Swingin’ with the Cool Cats

To ensure everyone’s comfort and health safety, we strongly recommend that patrons attending in person Adult Daytime programs wear a mask that covers the nose, mouth and chin during their visit to the JCC. All Adult Daytime staff will be masked.

A Rat Pack tribute concert in celebration of Chanukah featuring musical guests: The Jordan Klapman Quintet

Enjoy the smooth & swingin’ hits of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr., and dance the afternoon away at our Rat Pack inspired concert held in celebration of Chanukah. Featuring The Jordan Klapman Quintet: Tim Boyle (vocals), Mark Cassius (vocals), Ron Johnston (bass), John Collin (drums) and Jordan Klapman (keyboard). Refreshments will be served. Generously sponsored by the Miles Nadal JCC Music Scholarship and Innovation Fund. Register early, as spaces are limited and this is one of our most popular annual events!

Jordan Klapman (keyboard) is a pianist, bandleader, music director, recording producer, and popular music educator. Since 1977, he has specialized in the performance of 20th century popular music, including ragtime, traditional jazz, Dixieland, 1920s/30s salon music, Big Band, The Great American Songbook, Broadway, and klezmer. He can be heard in music festivals, jazz clubs, concert halls, and theatres across Canada and beyond. Jordan has appeared at Roy Thomson Hall, Koerner Hall, Birdland in New York City, on CBC Radio and television, and as a radio show co-host on JazzFM with the late Jeff Healey. A very active silent film accompanist, Jordan frequently composes and performs his own retro-style scores for the classic dramas and comedies of the silent era. His CV includes dozens of performances at venues including The TIFF LightBox, Silent Sundays at The Revue Theatre, The Toronto Silent Film Festival, The University of Toronto Media Commons, The Vintage Film Festival, and The Toronto Jewish Film Festival. Jordan has also been a special guest performer at some of our larger MNjcc special events, including at our Chanukah and Valentine’s concerts and Jewish Music Week, and we are very pleased to welcome Jordan back for this in-person concert this fall! Jordan also teaches courses on the appreciation of 20th century popular music at many adult education institutions, synagogues and Jewish organizations across the city, including of course, at the Miles Nadal JCC, where he is always a crowd favourite. Don’t miss Jordan’s virtual fall lecture series The Rat Pack: Kings of Cool – the perfect complement to our concert! For more information, visit http://www.jordanklapman.com/

Tim Boyle (vocalist) first discovered his taste for the Big Band era as a teenager, while studying piano under a prominent ex-band leader. From there, he spent several years performing in Toronto musical productions including West Side Story, Kiss Me Kate and A Chorus Line. He eventually hit the Toronto club circuit with his jazz trio, performing classic ’30’s and ’40’s hits at such jazz venues as The Top O’ The Senator, The Montreal Bistro and Jazz Club, and Mezzetta Café, and at prestigious special events including the 2003 NHL Banquet Gala Awards Dinner, 2004 opening of the Carlu Theatre, and the opening of the American Librarians Association Conference at the Royal York Hotel. Tim also co-wrote, directed and starred in his one-man musical show A Simple Man featuring Jordan Klapman, Adam David, Jordan O’Connor and Carrie Chestnutt to sold out audiences and rave reviews. Mark Cassius (vocals) is a versatile performer who was on Broadway in the original cast of Ragtime and in revivals of Jesus Christ Superstar and Shenandoah. He has spent seasons at the Stratford, Shaw and Drayton Festivals, and Toronto credits include Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (with Donny Osmond), Miss Saigon, Showboat, Cats, and the Toronto premiere of the off-Broadway musical, The Musical of Musicals (the Musical), for which he received a Broadway World Best Actor nomination. Mark toured internationally for eight years as Baritone in the Canadian pop/a cappella quartet, “The Nylons”. Mark has been a performance instructor at The Randolph College for the Performing Arts for more than 18 years, and teaches Musical Theatre Performance courses at Sheridan College and Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson). John Collin (drummer) has over twenty years of drumming experience and has played with most of Toronto’s prominent Big Bands; an accomplished professional percussionist he specialises in jazz and swing genres. He attended the Jazz Program at Humber College and received further training with notable great Roger Flock. John has received airplay on Toronto’s premiere jazz radio station JazzFM91 and on international radio stations aw s well. He has performed with jazz legends Dave Pell and Pat LaBarbera, and at numerous Jazz Festivals across The GTA, Ontario, and beyond. He has been featured in online and print publications including the Jazz Music Archives. Ron Johnston (bass) – Classically trained, Ron’s first love has always been Jazz. He has been professionally performing and recording, (locally and abroad), with a number of different groups since 1971. Ron has also appeared in numerous TV shows and Films as a musician extra, including being a main band member in the Oscar winning film “Chicago”. He was one of the original members of the well-known Hard Bop band “Kollage”, performing and recording with the group for their first nine years. Currently, Ron can be seen working with Juno award winner Bob DeAngelis, The Tanya Wills Quartet, Fifth Element, as well as freelancing with many other groups in the Toronto area. In addition to teaching privately, Ron is the bass instructor at the acclaimed St. Michael’s College School in Toronto.