Often big-time artists skip playing shows on Vancouver Island during their B.C. tours. But TorontoB次元官网网址檚 award-winning jazz crooner Matt Dusk, who has had three number-one radio hits and five JUNO nominations, is going to be playing five shows on the Island on his upcoming tour in late April.

B次元官网网址淲e love to share the music that we love, right? And when thereB次元官网网址檚 an opportunity to go to any market, for us, it doesnB次元官网网址檛 matter if there are 10 people or 1,000 or 2,000. We enjoy this experience,B次元官网网址� said Dusk.

Dusk will start his Island tour on Saturday, Apr. 20, at Mary Winspear Centre in Sidney, followed by Port Theatre, Nanaimo (Apr. 22), Tidemark Theatre in Campbell River (Apr. 23), Sid Williams Theatre in Courtenay (Apr. 24), ending with Cowichan Performing Arts Centre in Duncan (Apr. 25). This tour, heB次元官网网址檒l bring audiences the swinging classics of his friend and mentor Tony Bennett, based off an in-the-works record Dusk started working on back in 2022. Dusk dropped the first single, the classic I Left My Heart in San Francisco, on Feb. 14. For Dusk, the tour brings fond memories of Bennett, who died July 21, 2023.

B次元官网网址淚 worked with him [Bennett] for many, many years, starting in 2004. We used to hang out, we used to share lots of great stories,B次元官网网址� Dusk said.

Their friendship formed in the Las Vegas showroom, where Bennett gave him invaluable career advice, Dusk recalled. The Best is Yet to Come tour not only celebrates BennettB次元官网网址檚 memory but comes on the heels of DuskB次元官网网址檚 previous show, Matt Dusk Sings Sinatra, which sold out in more than 70 Canadian and U.S. cities, including Las Vegas.

Dusk has played in Europe and the U.S. with a full orchestra and B次元官网网址渂eautiful large productionB次元官网网址�, but he said he also loves playing intimate shows because you B次元官网网址済et to do the root of jazz music.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淵ou think, oh, New York City, 1930s, smoky bar. ItB次元官网网址檚 the opportunity where you can actually see the eyeballs of people.B次元官网网址� And for Dusk, that connection is paramount to why he does what he does. That, and the lifestyle.

Carrying the torch of old-school jazz

What first drew Dusk, now 45 years old, to the music of a bygone era was when his parents would flip over to jazz on the radio at night as a young teenager.

B次元官网网址淛azz always had that kind of very romantic, cool, quiet sound in the background B次元官网网址� I found, you know, all these artists like Billie Holiday and Nat King Cole and Tony Bennett. And, as a young teenager, youB次元官网网址檙e looking to your elders for inspiration. So hereB次元官网网址檚 all these people dressed to the nines, always out. It looks like theyB次元官网网址檙e having a blast. And I was drawn to that midnight lifestyle I guess you could say.B次元官网网址�

Dusk went on to become an alumnus of the St. MichaelB次元官网网址檚 Choir School and studied under jazz piano legend Oscar Peterson at York University.

Part of his gig, as he describes it, is to carry the torch forward and keep old-school jazz going by singing popular songs, resonating with audiences of all ages.

In terms of where he sees the future of jazz going, Dusk first looks back to its history. Music moved much slower 100 years ago, and back then, jazz was B次元官网网址渒ind of the pop music of the timeB次元官网网址� where every artist would record the same song.

On the radio, many different versions of The Way You Look Tonight could be heard, for instance. Dusk compared the lasting sentiments to that of Christmas music.

B次元官网网址淚 believe that because itB次元官网网址檚 so ingrained into the repetitiveness, itB次元官网网址檚 been passed down through the generations.B次元官网网址�

And, itB次元官网网址檚 these songs that people know B次元官网网址� sometimes even despite knowing that they know B次元官网网址� that Dusk lives to share. He points out that he doesnB次元官网网址檛 know if weB次元官网网址檒l all be singing Drake songs in five years, but that almost everyone he meets knows the lyrics to Sinatra songs, despite at first only being able to name one or two tunes.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e really rewinding the clock and putting people back into a bygone era where it was romantic, where you could sing along to every song and you could understand the lyrics.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 kind of like being at a nightclub at one in the morning. But instead of going *Dusk mimics the sounds of DJ drum and bass at a nightclub*, youB次元官网网址檙e still having drinks and, you know, singing Fly Me to the Moon.B次元官网网址�

Tickets available at mattdusk.com.

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