June 22, 2021 — Press release

From the Burlington Performing Arts Centre

Series Sponsored by The Burlington Downtown Business Association 

Downtown Burlington will come alive with music this summer, when the Burlington Downtown Jazz Festival hits the Burlington Performing Arts Centre’s outdoor Plaza August 14 and 15. 

This hot weekend of jazz features the talents of Kellylee Evans, Samantha Martin & Delta Sugar, Lydia Persaud, and Elise LeGrow. 

“Yay! A concert! Yay! A live audience. Jazz Fest was one of my first concerts after a long recovery from a head injury back in 2017 and now this is one of my first live concerts after what we can only hope is our pandemic recovery,” Kellylee Evans said. “These are milestones I’m honoured to experience in and share with the Burlington Jazz Fest audience. I can’t wait.” 

“Summer is the best time of year to enjoy live music outside and it is important that we are able to safely bring that to Burlington this summer,” said BPAC Executive Director Tammy Fox. “We are thrilled with the lineup of performers coming to the Burlington Downtown Jazz Festival. There is a show for every music fan, so you can choose your favourites or get a two-show pass to stay for the whole day’s concerts.” 

Single performance tickets are available for table (minimum 3 tickets for a table) and stool seating. Jazz fans looking to save can also grab a two-show pass for Saturday and/or or Sunday. See ticket pricing below. Tickets are now on sale and seating is limited, so don’t delay! 

Select local restaurants will be selling food onsite and there will also be special prize draws from local Burlington businesses. 

The Burlington Downtown Jazz Festival is sponsored by the Burlington Downtown Business Association, with individual performance sponsorships by Stoner & Company Family Law, and Rick Burgess of Frederikse Law. 

About the Performers 

Kellylee Evans (Saturday, August 14, at 4 p.m.) 

Juno Award winner Kellylee Evans is still shaking it up on Come On, her latest Decca album. The stylistic connoisseur has tackled everything from jazz to R&B and pop in such previous tasty classics fight or flight?, Nina – her Juno-winning tribute to the legendary Nina Simone – and I Remember When. Praised by the Latin Jazz Network for a “gorgeous voice (that) rises to the heavens in rapturous wonder as if in consanguinity with a chorus of angels” and by the Yukon Arts Centre for “a stunning crystalline voice, both powerful and emotive,” Evans now pushes her muse firmly into the soulful pop territory with Come On: a wonderfully refreshing album about love and life that comes on the heels of two nearly career-ending accidents: a freak lightning strike in her Ottawa kitchen and further effects of a concussion suffered during a fall at her home. 

Samantha Martin & Delta Sugar (Saturday, August 14, at 6 p.m.) 

With the worldwide pandemic wrecking utter havoc upon the careers of many musicians, Samantha Martin & Delta Sugar elected to use their time off the road to record, mix and master their latest tour-de-force, the astonishingly powerful, funky, and deeply soulful The Reckless One. The follow-up to 2018’s Juno-nominated Run To Me, The Reckless One represents another massive step forward for Samantha Martin as a songwriter, singer, arranger and band leader. Eleven of the album’s twelve songs were either co-written or solely composed by the multi-talented, multi-faceted artist. The one non-original, a funk infused cover of Bob Dylan’s Meet Me in the Morning, fuses Dylan’s lyric in a cataclysmic clash with the sensibilities of the Meters and the hurricane force of Howlin’ Wolf and Tina Turner at their rawest. It simply has to be heard to be believed. 

Show sponsored by Stoner & Company Family Law 

Lydia Persaud (Sunday, August 15, at 2 p.m.) 

Lydia Persaud’s sound expands the boundaries of soul to include both folk and jazz, styles that have been foundational to her musical growth. Lydia attended the rigorous jazz program at Humber School of Music, where she won the Oscar Peterson Jazz Award and connected with fellow members of the folk trio The O’Pears. Lydia has supported such icons as Gordon Lightfoot, David Crosby, and Lee Fields, as well as opened for Serena Ryder, Sarah Harmer, and Joey Landreth. She is also a member of renowned cover band Dwayne Gretzky. 

Show sponsored by Rick Burgess of Frederikse Law 

Elise LeGrow (Sunday, August 15, at 4 p.m.) 

Right around the time the chorus of album opener Who Do You Love hits, something magical happens. A moment arrives when the tumblers deep within your subconscious begin to align, when you suddenly realize that you’re listening to a tune you’ve known for decades, albeit one that’s been so radically reimagined as to become brand new again. It’s in that moment, as the warm rush of recognition meets the exhilarating thrill of discovery, that you fall in love with Elise LeGrow. 

The Burlington Performing Arts Centre
The Burlington Downtown Jazz Festival
August 14, 2021 & August 15, 2021The Burlington Performing Arts Centre Outdoor Plaza 

Tickets can be purchased online or by telephone:905-681-6000  |  https://burlingtonpac.ca/events/

Single Performance Tickets (All-in):
Table Seats, Upper Plaza (Min. 3 tickets for table) Regular $35 / Members $30 

Stool Seats, Lower Plaza: Regular $25 / Members $20 

Saturday OR Sunday 2-Show Pass (All-in):
Table Seats, Upper Plaza (Min. 3 tickets for table) Regular $60 / Members $50 

Stool Seats, Lower Plaza: Regular $40 / Members $30 

The full schedule of BPAC Presents events is available here:
burlingtonpac.ca/bpacpresents 

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