Nanaimo’s always been on Kinga Heming’s to-visit list, and on June 8 the Kelowna-based jazz vocalist will finally get to cross it off when she and her band make their Harbour City debut at the Lighthouse Bistro.
Heming will be drawing from the jazz standards catalogue, playing works made famous by singers like Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.
She said it’s a style of music she’s been listening to since she was six years old and she hopes to leave her listeners with an appreciation of it as well.
“It just kind of stuck with me and I found that the more I started singing it, the more I kind of connected with it…” Heming said. “And I just find that, lyrically, I just connect to jazz standards a lot more, I guess with what I’ve gone through in life.”
She said that even though a lot of those mid-century classics are now around 70 years old, she still relates to them on a personal level.
“A lot of them are love songs, right?” Heming said. “A lot of the jazz tunes are love tunes, so I think we’ve all experienced heartache in our lives.”
WHAT’S ON … The Kinga Heming Quartet plays the Lighthouse Bistro, 50 Anchor Way, on Saturday, June 8 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20, $15 for students.
arts@nanaimobulletin.com
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