After 10 years as a national and international jazz percussionist, Agneya Chikte has stepped forward in 2026 to release his first album of original music. He brings together South Asian rhythmic cycles, West African groove traditions and contemporary jazz improvisation. Born and raised in western India, and now based in Toronto, Agneya learned music as a juxtaposition of ancient rhythmic systems and global pop culture. He uses use rhythm as a way of transcending boundaries and connecting communities across the world. www.agneyachikte.com

Accolades have always greeted Amanda Martinez. The Toronto-based composer, who sings Latin jazz in Spanish, has been named the Toronto Independent Music Awards’ best world music artist, and Latin Awards Canada’s composer of the year. She has performed at famous international jazz venues, released five albums and appeared on six collections published by world-music label Putamayo. Amanda is accompanied by her band of 20 years: Kevin Laliberté, guitar; Drew Birston, bass; Rosendo Leon, percussion; Alexander Brown, trumpet and Osvaldo Rodriguez, violin. www.amandamartinez.ca

Bassist Artie Roth is a jazz influencer on many levels: as a composer, bandleader, performer and educator. As a bandleader, Artie has released four albums, most recently “Resonants.” He co-leads the jazz trio Tunetown, and is also a member and contributing composer with The Rich Underhill Group, The Bob Brough Quartet and Kollage. Artie is the bass instructor and ensemble coach at York University and Centennial College. His quartet features Mike Filice on woodwinds, Sam Dickinson on guitars and Anthony Michelli on drums. www.facebook.com/artierothmusic

Composer and pianist Diane Roblin leads a six-piece ensemble, Life Force, exploring high-energy sounds punctuated by intricate improvisations. Many songs are taken from her album “Breath of Fresh Air,” released on Zsan Records in late 2024. It combines jazz, funk and impressionist harmony into adventurous compositions. Diane Roblin’s Life force has performed at major venues and festivals in North America and Europe. "Diane Roblin is respected as one of Canada’s important women in jazz,” says reviewer Dee Dee McNeil of Making the Scene. www.dianeroblin.com

From Winnipeg comes Erin Propp, presenting original music as a vocalist behind the piano. Her first full-length album, now in production, will be an experimental exploration between jazz and folk genres. It features Fabio Ragnelli on drums and Julian Bradford on bass along with violist, composer and arranger Nathan Schram and the Attacca Quartet of strings. Erin recently completed The Longing Years Tour of Ontario and British Columbia, including performances at the TD Victoria International Jazz Festival and the Coastal Jazz Festival in Vancouver. www.erinpropp.com

Canadian vocalist Eunice Keitan infuses soft jazz with ancestral Malaysian folk music. She and her band make use of layers of music loops and unusual instruments such as the guzheng, or Chinese zither, a plucked instrument with a large soundboard and a series of movable bridges over its 21 strings. Band member Lina Cao is a guzheng virtuoso and a faculty member at Wilfrid Laurier University. She helps interpret Eunice’s songs, which are emotionally candid about identity and belonging. www.eunicekeitan.com

Is there a “Toronto jazz” sound? If so, then Joseph Funk is helping to define it. The trumpeter leads the Funk10tet, a group of brass, woodwind and rhythm players presenting original works that are heavily influenced by traditional swing, rhythm and blues and other contemporary pop music played in Canada. Funk won Artist of the Year at the 2025 Toronto Undergraduate Jazz Festival and is the inaugural recipient (2023) of the Guido Basso Flugelhorn Scholarship. www.instagram.com/_josephfunk

Musicians from many countries have performed at the Markham Jazz Festival, and now Gabriel Palatchi adds Argentina to the list. The pianist, composer, arranger and producer performs a fusion of Latin rhythms, jazz, tango, funk and middle eastern influences. Gabriel is a graduate of Berklee International School in Argentina and has been recording since 2010. In 2017, he recorded “Made in Canada – Live,” which Latin Jazz called "viscerally exciting.” His long-time trio includes Kerry Galloway on bass and Jose Gonzalez on drums. www.gabrielpalatchi.com

JabFung is a jazz quintet formed in Toronto, now based in Los Angeles, whose name is an amalgamation of its co-leaders, bassist Julian Anderson-Bowes and drummer Anthony Fung. Up front are three virtuosos with international reputations: Luis Deniz on alto saxophone, Rafael Zaldivar on piano and Adam O’Farrill on trumpet. The group’s second album, “In Real Life,” has just been released. Since 2014, they have had residencies at the Rex Hotel, collaborating with top Canadian and international artists. www.jabfung.bandcamp.com

Recording artist Jean-Michel Pilc has toured as a jazz pianist and composer in more than 60 countries since the late 1980s.He has released many albums and collaborated with numerous jazz giants. Born in Paris and now residing in Montreal, he is a music professor at The Schulich School of Music of McGill University and the author of a book on improvisation along with instructional videos and seminars. For this festival performance he is joined by Julian Anderson-Bowes on bass and Ernesto Cervini on drums. www.jeanmichelpilc.com

Jessica Lalonde is a classically trained jazz singer, originally from Midland, Ontario, whose work transcends genres. She moves easily among jazz, folk, opera and swing styles. She is collaborating with Adrean Farrugia, a Juno Award-winning pianist, composer and educator, to present a concert of songs that provide a moving experience for listeners. Adrean, like Jessica, enjoys collaborations and has shared his music in many bands across Canada, the United States, London UK, Paris, Tokyo, Tel Aviv, Australia, Poland and The Netherlands. www.jessicalalonde.com www.adreanfarrugia.com

Habana Safari is a Canadian-Cuban band founded by percussionist Joaquín Núñez. They blend traditional Afro-Cuban folkloric music with modern Latin jazz. Their 2025 debut album, “Ruta de la Clave,” (the route of the clave) is described in a review by Raul da Gama in Latinjazznet.com as “exciting, eloquent and erudite.” The concept of the band is to give a contemporary retrospective of Cuban music. Joaquín Núñez, born in Cuba, settled in Toronto in 1999 and has won multiple Juno awards. https://latinjazznet.com/news/joaquin-nunez-habana-safari-release-ruta-de-la-clave/

Attendees at the 2026 Markham Jazz Festival will have the opportunity to witness an unusual jazz singer’s performance. Jazz singers, especially men, are a rare breed. They use their voices not only as painters of melody but as instruments for improvisation. John Neudorf achieves this difficult balance. A native of Hamilton, he began his career as a drummer, blues singer and songwriter in the Niagara region and now plays major Ontario venues as well as performing with the Hamilton Philharmonic.

It’s a word, it’s a band, it’s a social movement. “Kaiso” means “go forward” in the Ibibio language of Nigeria. In the 19th century, it became the name of a Caribbean music genre created by enslaved Africans in Trinidad and Tobago. That genre evolved into calypso. Today in Toronto, there is a Kaiso Street Society, dedicated to preserving and celebrating calypso traditions. Its founder is Jesse Ryan, a saxophonist who also leads the society’s nine-piece band. performing classic calypso repertoire reimagined through contemporary jazz. www.kaisostreetsociety.org

Canadian jazz vocalist, composer, educator and visual artist Kayla Ramu likes to tell stories in song. Sometimes she makes them up herself. Other times, she reinvents songs created by others. She draws inspiration especially from vocalists of the 1930s through the 1960s. Kayla has been singing professionally since the age of 12. In 2025, Kayla released her fourth album and first for children, "Hip Kids Music, Vol. 1,” earning a Juno nomination for Children’s Album of the Year. www.kalyaramu.ca

In June, Toronto-based pianist, composer and singer Mike Janzen released his eighth album of Christian songs, titled “The End of Myself.” Reviewing it, Clara Bajalan wrote on www.jubileecast.com: “Blending folk-pop, roots, jazz and soulful influences, the 12-track project draws from Janzen's personal journey through hardship and recovery, offering listeners an honest look at how God often meets people in their lowest moments.” Janzen will appear with the trio he has led since 2006, including bassist George Koller and drummers Davide Direnzo or Larnell Lewis. www.mikejanzentrio.com

What should you expect from a band called Mr. Beeper? Nostalgia, for one thing. The name derives from a song composed by guitarist Steve D'Angelo of Toronto about a furry green creature from a 1990s kids’ TV show called Rocketship 7, who communicated by beeping a horn. D’Angelo is an Emmy-winning composer of TV and film scores. He loves old puppet characters. You should also expect Mr. Beeper to be an energetic jazz with a blend of electric jazz, bebop, soul and funk styles. www.stevedangelo.ca/mrbeeper

Nancy Walker is everywhere in Canadian jazz. She has received many awards including the Montréal Jazz Festival’s Grand Prix de Jazz and the National Jazz Awards Keyboardist of the Year Award. She can be heard on numerous recordings as leader or side player and her compositions are highly regarded. One review in All About Jazz stated, “Walker's music is easy on the ears, but don't mistake that for lacking in interest or challenge, because she masks an advanced harmonic concept within an accessible veneer.” www.nancywalkermusic.com

He’s a jazz artist and a composer of classical chamber works. He is also an associate professor and jazz area coordinator at York University. Noam Lemish’s quartet includes saxophonist Sundar Viswanathan, bassist Andrew Downing and drummer Nick Fraser. They will present songs from their 2025 album, “There’s Beauty Enough in Being Here.” Noam’s compositions blend his roots in jazz and western art music with the musical influences of his Israeli childhood and Eastern-European Jewish heritage. www.noamlemish.com

Ori Dagan interprets jazz for the 21st century. The award-winning singer, born in Israel and now resident in Toronto, has released four albums since 2009. His latest is “Click Right Here” (2022), his first all-original album exploring 21st century themes through swing and bebop. Ori has performed across Canada and internationally in the United States, Japan, South Korea, Morocco, Macedonia, Israel and Germany. He is also the artistic director of JazzinToronto, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting live music. www.oridagan.com

“Montreal’s Queen of Jazz” was last seen on the MJF stage in 2017. Last month, Ranee appeared at the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal, part of her celebration of more than 50 years as a jazz star in that city. A songwriter, actress and children’s book author, she has recorded 13 albums for Justin Time records. Ranee has won a Juno among many awards, and has appeared at jazz festivals throughout Canada as well as Spain, France, England and Haiti. She is a member of the Order of Canada. www.raneelee.com

When SHOUT! The Band takes the stage, you know it’s party time. THIS 12-piece brass band blends New Orleans-style jazz and popular music with contemporary electronic textures. It was formed in 2019 as a small busking brass group of broke college kids in Toronto. Today Its members come from as far away as Ghana and Argentina. Co-led by Chinese-Canadian trombonist and composer Nolan Murphy and Haitian-Canadian trumpet player and producer Teddy Zamor, SHOUT! delivers non-stop infectious energy. www.shouttheband.com

Pianist Steve Holt has come full circle regarding Juno nominations. His first album in 1983 received a nomination and now his latest album, “Impact,” has received a 2026 nomination for Jazz Album of the Year (Group.) Born in Montreal, Steve was a child prodigy and became a graduate of McGill University. Steve’s music blends modern swing, Latin grooves and lyrical ballads. His quintet includes Kevin Turcotte on trumpet, Perry White on saxophones, Duncan Hopkins on bass and Terry Clarke on drums. www.steveholtmusic.com

Steve Taetz is a Canadian crooner. He delivers songs that are summer festival-friendly, with vintage-style swing and soul. Steve focuses on the American Songbook and jazz standards, writing and recording traditional-pop and swing originals. He has co-published songs with Sony/BMG, Warner, Nettwerk and Universal Music. As to his delivery, reviewer Lynn Renee Bayle, writing in The Art Music Lounge, says Steve has a “tried-and-true style harking back to Sinatra or Mel Tormé – he’s so good at it, and his backup band is consistently swinging.” www.steventaetz.com

Singer, guitarist and songwriter Suzie Vinnick has won numerous awards and nominations for her seven solo albums, including three Juno nominations. A Saskatoon native transplanted to the Niagara region of Ontario, she has been touring blues and folk festivals all over the province this summer. In recent years, she has toured throughout Canada as well as Italy, Switzerland and Germany. Suzie sings in many different styles, with Bonnie Raitt as a major inspiration. www.suzievinnick.com

Jazz is a family affair for The Eighth Street Orchestra. Founded in Owen Sound, Ontario by banjo player Gary Murphy, the band included his wife and three children. It was a busking band playing New Orleans and early jazz, named for the address of the family home. Now led in Toronto by Gary’s son, trombonist Nolan Murphy, the band includes award-winning members with extensive touring experience. The sound is still based on its roots but has evolved into a bold, theatrical style that it calls “punk-dixieland.” eighthstreetorchestra.com

Dancers who love swing music will enjoy this performance. The Honey Judges is a fivepiece band that specializes in playing songs by Johnny Hodges and Duke Ellington. Leader Tom Richards, a trombonist from Toronto, also contributes original numbers to dance to.  Tom has had a 20-year career with a discography of more than 100 albums. He performs in dozens of bands in Ontario and Nova Scotia including The Heavyweights Brass Band, The Human Rights, Queen Kong, Avi Granite 6 and King Cardiac. www.insoundmusic.com/bio

The story of The Tap Room Gang goes back a century. Leader Sean McCarthy, from Newmarket, Ontario, acquired a bass saxophone in August 2024 and formed a band to perform the music of Adrian Rollini, a jazz pioneer from the 1920s who later led Adrian and his Tap Room Gang at a hotel in New York City. McCarthy and friends have expanded their band and its residency at the Steadfast Brewing Co. in Toronto. They released their debut album in December 2025. www.facebook.com/p/The-Taproom-Gang