Jane Bunnett - Biography
If you want to be in the right place at the right time, it’s always useful to show up a little early.
Jane Bunnett, the Toronto soprano saxophonist, flutist and bandleader, has built her career at the crossroads between Cuban music and jazz. Twice nominated for Grammy awards and a fixture of the nominations for Canada’s Juno awards, she has turned her bands into showcases for the finest musical talent from Canada, the United States and Cuba. Paquito D’Riviera, the great Cuban saxophonist, has said of her: “Jane is brilliant and she’s been trying so hard to play the real thing. What she’s doing is valid and legit.”
Bunnett’s startling new album, Red Dragon'Fly, is the most ambitious expression yet of her very personal Cuban-jazz fusion: a strongly melodic selection of tunes from a half-dozen nations, backed by the Penderecki String Quartet and performed by Bunnett’s own band, which these days features the formidable 21-year-old pianist David Virelles.