Nanaimo Jazz Fest

Doors: 6:30pm
Coast Bastion Hotel

With a palpable authenticity, towering five-octave range, and a powerful blues and gospel-tinged jazz vocal approach, Dr. Dee Daniels has built a sterling reputation amongst jazz fans and critics around the world for over five decades.

One critic says, “Daniels is effortless and fluid in reaches that defy other singers. Her voice is so enchanting that the words she sings almost don’t matter. She embodies the music, the sound becomes flesh.”

Dee has 15 CDs as a leader and has performed and/or recorded with the who’s who of the Jazz world, including Jazz legends, both past and present. The list includes Benny Green, Houston Person, Russell Malone, Wycliffe Gordon, Cyrus Chestnut, Ken Peplowski, Kenny Barron, Toots Thielemans, Hank and Elvin Jones, Monty Alexander, Lionel Hampton, and Herb Ellis. She is the recipient of many awards in music, education, and community services. Her awards include the 2022 Pop Award (Germany) for Album of the Year; Legacy Award from the National Congress of Black Women Foundation; the Western Canadian Music Award; Global Music Award; the Commemorative Medal for the Golden Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II; induction into the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame; and a 2009 Honorary Doctorate Degree of Fine Arts.

The Coast Bastion Inn Ballroom becomes a cabaret for one night only! Share a table with friends or make new ones that evening over your mutual love of live performances and this incredible talent. Doors open an hour before showtime with lobby entertainment. Bar and appy services are offered during the evening. Downtown street level parking and the Bastion Street Parkade are free and underground parking (elevator to the hotel lobby) in the Harbourfront Centre Parkade is plentiful ($.75 first two hours). More than two dozen downtown restaurants and night spots welcome your patronage before and after the show!

Doors: 6:30pm
Shaw Auditorium

At the heart of his ability to charm anything that breathes is Alex Cuba’s mastery of a deeper, more important language. The dude speaks joy. And it doesn’t matter if it’s Tito Puente joy or Stevie Wonder joy; it’s contagious. It shines through songs he’s co-written with Nelly Furtado and Jason Mraz. It’s the north star of his compositions.

Wherever his songs start their journey—in the land of longing, deep affection, or even melancholy—they know where they’re headed. Their path leads to a deep, shimmering gladness that everyone wishes was their native tongue. It’s this undeniable exuberance, expressed with masterful musicianship that has catapulted Alex to the highest levels of global critical acclaim. It’s what led this fiercely independent artist to 2 Juno awards, 4 Latin Grammys, and a 2022 Grammy for Best Latin Pop Album.

Just like his songs elicit “la-la-las” from audiences without a translator, they woo critics without a middleman. The magic he makes with melody and rhythm can’t be held back. Because in the end, whether in times of trouble or celebration, people everywhere want to go where Alex’s songs are going: to an unconditional sense of home, belonging, and bliss.

Spend a Friday evening with Alex Cuba in the Vancouver Island Conference Centre’s Shaw Auditorium overlooking Nanaimo’s downtown waterfront. Doors will open an hour before showtime with lobby entertainment and bar services offered prior to the show and during intermission. Downtown street level parking and the Bastion Street Parkade are free. Underground parking (elevator to the Auditorium entrance) in the conference centre is plentiful ($.75 first two hours). More than two dozen downtown restaurants and night spots welcome your patronage before and after the show!

Doors: 6:30pm
Shaw Auditorium

Zappostrophe’ is a Vancouver-based eight-piece band performing both fan favourites and hidden gems from the eclectic catalogue of Frank Zappa. Made up of professional musicians with diverse backgrounds and training, the band shares one thing in common: a love of the challenge of recreating—and reimagining—Zappa's extraordinary music.

The band is excited to return to Nanaimo to share its fresh take on Zappa's incredible repertoire with audiences at the Nanaimo Jazz Festival.

Expect a set that ranges from classics like "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow" and "Montana" to complex masterpieces such as "Inca Roads," along with high-energy instrumentals that showcase the band's exceptional musicianship. Virtuoso performances, tight vocal harmonies, and plenty of humour make for an unforgettable evening. Grab your favourite baby seal and Nanook your way down to the Shaw Auditorium for a night celebrating the music of Frank Zappa!

Zappostrophe is:

• Blair Fisher – vocals, trumpet, flute, keyboards
• Blair Lewis – guitar, synths, vocals, rubber chicken
• LJ Mounteney – vocals, kazoo
• Nick Apivor – percussion, vocals
• Guenter Schulz – guitar
• Cole Tinney – keyboards
• Brad Pearson – bass
• Nik Focht – drums

Party with Zappostrophe’ Saturday night in the Vancouver Island Conference Centre’s Shaw Auditorium overlooking Nanaimo’s downtown waterfront. Doors will open an hour before showtime with lobby entertainment and bar services offered prior to the show and during intermission. Downtown street level parking and the Bastion Street Parkade are free and underground parking (elevator to the Auditorium entrance) in the conference centre is plentiful ($.75 first two hours). More than two dozen downtown restaurants and night spots welcome your patronage before and after the show!

Doors: 6:30pm
Shaw Auditorium

JUNO Award winning guitarist Jocelyn Gould “has quickly become an international favorite with her hard swinging, imaginative approach and technical mastery” (Joe Lang, Jersey Jazz Magazine). Her joyful energy has captivated music fans around the world and her passion for music is as infectious as her unique ability to connect with audiences. Jocelyn has absorbed the influences of the jazz guitar greats and has woven them into an exciting personal sound, citing Wes Montgomery, Grant Green, Joe Pass, and Kenny Burrell as primary influences on the guitar.

Jocelyn’s debut album, Elegant Traveler, won the 2021 JUNO Award for Jazz Album of the Year: Solo. Her albums Sonic Bouquet and Portrait Of Right Now were nominated for 2024 and 2025 JUNO Awards for Jazz Album of the Year: Solo.

2025 saw Jocelyn tour full time as a leader and supporting musician throughout Europe, North America and Japan playing in venues such as Massey Hall in Toronto, Birdland and Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola in New York City, the Montreal Jazz Festival, Pizza Express SOHO in London, UK, Le Duc Des Lombards in Paris, and Jazzhus Montmartre in Copenhagen. She released a solo guitar and voice album in the fall of 2025, which is her 5th release as a leader. 2026 will see Jocelyn continue to tour internationally and release her 6th album, So Delighted, which is her first organ trio album.

Jocelyn has performed and recorded as a supporting musician with GRAMMY-nominated vocalist Freddy Cole, JUNO-winning trumpeter and vocalist Bria Skonberg, DownBeat Trombonist of the Year Michael Dease, Etienne Charles, Caity Gyorgy, Benny Bennack III, Jon Gordon, Rodney Whitaker, Will Bonness, Randy Napoleon, Diego Rivera and many more.

Jocelyn is an experienced educator and was a full time professor and the Head of Guitar Department at Humber College in Toronto from 2019-2024. She is the guitar faculty at the Brevard Jazz Institute in North Carolina and the Seiko Summer Jazz Camp in Tokyo, Japan. She has been a guest artist at Jazz Institute Berlin, the Leeds Conservatory of Music, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Michigan State University, University of South Carolina, North Eastern State University, Ohio University, University of North Carolina, Broward University, and others.

This special Sunday afternoon show is presented in Vancouver Island Conference Center’s Shaw Auditorium overlooking Nanaimo’s downtown waterfront. Doors will open an hour before showtime. Lobby entertainment and bar services will be offered prior to the show and during intermission. Downtown street level parking and the Bastion Street Parkade are free on Sundays. Underground parking in the conference centre is plentiful ($.75 first two hours). Most downtown restaurants are open Sunday daytime and happy to take your reservations or drop-in visits.