Jason Wilson (WRITER, DIRECTOR, PIANO, VOCALS)
Two-time Juno Award-nominee Dr. Jason Wilson is a multi-instrumentalist singer/songwriter known for incorporating jazz and Celtic influences atop a reggae foundation. Wilson has performed over 2,000 shows around the world, more than any other Canadian reggae act in the last 20 years. He has performed and recorded with UB40, Alanis Morissette, Ron Sexsmith, PeeWee Ellis, Dave Swarbrick, among others. His work has been recognized by the Karl Mullings Memorial Award (2007) and a Canadian Reggae Music Award (2008). Wilson is also an adjunct-professor at the University of Guelph and has written five books. He is currently co-authoring the official Toronto Maple Leafs centenary book (Fenn Publishing/ Random House/ TMLSE, 2016-17).
Lorne Brown (STORYTELLER, VOCALS, BANJO)
Lorne Brown is a singer of old songs and a teller of old tales, whose songs and stories have been gathered over a lifetime of listening and joining in with the great keepers of many traditions. He co-founded Storytelling Toronto and is one of the founding members of Storytellers of Canada/Conteurs du Canada (SC-CC). The SC-CC StorySave program, which records the voices of elders from the Canadian storytelling community who’ve developed a marked personal style in the craft of storytelling, recorded Lorne in a 3-CD album in 2011. Lorne's dad staged the Dumbells in France while on active duty with the Queen's Field Ambulance in WWI, and the Dumbells have been a part of Lorne's family lore ever since.
Andrew Knowlton (ACTOR, VOCALS)
Andrew Knowlton is a Dora-nominated actor who holds a BFA in Acting from the University of Windsor and a diploma from the Moscow Art Theatre School summer study program. Andrew is also a contributing member of Radio Project X, which performs live radio shows monthly. Among his select theatre credits: Sebastian/Feste in Twelfth Night, Antipholous of Syracuse in Comedy of Errors (Humber River Shakespeare); Guildenstern in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Hart House Theatre); Mr. Green in Secretary (pivotal(arts) Theatre); Malcolm in Macbeth, Orsino/Feste in Twelfth Night (Classical Theatre Project).
Jim Armstong (ACTOR, VOCALS)
Jim Armstrong is a classically trained actor, with a BFA in Acting from the University of Windsor. Some select theatre credits include Ambituoso in Cousins of Corsica for Springworks 2015, Rosencrantz in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (Hart House Theatre), General Dearborne in The Loyalists (Single Thread Theatre), and Fabian in Twelfth Night (Canopy Theatre). Outside of the theatre, Jim has been seen as an insulted husband on Man Seeking Woman, and angrily trying to board a streetcar in the Murdoch Mysteries.
Marcus Ali (SAXOPHONE, CLARINET)
Born in Toronto to Trinidadian immigrants in 1974, Marcus is one of Canada’s preeminent saxophonists. While imbibing the jazz tradition in the vein of Wayne Shorter, Ali is equally adept at solidifying the various horn sections he often leads within Toronto’s jazz, Latin, and world music scenes. A mainstay in the Jason Wilson Band since 2000, this York University graduate has also recorded and performed with various other acts including Matt Dusk, Tomson Highway, the Ali Bros., and Mr. Something Something.
Patrice Barbanchon (TRUMPET)
Patrice Barbanchon is a trumpeter, composer, and educator who has performed extensively across North America. Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Patrice released his first album Trio Nouveau Live in 2003 and is currently working on releasing his second album with his new project Arbuckle. As a sideman, Patrice is a full-time member of the Toronto Jazz Orchestra, a current member of the Latin ensemble Conjunto Lacalu and is also a feature player in the Jason Wilson Band. Patrice holds music degrees from both Thompson Rivers University and Humber College. Patrice is currently a full-time faculty member at Pickering College, where he has been teaching instrumental music since 2006.
© 2015 Jason Wilson
