Kingston! RCHA Jazz: Amherstivew-Raised, Western Cdn Music Awards Nominee Angela (Clancy) Verbrugge w/ NYC Pianist, Toronto Bassist

Described as “both hip and a hoot” by JazzWeekly, Canadian vocalist, songwriter and lyricist Angela Verbrugge is coming to Kingston's RCHA Club Monday June 9th, 2025 from 4:30pm to 6:30pm to sing her original Canadian lyrics in their weekly jazz series. Originally from Amherstview, Ontario, she went to KCVI and Ernestown before studying theatre in Toronto, and going on to a world-touring jazz singing career based from her home on Vancouver Island. Angela was nominated for Jazz Artist of the Year at the most recent Western Canadian Music Awards. She’ll be singing her witty, swinging songs with stellar NYC pianist Ray Gallon and Toronto-based UK bassist Duncan Hopkins for a truly international trio.

Vancouver Island vocalist Angela Verbrugge was nominated for Jazz Artist of the Year at the 2024 Western Canadian Music Awards. In 2025, All About Jazz announced that Verbrugge had topped their Reader Poll for Favourite Living Jazz Vocalist and in 2020 Angela won the JazzTimes’ Readers’ Poll for best female vocalist. She "possesses a winsome, brightly-burnished, pliable voice, ample emotional intelligence, and conspicuously good taste,” and according to JazzTimes, and “for Verbrugge, now is the time.” Angela’s three albums featured standout arrangements of standards and original songs in the style of the Great American Songbook. The projects received praise in All About Jazz, JazzTimes, Jazzwise, Couleurs France, Syncopated Times, Jersey Jazz, LA Jazz Scene and publications around the world leading to tours to Japan, Taiwan, Türkiye, the UK, Germany, France, Luxembourg and eight provinces, all since 2021. Her music has charted on JazzWeek, been featured by CBC and NPR, and she held the number one spot on the Earshot Jazz charts for multiple weeks. Angela’s tracks have been streamed 850,000 times across streaming platforms since her debut in 2019.

"No maybes; for Verbrugge, now is definitely the time,"

– JazzTimes Magazine (print edition), Andrew Gilbert

“Listen and be delighted. Her art is her own, and she offers rare pleasures.”

— Michael Steinman, JazzLives

“As a lyricist Miss Verbrugge seems to have “learned” from the best: one senses the wit of Dave Frishberg, the glorious storytelling of Dorothy Fields and Johnny Mercer, and – all of that and a tinge of pathos that was the hallmark of songs by Cole Porter. However, make no mistake, these lyrics are singularly Miss Verbrugge’s.”

— That Canadian Magazine, Raul da Gama

With NYC pianist Ray Gallon and Juno-nominated bassist Duncan Hopkins

RAY GALLON

To listen to pianist Ray Gallon is to take a journey through the great lineage of jazz piano from its inception all the way up to the cutting-edge present. His playing is imbued with the vocabulary, sensibilities and soul of the very architects of the jazz artform. Born, raised and living his whole life in Manhattan, NYC pianist Ray Gallon has been a mainstay on the jazz scene for over thirty-five years. Rooted in bebop and blues, his expressive, swingin’ playing melds old and new into a fresh, original style. As a young player, Ray was taken under the wing of piano giants John Lewis, Hank Jones, and ‪Jaki Byard. He has performed at major jazz festivals and venues around the world with such luminaries as Ron Carter, ‪Lionel Hampton, ‪Art Farmer, ‪Benny Golson, George Adams, ‪Les Paul, and ‪Wycliffe Gordon. Ray has appeared at the White House and the Kennedy Center, sharing the stage with jazz legends including ‪Dizzy Gillespie, ‪Milt Jackson, Sweets Edison, and Joe Williams. An in-demand accompanist, he has worked with many vocal greats, including Jon Hendricks, ‪Sheila Jordan, ‪Dakota Staton, ‪Gloria Lynne, ‪Jane Monheit and ‪Chaka Khan. Ray's latest album, Grand Company, is a trio recording with the illustrious rhythm section of Maestro Ron Carter and Lewis Nash. His previous trio album, Make Your Move, features the stellar rhythm section of David Wong and Kenny Washington. Both albums include a mix of Ray’s inventive compositions along with arrangements of  some classic standards. His originals have also been recorded by acclaimed artists including T.S. Monk, George Adams, and Angela Verbrugge. Ray is a full-time faculty member of the jazz program at The City College of NY in Harlem and the Vermont Jazz Center’s summer workshops and has taught at Juilliard and The New School.

"He expresses his ideas with original sentences, free from unnecessary embellishments, and with smooth fluency.”

– Dark Blue Notes

"Pianist Ray Gallon may be one of New York City’s best kept secrets. A veteran sideman with a career spanning over four decades, Gallon was mentored by greats including John Lewis, and Jaki Byard." 

– The New York Jazz Record

 “This is my favorite kind of trio playing - the inimitable and distinctive personal and collective sound… has transparency and clarity, where every note and gesture mean something. Ray Gallon’s music is informed, passionate, and personal. He possesses a unique rhythmic imagination and a wrought iron vocabulary. His album <Grand Company>  is a milestone.”

– Bill Charlap, pianist

Double bassist, composer and arranger Duncan Hopkins has been working at the highest levels of jazz for thirty years. In that time, he has worked with such luminaries as Norma Winstone, Rob McConnell, Scott Hamilton, Houston Person, Peter Appleyard, Ed Bickert, Mark Murphy, Bobo Stenson, Dianna Krall, Sheila Jordan, Kenny Wheeler, Bobby Watson, Sam Rivers, and Harry Allen to name a few. Duncan was a member of Rob McConnell and the Boss Brass and the highly distinguished Canadian Jazz Quartet for ten years before moving to Europe. Duncan has toured extensively throughout Canada, Great Britain, Europe, Brazil and the United States. He can be heard on over fifty albums, numerous CBC, BBC and NPR recordings. Duncan lives in Toronto, Canada. Take the elevator across from Woodenhead's and beside Diane's Seafood up to the RCHA Club. The music runs 4:30-6:30pm. Doors open at 4pm. The cover charge is sole earnings that directly supports the artists (there is no grant/sponsorship at this time - unless you'd perhaps like to sponsor the arts and support the event?).

“...the depth of sound that Duncan Hopkins’ melodic bass brings to a number pulls everything together."

– Simply Jazz Talk U.K.

“...spritely but understated with a plush tone. One of Canada's jazz greats.”

– Robert Rowat, CBC

The beverage bar is open and offers wine, beer, mixed drinks and non-alcoholic beverages. Chips and nuts are for sale, or you may bring in outside food but please remove garbage and be considerate of other attendees.

* Accompanied minors are welcome.

Angela Verbrugge - vocals

Ray Gallon - piano

Duncan Hopkins - bass