Joe Waye Trio and Breagh Mackinnon added to Makin’ Waves

The Cape Breton Music Industry Cooperative (CBMIC) and Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM) Recreation has announced that renowned local jazz artists Joe Waye Jr. and Breagh Mackinnon will perform at the Makin’ Waves concert series to be held at Wentworth Park this Summer. The concert series will kick off July 2 featuring Slowcoaster and Tony McQuaid and the Yeti, continuing July 9 with Ron Hynes and Carmen Townsend. The Joe Waye Trio and Breagh Mackinnon (also performing as a trio) are scheduled for Thursday, July 16 with special guest Charlotte MacDonald joining the Joe Waye Trio.

Considered Cape Breton’s premiere jazz guitarist, Joe Waye has been honing his guitar chops for 40 years. Having studied with Toronto jazz guitarist Art DeVilliers and shared the stage with Juno award winning artists Kirk MacDonald and Mike Murley, Waye continues the tradition set by classic players like Wes Montgomery and Lenny Breau.

His 2012 release, Back to Normal, was an instant classic and Waye continues to play regularly backed by Johnny Hawkins on drums and “Red” Mike MacDonald on bass. The trio will be joined by Charlotte MacDonald, an emerging local jazz singer. Despite her young age, MacDonald brings a timeless voice to the stage that harkens back to legends like Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. Winner of the 2013 Next Big Thing contest, MacDonald captures the audience with skill and poise far beyond her years.

Breagh Mackinnon is a celebrated young artist on the East Coast scene. With her unique voice and background as a jazz pianist, Mackinnon draws from her love of folk and pop music to create a sound that is quite her own. An ECMA nominee in 2012 for her debut album Where the Days Went, Mackinnon has since been touring Canada both as a solo performer and alongside Dylan Guthro and Carleton Stone as Port Cities. An annual member of the Gordie Sampson Songcamp, Sampson has said of her, “Breagh is that rare combination of voice, song, and musical strength. The songwriting is breathtaking and the voice is strong medicine.”

Makin’ Waves will present exciting nationally and internationally recognized artists starting July 2 at Wentworth Park in downtown Sydney. The concerts will take place each Thursday for five weeks from 6-8pm. With a cross-section of musical genres that will excite citizens and visitors of all ages, the festival has been named part of Destination Cape Breton’s (DCBA) 15 in 15 and will bridge Canada Day and the Sydney Action Week festival on the Downtown Sydney event docket.

The lineup of the inaugural Makin’ Waves concert series will continue to be released online via Facebook.