Ashley Summers at The Cellar

In an exciting home-coming performance, bassist Ashley Summers appears at the Cellar on Thursday, August 9th. Joined by Christine Jensen on saxophones, Jillian Lebeck on piano and Paul Townsend on drums, the evening will showcase some of Canada's finest young talent. A native of Langley, BC, Ashley began to play the acoustic bass at the age of fifteen, and two years later moved to Toronto to study with Don Thompson at Humber College, where she completed her Jazz Performance Degree. In 2003, she was selected to be a member of the Sisters In Jazz All-Star Quintet, an International Collegiate Competition sponsored by IAJE and BET on Jazz. The group performed at the annual IAJE Conference, the Mary Lou Williams Women In Jazz Festival at the Kennedy Center for the Arts in Washington, DC, and also completed a tour of Europe, playing such legendary festivals as Jazz a Vienne in France, the North Sea Jazz Festival in Amsterdam, and the Umbria Jazz Festival in Italy. More recently, Ashley has been busy touring with Cleveland-based saxophonist Bobby Selvaggio, playing such celebrated clubs as Chris' Jazz Cafe in Philadephia, Twins Jazz in Washington, and The Bop Stop in Cleveland. With the addition of outstanding Canadian trumpet player Paul Tynan, the group will be touring again in August 2007. Ashley leaves for Paris next month. Following the lead of fellow Canadians like Karl Jannuska and François Thèberge, she hopes to further establish a strong presence in the International music scene. This evening of original music will serve as a unique send-off before Ashley takes her talents overseas, making this an event not to be missed! More info at The CELLAR web site. Ashley Summers web site.