By Amanda Morazain, Black Press
There will be magic in the air as vocalist Kinga Heming takes the stage at the Revelstoke Jazz Club Friday night.
Heming will be backed by two of the Okanagan’s finest jazz musicians — Neville Bowman on and Bernie Addington on bass.
The trio will be playing songs from Heming’s debut album, It’s Magic, as well as favourites such as It Might As Well Be Spring (Hammerstein and Rogers), Fever (Peggy Lee), and You’re Nobody ‘Til Somebody Loves You (Larry Stock).
When asked what her favourite thing about performing is, Heming replied, “Capturing the audience and engaging with my band; telling a story from experience and having the audience feel what it is I’m feeling in the moment.”
Born in Poland, Heming’s first musical influences as a child were her parents. Her mother would play Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and other great jazz artists around the house and her father played in his own cabaret.
After moving to Canada, Heming was accepted into the vocal program at Canterbury, a government funded school for the arts. On her musical journey she found her own favourite jazz vocalists who helped shape her sound. These were legendary voices such as Natalie Cole, Sarah Vaughan, Diana Krall, and Ella Fitzgerald.
Later, Heming studied jazz at Humber College in Toronto. It was in this musically vibrant city that she shared the stage with performers like Renee Rosnes, Guido Basso, and Juno award winner Don Thompson. She also sang a duet with the late Jeff Healey at the bar he owned.
Heming has toured throughout Canada with Bill King’s group, The Real Divas, and has sung the national anthem for the NHL, NBA, and AHL.
Bowman is well-known throughout the B.C. Interior as an accomplished accompanist, composer, arranger, vocalist, and instrumentalist. He was a former member of the award winning Just in Time trio and indie rock group Ten2Nine. He recently wrote the music for two original stage productions as well as an original commissioned work for Ballet Kelowna entitled Redux Continuum.
This spring Bowman will be adjudicating at the B.C. Interior Jazz Festival.
Addington enjoys a successful career as a freelance musician and private instructor. He has studied under renowned bassist Rick Kilburn and has toured extensively throughout North America, Europe, and Australia. His unique sound can be heard on numerous recordings.
Kinga Heming performs at the Revelstoke Jazz Club inside the Selkirk Room at the Regent Hotel on Friday, Mar. 18, at 7 p.m. Entrance is by donation.