The Emmet Ray just celebrated 15 years of hard work and dedication to the jazz scene in Toronto. That is a big accomplishment in today’s ever-changing market. It has survived the pandemic where I got to witness many clubs go under. I have seen the changing landscape of how information is being used to promote music. Now Magazine was a strong place to see where the best music is being played. Blast Toronto is now taking up that mantle with our growing directory. Yes that is a shameless plug.

On this day, the Emmet Ray chose two different acts to help celebrate. The first act went on around dinner time and people came out in flocks to have a great meal and to open up their Christmas spirit and listen to the Phil Jimenez Trio. The other two members of this outfit are Ben Payne on Bass and Carlan Pulkkinen on drums.

It was a glorious rendition of a Charlie Brown Christmas. Each piece they played was in the style of the peanuts characters. With the opening of OH Christmas Tree, I felt like I was watching my favourite Christmas show again.

The audience having dinner was delighted and happy. There were families sharing these precious moments with their children. There were Gen X and Baby Boomer turning into children again. I was reliving some great childhood moment with songs like, Silver Bells, Chestnut’s roasting on an open fire, and they even squeezed in, “I want to wish you a Merry Christmas” made famous by Jose Feliciano.

Nobody was going anywhere until you heard the opening chords to Charlie brown’s Christmas Song. I went home that evening and actually pulled out my own Charlie Brown Christmas tree. It took hours to set that sucker up, wink,wink…

Here are some of the players:

The 9pm show was something a little different. What I love about the Emmet Ray is the fact that they provide a space for young talent to develop their live music skills. They brought in Jack Johnston and his house band. As the night progressed, this evening was turning into a Jam Session filled with young players itching to get up and do a solo. The room was electric with excitement as to who was going to play next.

At one point we had a drummer who was swinging with the energy all night. We had a chilled guitar player keeping the rhythm in check. We had a Standup Bass player who looked like Neil Peart during the 2112 days of Rush. I was digging the ‘stash.

There was my buddy Mathieu Fiset sitting next to me constantly saying there is no one on piano. I think he should have joined in. At one point there were three different sized Saxophones ready to rumble and ran through 3 extensive solos. Just when you think the place couldn’t get any more packed, a trumpet player from the last table got up and wailed his solo as he walked towards the stage. He didn’t make it to the stage because it was overflowing with musicians.

It wasn’t all instrumental music, a young lady named Selena got up and did a quiet number before she eased into a mellow scat routine. It was very pleasant. But Toronto’s King of the Scat got up about an hour in and riled up the crowd with his intense vocal gymnastics. That my friend is none other than: Ori Dagan.  Near the end of the evening Ori made sure to give a big shout out to Andrew who runs The Emmet Ray and to the hard-working staff that make the place really fun. In fact, I was listening in on a couple of their conversations and they really are passionate about their Scotch selection. So, if you are a scotch person and you love jazz, what are you waiting for?

The Emmet Ray can be your new home away from home when you need some good sounds in your life. This is a place that should thrive, but you need to make the effort to go out and have fun there. They are located at 924 College St and Dovercourt. Be sure to make a reservation to get a good table. The number is 416-792-4497.

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