The Rosetta Stone of Tonal Vocabulary in Soloing 

As an instrumentalist, Mike Rud has played alongside some of the greatest jazz musicians of the era like Peter Bernstein, Kenny Wheeler, Herb Ellis and Joey DeFrancesco. As a songwriter and arranger, Mike won the 2014 JUNO Award for his album Notes on Montreal, a critically acclaimed musical portrait of the city. It was inspired by the great literature set in Montreal (Michel Tremblay, Gabrielle Roy etc.) and sung by Sienna Dahlen. Mike’s subsequent 2015 solo release, Miniatures, delighted audiences across Canada, creating the effect of a small group with only his voice and his guitar. Mike Rud is also a music instructor at Selkirk College in Nelson, BC. 

Born in Lansing, Michigan, molded by the mountains and coasts of New England, and based primarily in Toronto since 1982, David Restivo has been a sought-after and influential figure in Canada’s jazz community since the late 1980s. David is well known for his work with Rob McConnell’s Boss Brass and Tentet, the Mike Murley Quintet, and legendary songwriter Marc Jordan. He was voted Toronto’s Best Keyboardist in NOW Magazine’s “Best of T.O.” readers’ poll in 1998 and received a JUNO Award for his work on the 2001 recording The Rob McConnell Tentet (Justin Time).