"Born to be Blue" with David Braid and friends

Saturday, December 13, 2025 at 7:00 pm

$40 per ticket

Sunday, December 14, 2025 at 2:00 pm

$40 per ticket

The 39th and 40th concerts in the York Place Musical Salon.

About the Event

The profoundly creative mind and talent of multi Juno Award-winning Canadian composer and pianist David Braid will be on full display at this one-of-a-kind event. David and his band of stellar musicians will perform jazz standards he arranged for the film Born to Be Blue —winner of both "Best Original Score" and "Best Original Song" at the 2017 Gemini Awards. The film, starring Ethan Hawke as Chet Baker, chronicles the highs and lows of the legendary American jazz musician. David is joined by Steve Wallace on bass (who also performed on the original soundtrack), Mike Allen on saxophone, and special guest Anders Mogensen from Denmark on percussion.

“The Canadian pianist David Braid assembles a concise mix of standards and originals, all given a contemporary patina without sacrificing period authenticity." – The Times, UK

“Born to Be Blue leaves us breathless with its music.” – Lustre Magazine

This clip shows Ethan Hawke as Chet Baker singing one of David Braid's arrangements in the film..

Tickets will be available on Monday, October 13, 2025 at 9:00 am.

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We gratefully acknowledge a generous donation from an anonymous patron who has sponsored the York Place Musical Salon since 2024. This support helps further our goal of presenting performances of the highest caliber. Thank you.

About the Musicians

Acclaimed in the Canadian Press as "one of Canada's true Renaissance men,” David Braid is a distinguished composer, improviser, and pianist. He is a ten-time nominee and four-time recipient of Canada’s highest music honour, the Juno Award.

A Steinway Artist, Braid serves as Composer-in-Residence for the Sinfonia UK Collective. He is also a Guest Artist at the Danish National Music Conservatory and an Affiliate Artist at the University of Liverpool’s Interdisciplinary Centre for Composition and Technology.

Braid first emerged as an "Ace Jazz Pianist," according to The New York Observer, before transitioning into composing chamber music. His work is characterized by its narrative quality, vibrant colours, rhythmic complexity, spontaneity, and the integration of diverse musical languages, a result of over twenty years of international cross-cultural collaboration.

He has performed extensively across the UK, Scandinavia, Europe, Russia, Central Asia, the Far East, Australia, Brazil, and Canada. His original music has been described as "brilliant" by the Montreal Gazette, "full of substance" by Pizzicato Magazine, "enchanting" by The Age in Australia, and "hauntingly beautiful" by The Globe & Mail.

Braid's first instrumental chamber music album, FLOW, released under the Steinway & Sons label in collaboration with the Epoque Quartet (Prague), was praised by the Los Angeles Examiner as “an exceptional work... created with patience, love, and an understanding of the human condition, form, and structure.” His first choral composition, “Corona Divinae Misericordiae,” was nominated for Classical Album of the Year in Canada. Additionally, his first film score won two Canadian Screen Awards for “Best Original Score” and “Best Original Song.”

Braid's brief foray into dramatic music includes arrangements and compositions for the Chet Baker-inspired biopic, Born to Be Blue, starring Ethan Hawke, which The Telegraph (UK) places as one of the top jazz films of all time. His jazz score received acclaim for its "contemporary patina without sacrificing period authenticity,” as noted by The Times (UK). He also received a Screen Award nomination for his orchestral score for the 2022 film Delia’s Gone, featuring Stephan James and Marisa Tomei.

In recognition of his exceptional contributions to music, David Braid received the prestigious Paul de Hueck and Norman Walford Career Achievement Award for Keyboard Artistry from the Ontario Foundation for the Arts. Throughout his career, he has distinguished himself as one of a few creative artists capable of engaging audiences in both classical and jazz communities. His chamber music compositions for notable ensembles resonate with diverse audiences, transcending traditional genre boundaries without compromising the integrity of classical music.

Beyond his performances, Braid supports emerging musicians by leading innovative workshops and masterclasses designed to empower students, reinforce their musical fundamentals, and encourage authentic innovation over superficial creativity.

This is David's second appearance in the York Place Musical Salon.

www.davidbraid.com

Steve Wallace is one of Canada’s foremost jazz bassists. He was born in Toronto in 1956. Most of his career took place there and internationally, playing clubs, touring and recording with such American greats as Zoot Sims, Ray Bryant, Scott Hamilton, Rosemary Clooney, Woody Herman and many more, as well as with such Canadian giants as Fraser MacPherson, Rob McConnell, Oscar Peterson, Phil Nimmons, Ed Bickert, Mike Murley and many others. He moved to Courtenay in July 2021 where he now lives with his long-suffering wife Anna. These are Steve's tenth and eleventh appearances in the York Place Musical Salon.

www.wallacebass.com

For three decades, Grammy and Juno Award-winning drummer Anders Mogensen has been one of the most sought after musicians on the Danish as well as the International Jazz scene. He has been a member of the ground-breaking band When Granny Sleeps He has toured and recorded with Jazz Greats such as: Bob Berg, David Liebman, Steve Swallow, Marc Johnson, Brecker Brothers, Gary Thomas, Tim Hagans, Matthew Garrison, Lew Soloff and Ray Anderson. He is currently a member of Jerry Bergonzi Quartet, Tim Hagans Quartet and Walt Weiskopf European Quartet.

Anders is an Associate Professor at Carl Nielsen Academy of Music, Odense and Assistant Professor at The Royal Academy of Music, Århus, both in Denmark. He has done clinics and workshops throughout Europe, USA, Japan and Brazil.

Downbeat calls Anders Mogensen "the most subtle European drummer today."

Respected tenor saxophonist Mike Allen has led an active performing career on the west coast for thirty years, collaborating with the likes of Phil Dwyer, Hugh Fraser, Brad Turner, Oliver Gannon, Miles Black, Chuck Israels, Donald Bailey and Julian Priester. His acclaimed 2019 trio album Just Like Magic was recorded at the iconic Van Gelder Studio and features drummer Lewis Nash and bassist Peter Washington. Before retiring from teaching in 2020, Mike was Head of Jazz Studies at Western Washington University. During his earlier years he received grants and scholarships to live and study in New York City, San Francisco, and Pisa, Italy.

Listeners and critics describe Mike's tenor sound as a husky mix of Joe Lovano and Joe Henderson, both legendary tenor players with whom Mike studied.