Jesse Cook & Chris Church in Concert August 25, 2011

Jesse Cook is a Toronto-based guitarist, born in Paris to Canadian parents. Like other guitarists of his style of music, he incorporates funky jazz, latin & world music into his playing. Cook is also well known for the energy of his live shows.

Cook has recorded seven studio albums, two live DVDs and has traveled the world exploring musical traditions that he has blended into his style of rumba flamenco. In addition to headlining concerts and festivals, he has opened for such legends as B.B. King, Ray Charles and Diana Krall. He has performed with Welsh soprano Charlotte Church on the Tonight Show and toured with legendary Irish band, The Chieftains.

In 2001, Cook won a Juno Award in the Best Instrumental Album category for “Free Fall.” In 2009, he was Acoustic Guitar Magazine's Player's Choice Award silver winner in the Flamenco category (gold went to Paco de Lucia). He is a three-time winner of the Canadian Smooth Jazz award for Guitarist of the Year and numerous other awards.

Canadian violinist, vocalist and composer Chris Church hails from Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Chris began his musical career with the Symphony Nova Scotia (SNS) at the age of eighteen as substitute second fiddle. It was with SNS that Chris started his career as an orchestral arranger, writing for their Pops concerts series. Chris played with SNS until 2000, when he left Halifax and moved to Toronto where he continues to write arrangements for SNS and other Canadian orchestras.

Although Chris's foundation is in classical music, after university he found himself drifting away from classical performance as his interest in improvisation increased. Chris was drawn to jazz, pop and rock along with more avant garde improvisation with a range of talented musicians.

Official Website: http://www.cerritoscenter.com/tickets/production.aspx?productionSeasonId=3801