Sue Ramsay - Once Upon a Summertime (2015)

Tracklist

01. Comment Allez-Vous
02. A Sleepin' Bee
03. Les Moulins De Mon Coeur
04. The Water Is Wide
05. Charade
06. Once Upon a Summertime
07. Gypsy in My Soul
08. If You Go Away
09. Summer Night
10. Moon and Sand
11. I Will Wait for You
12. The Folks Who Live on the Hill
13. 'Tis Autumn-September in the Rain
14. Charade (Alternate)

Between spinning records at CJTT and digging deep into their jazz collection as a teenager and growing up around a piano as a means of socializing.....it was only natural Sue would become a singer. She came from a long line of them. Her grandfather, father and aunt all sang.....and yes, she grew up around a piano. Her Daddy also was a trumpet player and had a big band in his younger days. Lets say, she knew from the get go, singing was her thing .

Her professional musical journey began in the early 80's while studying music at Sheridan College . A summer run at the Deerhurst Resort in Huntsville led to a 2 year tour throughout Canada and several eastern States with a 4 piece vocal jazz ensemble called the Sheridan Way . Suzanne then relocated to the Hamilton area. While working & attending McMaster University , she did studio session work at Grant Avenue Studios and sang with several local bands at area night and golf clubs.

Then the millennium happened! She got married, moved to Niagara wine country and passionately put together her dream project…a retrospective look at late 50's jazz. Sue performed at the Niagara Casino for over 18 months and continued to play various jazz venues in the Niagara area. She was content to work with her trio when she reconnected with Mike Stanutz and decided it was time to try her hand at writing lyrics. In 2006, she and Mike Stanutz released their first all original cd, Reunion. Suzanne's band quickly became a quintet....and she was very pleased to perform at MacMaster's Convocation Hall as well as the Burlington Blues and Jazz Festival. 2011 saw the release of a new Cd from she and Mike entitled "Dichotomy" . The fifties crashed into the sixties. It's a lot of jazz....some definite 60's grooves and a hint of folk. Definitely Canadian. They topped it off with 24 months of "hippy jazz". It was so fun....but family comes first, Mike became a rep hockey Dad and coach and Sue switched her focus to her trio.

This is where life gets really interesting as we're here and now......Sue and her trio, Bob Shields on guitar and Clark Johnston on bass have recorded her latest cd "Once Upon a Summertime". They have just finished the Twilight Jazz Series, and are poised for Jazz on the Ridge.....the future looks bright. We'll see what we see...... :) Stick around. I think things are about to get really interesting.

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