Hailed as “a jazz virtuoso blessed with a pop sensibility”, velvety-voiced pianist and composer Elizabeth Shepherd has been praised by critics worldwide for her arrestingly original writing and soulful delivery. The Montreal-based soul-jazz innovator has established herself as one of the most alluring and imaginative artists on the scene today, and is seen as part of a wave of jazz musicians bringing the art form to a new generation of music fans. 

The four-time JUNO nominee is the only jazz vocalist to ever have been nominated (twice) for the Polaris Prize. She has released five widely acclaimed records and toured extensively in North America, Europe, Japan and Mexico. She has sold out legendary clubs from Tokyo to Detroit, played major festivals like Elb Jazz and the North Sea Jazz Festivals, and opened for Jamie Cullum at a sold out Hollywood Bowl. 

"With her allusive yet wholly unique and unclassifiable style that blurs the boundaries between jazz, R&B, pop and hip hop, Montreal-based keyboardist Elizabeth Shepherd is perceived by some commentators as a distaff equivalent to Robert Glasper. The truth is, though, that her music is deeper and more cerebral than Glasper's - in fact, as [her music] clearly reveals, she's more like an intellectual Esperanza Spalding." -Charles Waring, MOJO Magazine (UK)

 

After 4 years of interviews with strangers around Montreal, Elizabeth found herself with countless stories, making up a "people's history" of the city she loves so much - which she then wove into a series of 11 original songs to make up her first bilingual album: MONtréal.

Soulful, groovy, with a touch of electronica, Elizabeth is joined on stage by 4 of Montreal's best jazz musicians. The show is accompanied by a film, a stylized journey of the places and people who inspired each song. MONtréal is Elizabeth's most ambitious project to date, reaffirming her originality as a jazz artist.