PREECEVILLE - The Whitehawk Arts Council has announced its set of three concerts in the Stars for Saskatchewan series of performances for the 2022/23 season.
Christine Tassan Et Les Imposteures are the first scheduled band to take to the stage at the Preeceville Community Legion Hall on October 19. For more than 20 years, Christine Tassan, an outstanding guitarist, has been steering her ship with boundless enthusiasm and confidence, according to a release. Blessed with an absolutely contagious dynamism, she is one of the rare female jazz and gypsy jazz guitar soloists; and she stands out for her sensitive playing, her quiet strength, and her irresistible audacity. As a singer, composer, writer, director, and producer, she has contributed to numerous musical projects in Quebec and internationally, both as a leader and as a guest musician (most notably with The Lost Fingers, Paul Kunigis, Le trio Martin Bellemare and Canto Tango).Trained in classical guitar, she quickly became interested in many styles, studying folk, pop, jazz and developing an early and obvious talent as a singer-songwriter. Her interest in gypsy jazz, jazz and improvisation was definitely triggered by her discovery of Django Reinhardt’s music in 1998, a style she learned by joining the classes of masters such as Angelo Debarre, Emmanuel Kassimo or Yorgui Loeffler.
In 2003, she founded her gypsy jazz and swing band, Christine Tassan et les Imposteures. The band was an immediate success and became an unmissable part of the gypsy jazz scene. Unique in its kind, this all-woman band (for many years) has performed in over 600 festivals and venues in Quebec, Canada, Europe, the United States and China. Each time enthusiastically received by the public and the media, the band was applauded at the Montreal International Jazz Festival, at the prestigious Django Reinhardt Festival in Samois-sur-Seine (France), and at the famous DjangoFest NorthWest (USA). The quartet has seven albums to its credit, including Entre Félix et Django which was awarded the Opus Prize for “Jazz Album of the Year” in 2017 as well as a nomination for “Show of the Year” in 2018. Django Belles, their most recent release in 2018, incorporated two new female musicians on horns for an original ode to Quebec winter.
Always looking for new horizons, Christine studied composition and jazz arrangement at Berklee College of Music in 2014. In 2020, in parallel to the saga of Les Imposteures, she conceived Voyage intérieur, a new quintet project. This inner journey gathers ten instrumental compositions, fruits of an introspective and musical research at the same time. Aficionados will discover a new facet of the guitarist, in her exploration of electric and bebop sounds.
Recognized for her teaching and communication skills, Christine has also been a member of the Django in June teaching team since 2013. Django in June is a music camp that annually brings together more than 200 gypsy jazz enthusiasts in Northampton (Massachusetts, USA). Christine Tassan regularly gives courses and master classes in Quebec and abroad.
The second performance scheduled will be Twin Flames at the Sturgis Community Hall on November 9. Building bridges across cultures, continents and styles, Twin Flames bring together a richness of personal history and musical experience, stated a release. Blending indigenous and western instruments as well as their own unique sonic creations, this duo floats between Inuktit, French and English music. Twin Flames push the boundaries of contemporary folk music. They have received The Canadian Folk Music award for aboriginal songwriters of the year.
The final performance will be Chris Henderson who will be performing at the Sturgis Community Hall on March 3, 2023.
Chris Henderson's blend of a modern country sound, with strong traditional roots has quickly helped him become one of Canada's busiest Country Recording Artists, according to a release. Since his debut album released in 2008, the former high school teacher has been touring the prairies and Canada relentlessly, and has released 16 singles to National radio including, Don't Miss Your Kiss Goodbye (peaked at No. 47 on the BDS charts), I Sure Hope He Loves You (51), My Regret (47 on Mediabase), and Kissing Sadie.
The veteran singer/songwriter released his fourth studio project in October of 2019, and has been nominated for more than 40 Saskatchewan Country Music Awards over the course of his career, including the win for "Song of the Year" in 2014 for Don't Miss Your Kiss Goodbye, and as the Male Artist of the Year' in 2018, 2019, and 2020.
The Saskatchewan native has been featured in Country Weekly Magazine in Nashville, Country Music News, and on the cover of Lifestyles, and the QC, as well as many other publications across North America.
Henderson has appeared on stages such as the Craven Country Jamboree, Big Valley Jamboree, Boots & Hearts, Dauphin Countryfest, The Gateway Festival, the Telemiracle cast and many more. He has also showcased at the CCMA's for the Official Songwriter Series, at the WCMA's, and was named as a member of the CCMA Board of Directions in September of 2017.
