jazz in Calgary at Theatre 1308.

Learn more...