Juno winner will be a JazzFest 2019 headliner

By Medicine Hat News on March 22, 2019.

A coup for JazzFest 2019: Juno-award winner Laila Biali will be one of the headliners this year.

A singer-songwriter and pianist, Biali was recently honoured with a Juno for the best vocal jazz album of the year and she will bring her talents to the Gas City for a show June 25 at the Esplanade.

“What a thrill to see this young composer/performer rise to the level of fame she deserves,” said JazzFest producer Lyle Rebbeck. “There are few in the business who work harder, or are more deserving and JazzFest is thrilled to have been a part of that ascent.”

JazzFest’s 23rd annual event runs June 23-30 and is always one of the top entertainment events of the year in Medicine Hat.

Biali has toured with Chris Botti, Paula Cole and Suzanne Vega, and recorded with and supported Sting. In addition to her recent Juno win, Biali’s accolades include SOCAN Composer of the Year and Keyboardist of the Year at Canada’s National Jazz Awards.

A press release from JazzFest 2019 says Biali “takes the best of pop, rock, classical, world and soul, informs it with her expertise in jazz and weaves it into her musical arrangements and original songs.”

Biali has presented her music at prestigious venues spanning five continents including the North Sea Jazz Festival, Tokyo’s Cotton Club, Peru’s El Festival and Carnegie Hall in New York City.

She is also the host of Saturday Night Jazz, a national radio show launched by the CBC in 2017.

Biali’s June 25 performance starts at 7:30 p.m. in the Esplanade Theatre.

Tickets go on sale through all Esplanade ticket outlets, including tixx.ca, today at 10 a.m.

Tickets for another JazzFest headliner, superstar Michael Kaeshammer, are also on sale through all Esplanade ticket outlets.