Originally hailing from Belfast, Northern Ireland, Canadian drummer Mark Kelso has made Toronto, Canada his home for quite some time. Not only is he a skilled musician who plays drums and percussion, but he is also a singer, producer, composer and band leader as well. Mark has also been the Head of the percussion dept at Humber College in Toronto since 2005. Mark’s ability to play a wide variety of musical styles has helped him become one of Canada’s most sought after drummers. An all around player, he has worked/recorded with a wide array of artists such as Pat Metheny, Donny McCaslin, Laila Biali, Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Michael Bublé, Changuito, David Clayton-Thomas, Holly Cole, Larry Coryell, Eliana Cuevas, Paquito D’Riveria, Hilario Duran, David Foster, Dave Grusin, Herbie Hancock, Olivia Newton John, Molly Johnson, Chaka Khan, Pat LaBarbera, Donnell Leahy, Natalie MacMaster, Bob Mintzer, Peter Murphy (Bauhaus), Donny Osmond, Danilo Perez, Chris Potter, Jovino Santos Neto, NOJO, Bonnie Raitt, Maria Schneider, John Scofield, Ron Sexsmith, Mike Stern, Soul Stew, James Taylor, Susan Tedeschi, Ian Tyson, Gino Vannelli, Carol Welsman and his own Juno award nominated band, The Jazz Exiles. Mark runs “Groovy Drums Studio” where he records drum tracks for many artists around the world. To date he has played on over 285 recordings. Aside from playing many TV and radio jingles and movie soundtracks Mark has also been featured in Drums ETC, Canadian Musician, Drumhead, Drum Scene and Modern Drummer magazines. Mark has also been a featured clinician/performer at the Montreal Drumfest, IAJE, Musicfest, KOSA, Percussive Arts Society, Regina Drum Festival, Whack Bam Thudd festival, Victoria Drum Festival and the Cape Breton Drum Festival. Mark recently released his first instructional drum DVD entitled, “Musician First, Drummer Second” to great acclaim. Mark endorses and is a featured clinician for Yamaha Drums, Paiste Cymbals, Evans Drum heads, Headhunters drumsticks and Plunge Audio in-ear monitors.
Mark Kelso
Drums
Mark Kelso
Rich Brown
Bass
Rich Brown, leader of the Juno nominated RB & the Abeng group, is one of North America’s premier bass players and is one of the most in-demand players in Canada. As someone with a unique voice on the instrument, Rich has been an active member of Toronto’s culturally diverse music scene since 1992. He taught himself to play bass at the age of 17 by listening to artists such as Jaco Pastorius, Victor Bailey, Jimmy Haslip, and Alain Caron. Later on, he expanded his vocabulary by drawing upon influences outside the bass realm. Rich currently leads his own original modern jazz group called RB & the Abeng. Rich has performed/recorded with some of the finest and musically diverse musicians in the world such as Carol Welsman, Jane Siberry, Glenn Lewis, Dapp Theory, Steve Coleman & 5 Elements, James “Blood” Ulmer, Vernon Reid, Andy Narrell, Kim Mitchell, David Clayton Thomas, Bruce Cockburn, and Hermeto Pascoal, to name a few. Rich has appeared on over 40 recordings ranging from Jazz to Funk to Latin to traditional Asian and Arabic music. Rich brings an amazing combination of groove and melody to the Jazz Exiles.
Jeremy Ledbetter
Keyboards
An engaging and fiery performer whose music knows no boundaries, Canadian pianist Jeremy Ledbetter has made a career from travelling the far-flung corners of the globe in search of the most fascinating and unique musical ideas out there, then seamlessly integrating them into his work as a pianist, composer, and producer. Jeremy is perhaps best known as the composer and pianist at the helm of Caribbean Latin Jazz powerhouse CaneFire, or as the longtime musical director and producer for calypso superstar David Rudder, from Trinidad and Tobago. Originally trained as a classical pianist, Jeremy studied jazz performance at York University in Toronto before embarking on a ten-year journey of studying, playing, and producing music in Trinidad, Cuba, Brazil, Venezuela, the USA, Bolivia, and Nicaragua. Upon his return to Canada, Jeremy formed the Caribbean jazz ensemble CaneFire to play the original music inspired by his travels. CaneFire has quickly risen to international recognition on the strength of two albums – “Kaiso Blue” (2005) and “Pandemonium” (2010), and their performances at jazz festivals from Vancouver to Venezuela. Jeremy’s expertise in a variety of musical cultures is most evident in his production work, which has seen him tackle ambitious projects in a wide range of genres. Jeremy has produced albums for latin, calypso, soca, jazz, and salsa artists in five different countries, including eight albums with David Rudder, two with CaneFire and his most recent production, “Espejo” by Venezuelan songstress Eliana Cuevas, winner of Best Latin Album at the 2014 Independent Music Awards. At the piano, Ledbetter’s playing features unrelenting energy and a playful spirit. He has worked with world-renowned artists from the worlds of jazz (Andy Narell, Jane Bunnett, Eliana Cuevas), salsa (Alfredo de la Fe, Changuito, Willie Torres, Adonis Puentes, Ralph Irizarry), calypso (David Rudder, Mighty Sparrow, Andre Tanker, Ralph MacDonald) and Brazilian music (Hermeto Pascoal, Celso Machado, Luanda Jones). Ledbetter is also an accomplished multi-instrumentalist who counts the steelpan, harmonica, mandolin, and didjeridu among his weapons of choice. Jeremy currently lives in and out of Toronto, Canada.
Luis Deniz
Alto Saxophone
Alto saxophonist Luis Deniz originally hails from Camaguey, Cuba but has made Toronto, Canada his home for many years now. He was the winner of the Grand Prix De Jazz at the Montreal Jazz festival as well as the Galaxie rising star at the Halifax Jazz festival. Luis has been involved with Grammy Award nominees and Juno winning recordings. Deniz has performed/recorded with some of the worlds most outstanding musicians including Mark Turner, Tony Allen, Hilario Duran, Paquito D’Rivera, Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez, Dafnis Prieto, Rinsethealgorhythm, NOJO, Roberto Occhipinti, and Jane Bunnett. He has also shared the stage with artists such as Barry Harris, Howard Johnson, Steve Turre, Randy Brecker and Hermeto Pascoal. One of the highlights of Luis’ career has been being a faculty member at Toronto’s prestigious Humber College. Luis brings his firey style of playing to the Jazz Exiles.
Elmer Ferrer
Guitars
Elmer Ferrer is the newest member of the Jazz Exiles. Originally born in Sancti Spiritus, Cuba, he has made Toronto his home for many years now. Elmer is a diverse artist who plays guitar, composes, produces and has played with such musicians as Chucho Valdes, Zucchero, Natalie MacMaster & Donnell Leahy, Los Van Van, Juan Manuel Ceruto and many more. He has over 100 recording credits including two Latin Grammy nominees to his name.
Robi Botos
Keyboards
Robi Botos is a Hungarian-Canadian jazz pianist. He has recorded several albums as a leader and was the winner of the TD Grand Jazz Award at the 2012 Montreal International Jazz Festival. He was born in Nyíregyháza, Hungary, to a Roma family, and grew up in Budapest. His first instrument was drums, and at age seven he began playing piano. In 1998 Botos immigrated to Canada and has been a prominent member of the Toronto jazz scene ever since. Equally adept in the Jazz and Funk forums, Botos has played with international artists such as Michael Brecker, Pat LaBarbera, Al Jarreau and Dave Young among others. As well as winning the TD Award in 2012 he also won the Montreux Jazz Festival piano competition in 2004. Botos has been an integral sideman on numerous other recordings by Canadian artists. Additionally, Robi composed the music to the 2011 documentary “A People Uncounted”. He is currently on faculty at Humber College in Toronto. Robi brings a soulful and exiting keyboard style to the Jazz Exiles.
