Jane Bunnett and Maqueque — band
Four-time JUNO Award winner, two-time Grammy nominee, and Officer of the Order of Canada, soprano saxophonist/flautist Jane Bunnett once again brings the soul of Cuba to the hearts of Canadian music-lovers. Along with her new and exquisite all-female sextet, Jane Bunnett and Maqueque, she will reveal the band’s fresh sound and unveil the new self-titled CD with summer festival stops in Winnipeg, Toronto, Saskatoon, Calgary, Edmonton, Stratford and more! Already a national treasure, Jane Bunnett certainly doesn’t sit on her laurels. She’s too busy creating music, touring and championing Cuban artists, and making sure visas are in order, for that. A long-time jazz musician on the scene, Bunnett began digging deep into the music of Cuba during a trip there in 1982, and falling in love with its intricate folkloric Afro-Cuban rhythms, blending them with contemporary jazz sounds. It’s an ongoing passion for her and her husband, trumpeter Larry Cramer – in spite of the hair-pulling, painstaking work that goes into arranging tours with Cuban artists. Bunnett has been credited with introducing a lot of great Cuban musicians to North American audiences over the past couple of decades, including Dafnis Prieto, Yosvanny Terry, Pedrito Martínez and David Virelles. Her latest project is an assembly of all-star Cuban musicians, a sextet which includes herself and five extraordinary young females.