Our first instalment of the series takes audiences back to the emergence of jazz as a musical lexicon, with a fresh take on some of its earliest sounds provided by The Spectacles (Grant Simpson, Jaxon Haldane and Tim Osmond).

Back before jazz was a university program and bluegrass was a category with a gatekeeper, when ragtime was dance music and all of this music was played in the living rooms, on the front porches and in the local community dance halls. Back when all of this music had only one label: fun.

The Spectacles are a trio who feature a mix of bluegrass, ragtime, western swing and older country/jazz. Despite the fact that there are only three musicians, instruments are traded frequently throughout the show featuring guitar, ragtime piano, Scruggs-style banjo, dobro, and even musical saw duets in harmony! Whether they are playing high energy numbers or slower songs, they always swing with an unmistakable groove. The show has a genuine quality to it and it's clear that these veteran musicians are having a LOT of fun playing these songs. This always ignites the audience and gets them grooving right along with the band.

Grant Simpson is a veteran jazz pianist who has specialized in stride piano, ragtime and swing. Having spent over 40 years in the theatre business as composer, arranger and musical director, he has been immersed in the vintage styles of jazz and blues all his life.

Jaxon Haldane reveres tradition, but he’s no purist. His punk rock roots sprouted a love for the musical styles that branched off to rock and roll: bluegrass, swing, blues, rockabilly, bebop, it’s all in the recipe. The result is a gumbo, rich and spicy. Earthy, yet sweet. Rustic, but refined enough that you know a real chef is in the kitchen - one who cooks with love.

Tim Osmond does his absolute darnedest to surround himself with music at all times. He takes his inspiration from the very roots of bluegrass and old‐time Appalachian music all the way to the variations on those themes he hears from his contemporaries, and brings them to the table each time he plays with the Manitoba bluegrass quintet The Stanley County Cut Ups, or as a solo performer.