SWINGIN’ UPTOWN
Featuring LIVE SWING MUSIC with ‘Nightfall’
Saturday, November 21st, 8-midnight
Tickets $15.00 in advance ($20 at the door)
Only 60 tickets printed, no reserves.
*****
L-R: Gabrielle Wsiaki, Nathanael Wsiaki, Mikael Wsiaki, Bunny Gentes, Bill Wsiaki
NIGHTFALL is a Winnipeg band playing a variety of jazz, blues, easy-listening, and swing music. Nightfall members are Bill Wsiaki, bass and guitar, Nathanael Wsiaki, piano, Bunny Gentes, drums, Mikael Wsiaki, percussion, and Gabrielle Wsiaki, vocals. The musicians play purely for fun and personal musical growth.
Nathanael Wsiaki, attends the University of Manitoba School of Music, plays piano and percussion and has completed his level 10 Classical piano. He has competed at trophy class level in Classical piano during the Winnipeg Music Festival and is currently working towards his ARCT in Classical piano in addition to his music degree.
Gabrielle Wsiaki is a student at College Louis Riel, has studied voice and piano, and loves singing.
Bunny Gentes and Bill Wsiaki are self taught musicians who have played a variety of music together for several years.
NIGHTFALL plays original instrumental compositions and a diverse selection of songs by well-known artists including Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald, Norah Jones, Molly Johnson, Billie Holliday, and Ray Charles.
NIGHTFALL’s repertoire also includes a few New Orleans jazz piano compositions and arrangements by the late American composer William Gillock. Gillock’s pieces are written for solo piano but Nightfall’s improvisations introduce a new vitality. According to Prof. Henry Doskey, University of North Carolina, who has heard a tape of Gillock’s jazz pieces performed by Bill, Nathanael and Bunny, “several of them are really quite good [and] all of it is a lot of fun. I know Bill Gillock would have approved, and would have enjoyed them as much as I did.” Doskey is considered the world authority on William Gillock.
The group performs regularly at McNally Robinson’s Booksellers and for ‘Mardi Jazz’ at the Franco-Manitoban Cultural Centre. Past performances also include the Open City Freedom Festival held in the Exchange District, the West End Cultural Centre, King’s Head Pub, and at the Inn At the Forks (at that particular show, Van Morrison, his band, and crew showed up. Nightfall played a song with Van Morrison’s bass player!)
NIGHTFALL also loves playing for dancers, having co-produced the sold-out Swingin’ Uptown dance series in conjunction with Allan Nelson’s Dance Company and Flying Monkey Swing.