May kicks off with a bang!

Oh my goodness, I have so much performing happening in the next 9 days! 

It all starts this Friday May 1st. I’m playing my first ever show at Tyrant Studios in Vancouver (1019 Seymour St, upstairs). My band and I are going to perform songs from Gala Gardens as well as new repertoire from my forthcoming new album. It’s a night of instrumental lofi hip hop inspired ambient electronic jazz. 

You can call it  🎺 ~lofi dream jazz~ 🎶

Very chill, deeply groovy jams. Watch this little clippy from rehearsal. 😎

There are advance tickets available on the Tyrant website. Seating will be accommodated at the door as well, by cash. Doors are 9pm. Downbeat 9:30pm. $20

If you cannot make that show I have great news for you, we are doing another performance just one week later on Friday May 8th at Guilt & Co. (1 Alexander St, downstairs). This is an early show, 7pm-8:45pm. No tickets in advance, just first come first served. Cover charge to support the band is included with the bill. 

Beyond my Sextet performances I also have weekend shows playing with Girl A Girl B, my nostalgia folk pop project with my twin sister Elizabeth and bestie Doug Gorkoff. 

We have a double header Sunday May 3rd starting off with Ships to Shore in Steveston at Garry Point Park, celebrating the arrival of the Japanese Tall Ship Kaiwo Maru. It will be a unique cultural and maritime experience to your weekend. Our performance is at 11:30am-12:15pm on the Dockside Stage as our full trio (with Magic Cello!). 

Then we jet off to Deer Lake Park to play at Burnaby Blooms, a favourite community spring celebration we always love to return to. Our set there is at 3:20pm-4pm.  

All of the Girl A Girl B performances are outdoors and free to enjoy. 

To recap here is ALL OF THAT IN LIST FORM:

Fri. May 1, 9:30pm
- Anita Eccleston Sextet @ Tyrant Studios (1019 Seymour, upstairs!)

Sun. May 3, 11:30am
- Girl A Girl B (trio) @ Ships To Shore Festival (Garry Point Park)

Sun May 3, 3:20pm
- Girl A Girl B (duo) @ Burnaby Blooms (Deer Lake Park)

Fri. May 8, 7pm
- Anita Eccleston Sextet @ Guilt & Co (1 Alexander St, downstairs)

Hope to see many familiar faces out there this weekend and next!

Stay tuned for new releases coming down the pipe very soon.

For my dear readers not located in the lower mainland of BC, I hope to be able to bring these projects to your town in the coming months, I love you and I miss you. Until then please keep supporting my albums online, it means the world to me that our listenership has been growing steadily. I’ll keep making pretty things for your ears, I promise.

When everything and everyone comes together.

To you my beautiful readers,

The journey of a musician is a bumpy path with twists and turns, and you can never quite predict where it is leading. I am grateful my path led me to this wonderful man, Patrick.

Our wedding music video to go with my new song “Family” is up now on YouTube. We got so lucky with an incredible photo/video team that absolutely captured the essence of the love and happiness we were all feeling on that fine August day.

Please enjoy, from my heart to yours, and know that this new life chapter for me and for my music is going to be fruitful and active.

NEW SPRING SHOWS ANNOUNCED!!
Friday, May 1st, 9:30pm @ Tyrant Studios
Friday, May 8th, 7:00pm @ Guilt & Co

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE!

I have two lovely things to share with you today.

First – I have published the long awaited full concert video of Gala Gardens LIVE at Frankie’s After Dark on Youtube. CHECK IT OUT It’s really cool to hear the album come alive and I’m so grateful for the excellent video and sound coverage by David Spidel from Spi-Fi Mediahat beautiful night. Shout out to Infidels Jazz for having us.

Second -- BIG NEWS: I have a concert in Vancouver next week to do it again for Jazz Vespers at St Andrew’s-Wesley United Church (1022 Nelson St). Sunday June 1st, 4-5PM.

Jazz Vespers is a presentation imbued with spirituality and depth. The sextet will perform selected songs from Gala Gardens. Improvised sections flowing through refrains over hypnotic beats. It is serene music about rebirth, growth and patience.

Tickets are by donation, all are welcome. 4-5pm June 1st 2025

Anita Eccleston Sextet: 
Anita Eccleston - Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Vox Pads, Vocals 
Ashley Pearce - Electric Guitar 
Elizabeth Eccleston - Electric Ukulele, Oboe, English Horn 
Dean Thiessen - Keyboards, Piano 
Russell Sholberg - Electric Bass 
Nino DiPasquale - Drums

CDs will be available at the performance by cash or card.

Have a great week! I love you all. ♫

I want to start out by thanking all of my mailing list subscribers. I go for long stretches sometimes between writing these newsletters so when I do have news I am so glad to be able to reach you to share it. This conduit, via email, is actually the most precious and direct way for me to communicate with you. So THANK YOU for hanging around and for supporting my music by listening and caring. I promise to keep making music that is true to me as an artist and offering it to you with my heart open. My hope is that it resonates.

If you haven't joined my mailing list yet scroll to the top of my homepage and get on the list. Social media is too finite and fickle.

So, here is what happened…

Ever since finishing my last album, Gala Gardens, I’ve had this idea of doing a completely unconventional Christmas Album. Jazz singers are supposed to do all those classic jazzy tunes right? I certainly play those gigs, they are a joy and maybe one day I will make that record. But today is about a different kind of Christmas album. I wanted to make an album like Gala Gardens, an instrumental lofi dream jazz album, with loads of trumpet, rich vocal pads, bopping bass lines and hip hop influenced beats. I also wanted it to be drawing from the ancient repertoire, old melodies and songs I’d heard as a child and sung in choirs and while caroling for my neighbours. I wanted to take them apart like jigsaws and remake them into something completely new, purposely leaving out some of the pieces and using distinctive fragments.

So last January I set out to finally make this idea into a reality. And oh boy did I dive in. In my spare time this year I was practically obsessed with the work. I love the creation part of the album cycle and it took a few weeks to flesh out and track the 19 songs. Bless my roommates for letting me keep the decorations up until early February (I needed the atmosphere for inspiration, I swear). After several more weeks of touch ups and mixing I sent it to my close cohort for their thoughts. The main piece of criticism was that they were too subtle, the album wasn’t Christmas-y enough.

In early July I added the BELLS. The finishing touches, like tinsel on the tree making every song sparkle in its own way. In July it’s a funny thing to be in the basement with the strings of lights on in the dark studio, sun blazing through my little window begging me to come outside and play. I knew I needed to take that time though to finish so it would all be ready in time for Christmas.

The day after Halloween (MY BIRTHDAY) seemed like the right day to unleash this beauty. I walked into Canadian Tire a couple of years ago on October 31st to see all of the Christmas decor up for sale already. So basically Halloween is Christmas now. Last year my Halloween costume was as the Ghost of Christmas Present, so a spooky ghost but also Christmas. I was wrapped in string lights and a garland boa and crown. The lights got pretty warm when I was plugged in!

So today it’s out! Winter Gala is a total vibe. I made it to be the soundtrack to your holiday season. Give it a spin, a heart or add on your preferred streaming platform. Request it on your local radio stations. And for those of us who love a physical copy I also pressed CDs! Available now for order (+ download) on my website HERE

I personally love having a CD on in the car — the sound quality is unmatched!

I also have TWO live shows in Vancouver in December to support the album with an amazing live band! Details here:

Winter Gala CD Release Party!
Sun. Dec 1 @ 2:00PM - 4:00PM Hero's Welcome, 3917 Main St., Vancouver, BC Presented by the Infidels Jazz - Minors allowed with parent or guardian. $10 Cover

Unwrapping her new instrumental album Winter Gala, Anita Eccleston Quintet brings a cozy afternoon of instrumental lofi dream jazz. Chill vibes, hip hop beats, improv, all splashed with a touch of that holiday magic. Anita Eccleston - Trumpet/Vox/Piano/Glock/Bells, Ashley Pearce - Electric Guitar, Dean Thiessen - Keyboard/Organ, Russell Sholberg - Electric/Upright Bass, Jamison Ko - Drums with Special Guests Liz Eccleston & Doug Gorkoff. CD's will be on sale for $20 (cash or card). Reservations can be made by calling 1-604-879-1020 or online here: https://heros-welcome.com/reservations/

My first ever Guilt and Co show!
Thurs. Dec 12 @ 7:00PM - 9:00PM Guilt & Company, 1 Alexander Street, Underground, Vancouver, BC Same band in a cellar at night. 19+ only - $6/set

Be sure to follow me on Instagram and YouTube to see the latest news about the album and the really special videos I have been working on. Check out the latest video for “Jingle” HERE

I love you all and wish you a happy Halloween, Diwali, All Saints Day,  and Día de los Muertos.

Thank you for listening!
xo - Anita