Toronto’s jazz landscape is set to shine with the inaugural JazzInToronto Community Celebration, taking place from May 30 to June 1, 2025. This grassroots festival, produced by musicians Lina Welch and Ori Dagan, founders of the non-profit organization JazzInToronto, aims to spotlight the city’s rich and diverse local talent.
The festival kicks off on Friday, May 30, with free performances on Market Street, presented in collaboration with the St. Lawrence Market District. At 5:00 PM, Trombone Charlotte, fresh from a New Orleans tour, will deliver a lively tribute to early jazz. Following at 7:00 PM, Lady Son (Yeti Ajasin) leads an Afro-Cuban quartet, infusing the evening with vibrant rhythms. The night concludes with a Tap Dance Jazz Jam at C’est What, hosted by Cori Giannotta, celebrating Toronto’s dynamic tap dance community.
On Saturday, May 31, the festivities continue at 11:30 AM with the ONÁ Ensemble at The Rex Hotel. Led by Olivia Esther, this Canadian-Brazilian chamber jazz group blends choro, samba, and jazz, featuring unique instrumentation including French horns and bassoon . At 3:30 PM, flamenco guitar virtuoso Roger Scannura performs an intimate set at Liss Gallery in Yorkville . The day’s highlight is the 8:00 PM concert, “Overjoyed: Celebrating 75 Years of Stevie Wonder,” at TD Music Hall in Massey Hall. Pianist Michael Shand leads an eight-piece band featuring vocalists Selena Evangeline, Queen Mary the Artist, Robert Ball, and Chris Rouse, paying homage to the legendary artist.
The festival concludes on Sunday, June 1, with an 11:00 AM masterclass by JUNO-nominated pianist Mark Eisenman at The Rex Hotel, focusing on the art of accompanying vocalists. From 2:00 to 4:30 PM, the venue hosts the album launch “Alex Samaras Meets Judy Garland,” featuring Samaras’s vocals accompanied by Steven Noronha on piano and David French on saxophone. The final performance at 8:00 PM at Jazz Bistro reunites Jane Bunnett and Marilyn Lerner, celebrating their decades-long musical partnership with renditions of classics by Ellington, Strayhorn, and Monk.
For tickets and more information, visit jazzintoronto.ca.
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