Groove Miller is an organ trio that plays all over southern Ontario. We like to share our love of blues, jazz, R&B and funk playing cover versions of great tunes with a classic lineup of Hammond B3 Organ, Guitar, Drums and often Saxophone and Trumpet. We love to get our audiences out of their seats and onto the dance floor with our soulful grooves.

Groove Miller is an organ trio that plays all over southern Ontario. We like to share our love of blues, jazz, R&B and funk playing cover versions of great tunes with a classic lineup of Hammond B3 Organ, Guitar, Drums and often Saxophone and Trumpet. We love to get our audiences out of their seats and onto the dance floor with our soulful grooves.

Singer, pianist, composer, arranger and bandleader, Patti Payne co-founded one of Montreal’s hip and innovative New World/Jazz bands, VIVA NOVA. Their self-titled 14-track album – including twelve original compositions - was named Discovery of the Week by Planète Jazz, ranked in Magnifique’s Top5, and played regularly on Canadian airwaves. VIVA NOVA performed at venues and festivals across Ontario and Quebec, including The Rex, Upstairs, Place des Arts, Festival International de Jazz de Montréal, All-Canadian Jazz Festival and Le Lac en Fête. Relocating to Hamilton, Payne founded The Patti Payne Trio in the spring of 2023. Her unique, exquisite arrangements, along with her sultry voice and stories, create a sense of intimacy praised by audiences. She ornaments her songs with languages, as though they were music notes, seamlessly woven into the fabric of her jazz and bossa nova arrangements. Payne’s lyrics have been described as “sheer truth and feeling - dark, shaded and radiant all together,” and her band as “astounding.” Side musicians include: Ralf Buschmeyer, Clark Johnston, Miles Kosaleci-Vieira, Eric Lundgren, Jack McFadden, Paul Novotny, Rafael Rodriguez, Tony Vieira, and Ian Whitman. Patti holds a BMus from Queen’s University and BFA Specialization in Jazz Studies from Concordia University, where she studied arranging with renowned Jazz Historian and Grammy Nominee Andrew Homzy. Notable performances include The Jazz Room in Waterloo Ontario, The Waterloo Jazz Festival, The Gasworks Concert Hall in Hamilton Ontario and opening for the Cambridge Symphony Orchestra. And, exciting news: The trio’s first EP releases this fall!

Jesse Visser is a versatile bass player and teacher from Hamilton. He supports and records with many acts in the GTHA and loves to play in as many different groups as possible.

Gabriel Sanchez is a talented Bolivian Musican and teacher, also based in Hamilton. A versatile and experienced session pianist/keyboardist that has toured and recorded with many bands, choirs, and artists, like Nito Mestre and Carlos Fischer.

The two will play an exciting exploration of standards and original tunes, keeping things fresh and fluid.

The Beelays are a live music experience fusing elements of rock, funk and pop for a sound as unique and captivating as the city they hail from.

The Sean Stanley trio PROUDLY plays Jazz, Swing & the Blues, the music of Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington & Ray Charles as well as Sean's original compositions. From hot & firey to smooth & sweet their music is always based in blues and improvisation. Featuring 2-time Juno winner Kyle Tarder-Stoll on tenor sax, Max Simpson on bass and Sean Stanley on piano & vocal.

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Jazz musician Mark Ucci has toured from coast to coast in Canada and internationally in the United States and China. Performing jazz exclusively in Toronto and the greater Toronto area for the past 30 years. Mark also teaches jazz performance
for the past 11 years at Mohawk College . 

Born in Hamilton, Ontario and raised in Burlington, Mark took up the guitar at age 8 and was introduced to jazz music when he was 15. He subsequently went on to study guitar and piano at Mohawk college with Canadian jazz icon Reg Schwager and composition with Mike Malone.

Mark has released two jazz trio recordings under his leadership. His debut CD “Moment To Moment” was recorded in 1998 along with Clark Johnston on bass and Anthony Michelli on drums, featuring original compositions as well as choice standards. His most recent CD titled “I Didn't Know What Time It Was” is entirely comprised of jazz standards; after the CD was released, Mark toured with the trio at various Canadian jazz festivals.

In collaboration with guitarist Bob Shields, Mark performs traditional Brazilian guitar duets. Mark and Bob have been working together for over two decades.

Mary Pickford is a Hamilton-based singer-songwriter and born performer, blending jazz, R&B, soul, disco, and pop to light up every stage and connect with audiences of all ages. She has honed her performance abilities while touring internationally with Simply Spice, a Spice Girls Tribute and studying Vocal Performance at Mohawk College. Whether at a concert hall or a patio, Mary is sure to entertain, uplift, and leave the audience glowing.

These three seasoned musicians have collaborated in numerous bands over the past decade and a half. They put their heads together to curate repertoire that works well with their trio of organ, guitar and drums. This includes some RnB classics, as well as Souljazz deep cuts—a lot of which ended up being sample material for hip hop producers.

The Aubrey Wilson Duo performs expertly curated selections from the great American songbook masterfully arranged with a modern twist. Performances appeal to a wide audience and include accessible tunes, tasteful arrangements and solos featuring Aubrey Wilson on vocals and Chris Bruder on the keys. Aubrey Wilson recently recorded her duet album “Honeysuckle Rose” with her full band The Aubrey Wilson Quartet

Fronted by Hamilton singer-songwriter Mary Pickford, this trio brings together deep musicality

and feel-good energy. Blending jazz, soul, and pop, they craft sets that are both polished and

playful — the kind that make you smile without realizing.

With Mary’s expressive vocals and natural connection to the crowd and Gabriel Sanchez’s rich, intuitive piano playing, every show feels alive. Whether

it's a cozy room or a summer stage, the Mary Pickford Trio keeps things soulful, honest, and full of groove

The Victor Vrankulj Trio is a seasoned jazz ensemble rooted in over 15 years of collaboration, blending classic standards with inventive jazz interpretations of folk melodies. The trio—Victor Vrankulj (bass), Josh Smiley (piano), and Mike Rajna (drums)—brings a warm, conversational approach to their music, shaped by deep experience and shared musical intuition.

Victor Vrankulj, a Hamilton-born multi-instrumentalist, has been playing bass for over 20 years. A graduate of Mohawk College and the University of Toronto, he has performed jazz and bluegrass across Canada.

Josh Smiley, a Hamilton native and honours graduate of Mohawk College and the University of Toronto, is an in-demand pianist in Toronto’s jazz scene, performing with top-tier ensembles including the Rex Hotel Orchestra and the Marie Goudy 12tet.

Mike Rajna, originally from Waterloo, is a versatile drummer with roots in both performance and education. A graduate of Mohawk College and the University of Toronto, he’s played internationally—including at the Montreux and Vienne Jazz Festivals—and collaborates widely across genres.

Together, the trio delivers a rich and swinging sound marked by deep chemistry, subtle interplay, and a love for the jazz tradition.

Strat Andriotis is a consummate guitarist. While known first and foremost as a jazz musician, Andriotis has proven himself fluent in many styles, as evidenced by the seven rock-and-classical imbued albums he has released under his own name. Andriotis’ compositional style is uniquely his own – he’s taken to describing his approach to writing as ‘sweet and sour.’ A native of Greece, Andriotis immigrated to Hamilton, Ontario with his family as a child. After years spent studying the piano and playing along with records by Cream and Jimi Hendrix, his life changed forever when he heard Miles Davis’ iconic record In a Silent Way for the first time, prompting his decision to dive into jazz headfirst. Since then, Andriotis has performed and recorded with pianist Tom Carney, the rock group Eleven Degrees, drummer Albert Bouchard (Blue Oyster Cult), legendary bassist Tony Levin, and many others; his past recordings boast an impressive list of collaborators including jazz luminaries like Grammy winning pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba and violinist Jerry Goodman (Mahavishnu Orchestra.) His new album Exits features two contrasting trios weaving their way through eight of his beautiful compositions. With his trusted Fender Stratocaster, Andriotis has once again proven himself to be a virtuosic, thoughtful and expressive bandleader.

Sabian Crosswell is a Miami-born, Hamilton-based musician/songwriter, raised under the musical tutelage of his father.

His style takes inspirations from jazz, neo-soul, R&B, reggae and gospel. His music creates a sound that opens the mind and hopes to inspire the soul to the spirit. 

Alfie Smith releases his eighth album, Every Rome Needs A Nero, and that is excellent news for blues lovers. The Hamilton-based troubadour is a popular and crowd-pleasing fixture on the Ontario’s blues/folk/roots festivals and club circuit, 

His return to the recording arena with Every Rome Needs A Nero finds Alfie at the height of his creative powers. He is a triple threat: a guitar virtuoso fluent on slide and vintage National and resonator instruments, an eloquent songwriter in the classic blues tradition, and a powerful singer with a voice to match his formidable physical presence. That deep voice sounds like it has been dredged from the depths of the muddy Mississippi River. It is rich and earthy, and capable of expressing tenderness, melancholy, joy, and, in the case of the new album’s title track, righteous anger.

The Branson Palanio Organ Trio plays instrumental swing jazz & Blues, funk, soul and R&B songs from a wide range of music. Consisting of swing standards through the years, pop covers, funky tunes and feeling good vibes.

Michael Maguire is not one to just sail through life on the path of least resistance.

When your aim is to make or discover something beautiful, there will be a time and place where you depart from the beaten path, and venture into new regions. In pursuit of his art, Michael Maguire has become familiar with the road less travelled, and it has made all the difference. 

Influenced by his musician father, Marc’s love for music started with piano and then guitar lessons at an early age and was soon gigging alongside his dad and other musician friends. Following high school music Marc studied at Mohawk College graduating in 1998 with a diploma in jazz guitar and began playing around the Hamilton area in Rock and Jazz groups, as well as spending a few years playing in a jazz quintet on a cruise ship. Eventually taking a non-music day job in 2012, Marc has stayed active playing with several groups, including small combos, duos, and big bands around the GTA.

Jazz musician Mark Ucci has toured from coast to coast in Canada and internationally in the United States and China. Perforrming jazz exclusively in Toronto and the greater Toronto area for the past 30 years. Mark also teaches jazz performance
for the past 11 years  at Mohawk College . 

Born in Hamilton, Ontario and raised in Burlington, Mark took up the guitar at age 8 and was introduced to jazz music when he was 15. He subsequently went on to study guitar and piano at Mohawk college with Canadian jazz icon Reg Schwager and composition with Mike Malone.

Mark has released two jazz trio recordings under his leadership. His debut CD “Moment To Moment” was recorded in 1998 along with Clark Johnston on bass and Anthony Michelli on drums, featuring original compositions as well as choice standards. His most recent CD titled “I Didn't Know What Time It Was” is entirely comprised of jazz standards; after the CD was released, Mark toured with the trio at various Canadian jazz festivals.

In collaboration with guitarist Bob Shields, Mark performs traditional Brazilian guitar duets. Mark and Bob have been working together for over two decades.

Local Jazz staple scott neilson shares his dulcite tones throughout dinner

"The Jonathan Blaak Trio is a jazz group from Hamilton, Ontario performing a diverse selection of timeless jazz classics from all eras. The trio comprises Jonathan Blaak on drums, William Mukuna on guitar, and Victor Vrankulj on bass. They first met as graduates of the Mohawk College music program, where they honed their skills and developed a deep appreciation for the jazz greats. Their sound blends tight arrangements with soulful improvisation, capturing the spirit of both vintage and modern jazz. Whether playing at intimate gatherings or large corporate functions, the trio brings a rich blend of tradition and spontaneity to every performance, consistently delivering memorable musical experiences that leave a lasting impression."