Teresa Doyle

Artist Information

Biography

Doyle’s ten recordings on her label Bedlam Records have met with critical acclaim at home in the Maritimes, across North America, Europe and Japan. This body of work has garnered numerous awards including two ECMAs, two JUNO nominations and the 2007 Martyn -Lynch award, a $15,000 prize given to one Canadian musician each year.

The Late Night Parlour is a mix of Teresa Doyle’s own songwriting and tunes from the swing and Latin era. The title track takes you to the tropical sensuality of Tobago and a mountainside rum shack called The Late Night Parlour. Inspired by performing with Soca musicians at the rum shack, Teresa began writing songs from the languor of her beach chair. Her songwriting is sassy, sexy, danceable and fun. The Late Night Parlour is co-produced by Teresa and David Rashed.

“The Late Night Parlour is a delightful collection of jazz originals and standards, sung with spunk and finesse. With her gorgeous voice, impeccable pitch and phrasing, Teresa takes supreme ownership of whatever she sings. Music from the core of one of Canada’s finest, most versatile vocalists.”
— Anne Lindsay, 2007 National Jazz Award winner and violinist with Blue Rodeo

“I’ve been around a long time and I know good jazz. When Teresa sings, it’s good jazz.”
— Sam Sniderman, Sam the Record Man

“I finally got a chance to hear all of your new CD Late Night Parlour…Teresa, Teresa, I'm totally smitten, your purrings are the musings of a comfort jazz kitten.”
— Denise Reiser

Doyle has attracted listeners at countless festivals and concert venues including: The Mariposa, Winnipeg and Vancouver Folk Festivals, the Montreal Jazz Festival, the 92nd Street ‘Y’ in Manhattan, England’s Salisbury Art Centre, Sound Symposium, The St. John’s Jazz festival, Canadian Jazz and World Showcases and the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo. She gives voice workshops in Canada, Mexico, the U.S. and Ireland.

“Your CD was my absolute favorite of the many things I collected at the North American Folk Alliance this year. I like it immensely—it is a beautiful record and you should be proud of it.”
— Cheryl McEnaney, U.S. Label Manager, Real World Records

“Teresa Doyle is a versatile and supple singer. With the release of her latest album Late Night Parlour, she's now qualified to call herself an accomplished jazz songwriter and guitarist, as well. Teresa has a gift for making life look easy. You see it in the joy and confidence she brings to the stage accompanied by a big band or alone with her guitar. Whether singing a playful flirt of a samba or crooning a heart-rending ballad, Teresa's vocal artistry and songwriting are rock-solid.”
— Philly Markowitz, CBC Toronto

Doyle has recorded with some of Canada’s finest musicians, Oliver Schroer, Mike Murley, David Travers-Smith, David Woodhead, Ben Grossman, Rich Greenspoon, Ian Toms, Jamie Gatti and others. Doyle had the good fortune to perform with the late jazz pianist Doug Riley, Dr. Music. Together they recorded Summerfly ‘live off the floor’ at CBC Studio H in Halifax.

“As refreshing as a late summer breeze, Teresa Doyle’s voice and lively style rejuvenates both standards and quirky numbers… Summerfly features infectious and intelligent arrangements and a saucy vocal style that is sure to please both the aficionado and the casual listener.”
— Larry Rossignol, Producer and Artistic Director, The Distillery Jazz Festival, Toronto

“Doyle spent the first several years of her career studying voice and singing in the jazz clubs of Montreal. This timeless music is like a second skin to her. There is terrific chemistry here between Doyle and Riley. Riley brings out the best in Doyle on this record and she gives him plenty of room to stretch out. Doyle and Riley were aided by two of the Maritimes’ top session players, Tom Roach and Jamie Gatti.”
— Doug Gallant, The Guardian

Teresa moves effortlessly from one musically passion to another. She has five award-winning Celtic recordings including a collection of Irish Gaelic songs. The birth of her son in 1994 inspired her to create quality children’s music from the Celtic tradition. Teresa credits much of her recording success to her long-standing relationship with the now late Oliver Schroer. Her most recent release, Late Night Parlour, is dedicated to his memory.

Music from Doyle’s label, Bedlam Records, is distributed in Canada by Outside Music, in the U.S. by Allegro and online at www.teresadoyle.com. Her music appears on more than a dozen compilations including three collections by Putumayo World Music with releases in twenty-two countries.

“I love your large musicality, your wonderful voice, your feisty enterprising spirit that is searching out both worldly opportunity and larger truth. And congratulations on a beautiful album. A lot of people are going to love this.”
— Oliver Schroer

“We could not have chosen a better group for our New Year’s Eve 2008 Gala than Teresa Doyle and the Late Night Parlour Little Big Band. Their generous sets of swing and jazz tunes—upbeat and festive, and smoothly delivered—had our guests on the dance floor from the very first number, and kept them there all night long. One couple remarked that it had been a long time since they had the privilege of enjoying and dancing to music of this caliber, anywhere. We can’t wait to have Teresa back for New Year’s Eve 2009.”
— Maurice Gallant, Harbourfront Jubilee Theatre, Summerside


CONTACTS
Kele Redmond
Atlantic Region Publicist/Booking Agent
Tel: 902-314-4678
Email: redmondka@yahoo.ca

Philly Markowitz
National Publicist/Booking Agent
Tel: 519-369-2908
Email: philly.markowitz@gmail.com

Instrumentation

Solo, Teresa sings, plays guitar and a small drone instrument called a sruti box. Her trio includes guitar wizard Ian Toms and bassist Ross MacDonald. For bigger gigs we add a drummer and a horn section.

Discography

Late Night Parlour. The Late Night is a collection of Teresa's own writing and tunes from the latin and swing era. Original tracks You're My Cup of Tea, Late Night Parlour,Dance Me Outside, and Good Morning Man complement great classics like 'All the Cats Join in, Foolin' Myself," and No Moon at All, The recording conjures up visions of steamy tropical nights, dancing, laughter and romance.

Summerfly - Teresa performs eclectic and classic Jazz standards with virtuoso pianist Doug Riley, Dr. Music.

Orrachan - The Divine Feminine in Gaelic Song
A collection of ancient Irish Gaelic sacred music. Layered ethereal vocals, a deeply restful and contemplative work.

Cradle On The Waves
A collection of lullabies and slow aires both original and traditional. This recording garnered a JUNO nomination and an East Coast Music Award.

If Fish Could Sing
More up-tempo Celtic songs for children with the chorus "The Boys & Girls of Bedlamb". This album won an American Library Association Award, Parents Choice Recommended and was nominated for both an East Coast Music Award and a JUNO Award.

Dance To Your Daddy
Traditional Celtic and Maritime songs carefully chosen to appeal to children as well as their parents. This recording won an East Coast Music Award for children’s album of the year.

Songs for Lute & Voice
Renaissance lute songs with lute player Toshizo Tanaka.

Stowaway
Traditional Celtic and original songs based on P.E.I. legends of witches, stowaways and land struggles collected by Teresa.

Forerunner
Traditional Celtic and original songs based on ghost stories that Teresa collected on P.E.I.

Prince Edward Isle, Adieu
Traditional Celtic and Maritime songs.

Links

• Teresa Doyle Official Website
• Teresa Doyle's MySpace

Audio

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• PEI Music - New Releases [+ Show ]
  

  Teresa Doyle’s latest recording project, Late Night Parlour, is a collection of swing tunes from the...Teresa Doyle’s latest recording project, Late Night Parlour, is a collection of swing tunes from the forties and Teresa’s own commentary on life, love and tea. The recording was co-produced by David Rashed and Teresa, and features some of Canada’s finest jazz musicians, many of them living on PEI. The guitarist Ian Toms and bassist Ross MacDonald joined Teresa for all of the tracks. Alan Dowling is on drum kit. Dan St. Amand wrote the horn parts and plays flugelhorn. PEI Symphony Orchestra conductor Jamie Mark contributes alto saxophone and bass clarinet. Ben Grossman, percussionist for Loreena MacKennitt, plays percussion and the Mike Murley plays tenor saxophone on four tracks. The recording will be available in Island stores, at www.teresadoyle.com and at the Charlottetown Farmers Market in mid-December. Teresa heads out on tour in January and returns to PEI for the record launch and a performance at The Confederation Centre on February 15. She is the guest for this year’s Pops concert with the PEI Symphony Orchestra. The Late Night Parlour Band are performing New Year’s Eve at Harbourfront Theatre in Summerside.

• NewYear’s Gala - Teresa Doyle and the Late Night Parlour Jazz Band entertain [+ Show ]
  

  The Harbourfront Theatre is offering a new option for those wishing to paint the town this New Year’...The Harbourfront Theatre is offering a new option for those wishing to paint the town this New Year’s Eve—a festive holiday gala with food, drink and dancing—all on their stage, which is undergoing some modifications for the occasion.
  
  Maurice Gallant, general manager of the Summerside venue, describes the event and the transformation. “This gala is an opportunity to dress up, come out and enjoy some gourmet food and fabulous swing music and welcome the new year in a very unique atmosphere.We are building a custom, removable stage appendage which will extend out over approximately the first ten rows of seats. This will allow us the room for the band, table seating and a dance floor.”
  
  “We’ll have music by Teresa Doyle and the Late Night Parlour Jazz Band,” continues Gallant, “gourmet hors d’oeuvres served at each table all evening long, and a champagne toast at midnight to ring in 2009.”
  
  A maximum of 200 tickets will be sold for the Harbourfront New Year’s Eve soiree, and Gallant says one of the highlights of the evening will be the magical surroundings.
  
  “A theatre stage offers abundant opportunity to take advantage of props and special lighting effects, to create a truly unique and beautiful atmosphere in which to celebrate.We’re very excited about this one-of-a-kind event, and encourage those who wish to join us to get their tickets soon.”

• PEI Symphony pops - Teresa Doyle is guest artist for Between Sun and Snow [+ Show ]
  

  On Sunday, February 15, the PEI Symphony Orchestra’s 41th season continues with Between Sun and Snow...On Sunday, February 15, the PEI Symphony Orchestra’s 41th season continues with Between Sun and Snow. In keeping with this year’s theme of community, critically acclaimed Island vocalist Teresa Doyle will join the PEISO and Conductor Dr. Jamie Mark on the Mainstage of the Confederation Centre.
  
  Each year, the PEISO tries to find an accomplished soloist for the Pops Concert. Teresa Doyle performs music drawn from a number of musical genres. Her albums include a collection of ancient sacred music, three successful Celtic children’s albums, and a live jazz recording. She has earned two Juno nominations, and won both East Coast Music Awards and the 2007 Victor Martin Lynch-Staunton award, which recognizes artistic excellence.
  
  Teresa says, “It is an honour to be the invited guest of the Symphony and the timing is wonderful. [Symphony musician] Dan St. Amand wrote the horn parts for my album, and he and conductor Jamie Mark recorded them.”
  
  Teresa Doyle will be joined on stage by guitarist Ian Toms. They will play a number of selections with the orchestra, including a Celtic piece and a number of jazz tunes from Ms. Doyle’s new album Late Night Parlour. Many of the songs on the album were written by Ms. Doyle and all of the concert selections were scored by James Mark.
  
  In keeping with the sun and snow theme, other concert selections include the Antoine Ouellette’s Perce-Neige, a piece that evokes the Quebec countryside. Ouellette, a Québécois musicologist and music professor, has composed more than forty works, including pieces for the flute, organ, and Celtic harp. He will be attending the concert for the premiere of his work. The Grand Canyon Suite is by American composer Ferde Grofe. The five movements include: Sunrise; Painted Desert; On the Trail, which suggests the feeling of riding on a donkey; Sunset; and Cloudburst.
  
  The concert, which begins at 2:30 pm, will be preceded at 1:15 pm by a preconcert talk in the Studio Theatre. Concert goers interested in supporting the PEISO annual citrus sale will be able to purchase fresh apples, oranges, and grapefruits in the Centre lobby throughout the afternoon.
  
  This is the official release of Teresa’s new recording Late Night Parlour and Teresa and the P.E.I.S.O. invite you to the afternoon concert and more jazz to follow at a reception at Mavor’s starting at 4:30 pm. www.teresadoyle.com

• A musical match that makes sense - Soloist Teresa Doyle is excited about her upcoming performance Sunday with the P.E.I. Symphony Orchestra [+ Show ]
  

  With only a few days left before her performance on the mainstage of the Confederation Centre of the...With only a few days left before her performance on the mainstage of the Confederation Centre of the Arts, Teresa Doyle is deep in rehearsal mode.
  
  On Sunday, the awardwinning P.E.I. singer will perform selections from her new CD, Late Night Parlour, as the guest soloist of the P.E.I. Symphony Orchestra (PEISO) at 2:30 p.m.
  
  “I’m preparing for the concert by singing a lot, listening to the album and trying to keep a good voice. But most of all, I’m trying not catch the flu,” says Doyle, relaxing over a bowl of hot soup in a sunny restaurant in downtown Charlottetown.
  
  For her, the real fun begins Saturday morning when she arrives at the centre to begin rehearsals with the PEISO, under the direction of James Mark. Then there’s a dress rehearsal Sunday morning to further polish the material before Sunday’s performance.
  
  “I’m excited about it. It’s going to be fun,” she says.
  
  It’s not the first time Doyle has been backed up by such a large band. She performed with the PEISO as a guest soloist 15 years ago.
  
  “I’ll never forget the feeling of the momentum of that many people playing together. It felt like being tied to the front of a train. This time I’ll be much more relaxed.”
  
  One of the reasons Doyle is feeling comfortable is that she’ll have guitarist Ian Toms at her side.
  
  “He’s my right hand person, one of the best jazz guitar players in the country,” says Doyle, who has just returned from a successful tour of Ontario and Quebec.
  
  The second reason is that the conductor has taken an active involvement in her music. Not only is Mark doing the orchestral arrangements of her music for Sunday’s concert, he has performed with her in the past.
  
  “One day at the Charlottetown Farmer’s Market, I ran into Jamie and Penny Mark and invited him to sit in on a jazz series that I was doing at the P.E.I. Preserves Company in New Glasgow last summer,” says Doyle.
  
  Mark, a gifted clarinet and saxophone player, not only sat in three times, he performed on her new CD and became part of her Late Night Parlour Jazz band during the New Year’s Eve gala at the Harbourfront Theatre.
  
  “I’m looking forward to the concert. It should be a lot of fun,” says Mark.
  
  PEISO president Heather Doran is also excited. “I’m thrilled that Teresa Doyle is performing with the PEISO on Sunday. We are very excited that one of P.E.I.’s most talented vocalists will be bringing her style of Celtic music and jazz to the stage,” she says.
  
  Doyle’s performance is part of the larger program entitled Between Sun and Snow, which features Antoine Ouellette’s Perce- Neige, a piece that evokes the Quebec countryside. The Québécois musicologist and music professor, who has composed more than 40 works will be in attendance for the premiere of his work. The orchestra will also perform The Grand Canyon Suite is by American composer Ferde Grofe.
  
  “It’s going to be one of the orchestra’s most eclectic programs. It’s fun to see different genres of music coming together in a pops concert setting,” says Mark.

• Doyle warms a wintry day with a late night tropical breeze [+ Show ]
  

  It was about this time last year that well-adored Island singer/songwriter, vocal teacher and artist...It was about this time last year that well-adored Island singer/songwriter, vocal teacher and artist Teresa Doyle was getting ready to head down south to the island of Tobago with her husband and son for three weeks.
  
  Being an intuitive person, perhaps Doyle knew somehow that this trip would spawn new inspiration, as she regularly played music with the locals and even found the title of her new CD — Late Night Parlour. It was the name of the mountainside rum shack where she jammed the night away with soca musicians, high above Perlatuvier Bay.
  
  Recorded throughout the latter part of 2008 by engineer/producer David Rashed in Charlottetown, the 11-track CD includes a lovely mélange of Doyle’s own quirky jazzy compositions intertwined with ’40s swing-era classics.
  
  As always, Doyle assembled some of the best musicians around to back her up: Mike Murley on tenor sax, Alan Dowling on drums, Ross MacDonald on bass, Dan St. Amand on horns, Ben Grossman on percussion, Ian Toms on guitar and James Mark on bass clarinet and alto sax.
  
  And her collaboration with that final musician mentioned helped bring about the fruition of the event that took place last Sunday on the mainstage of Confederation Centre of the Arts: Teresa Doyle’s launch of Late Night Parlour as a special guest of the Prince Edward Island Symphony, conducted by Mark.
  
  Before we were jazzily whisked away to more tropical late-night lands, however, we first had the chance to musically indulge in the splendour of our Canadian winter with the symphony’s world premiere performance of a brand new piece called Perce-neige, by Antoine Ouellette.
  
  Visiting P.E.I. for the occasion, the Quebec composer was seated in the centre of the theatre, happily transfixed on his creation coming to life before his ears, surrounded by a two-thirds full audience that was just as engaged.
  
  You could have heard a snowflake fall upon the stage as the symphony began, save for the entrance of violins, seeping into life with a chorus of high whistles of wind.
  
  The piece itself centres around the transition point between winter and spring: that familiar interplay — an always-intriguing season push-and-pull that sees the foothold of winter reluctantly succumbing to the melting tides of spring’s rejuvenation.
  
  And every moment of the 15-minute long performance was absolutely gripping in its serene chaos. Indeed, to the listener, it was akin to watching a month-long video in fastforward of a snow-covered forest-side valley experiencing its procession into spring.
  
  Not an easy piece to execute well, the symphony performed it brilliantly. Highlight parts were the ominous horn section wintry bellows, the pounding storm tympanis and the chirping bird flute, which, fittingly, and gloriously, had the last laugh in its final beautiful, echoing note.
  
  “And now ladies and gentlemen,” spoke Mark, “along with guitarist Ian Toms, bassist Melissa Andrew and drummer Dave Shephard, our Island treasure, Teresa Doyle.”
  
  The jazz trio laid down a sensuous Latin-fused intro, as Doyle shone in a relaxed smile, poised to beam us from snow to sun: “Late night parlour, moonlight on the harbour, in that late night parlour, I’ll meet you there,” she sang in the chorus of the CD’s title track.
  
  Effortlessly gliding from phrase to phrase, Doyle’s voice sounded as pure and easy as we’ve come to know it to be. But, watching her closely on this afternoon, I realized this: Doyle’s relationship with her voice is more like a vastly experienced player-to-an-instrument — in her incredible ability to wield it in whatever way she pleases, knowing it like the back of her hand and therefore using it to its ultimate potential on any given note.
  
  She seemed especially happily at home, too, in front of the grand orchestra behind her. And yet, all I was wishing for at times was to be in an old afterhours cabaret bar, a drink in my hand, dancing into the night with my sweetheart. The afternoon theatre atmosphere almost seemed too stifling for these carefree tunes.
  
  But I certainly appreciated the big band accompaniment with songs like All the Cats Join In, No Moon at All and Doyle’s original, Dance Me Outside.
  
  And to have Mark turn around and do a tenor sax solo and then step back to the podium to continue conducting was just too cool.
  
  The symphony finished off the afternoon of music with Grand Canyon Suite, which was, once again, a great delight for the senses. Having experienced a ride into the canyon on horseback a few years ago, the On the Trail movement, complete with donkey clipclops on the woodblock, brought back gorgeous memories of scenery (and reminiscent aches to my posterior).
  
  To find Doyle’s new CD, head to www.teresadoyle. com, where you can listen to some great cuts, check out material from her nine other successful recordings, and maybe be whisked away to a Tobago rum shack in the process.

• Sensual music - Sun and Snow PEI Symphony Orchestra [+ Show ]
  

  Between Sun and Snow, the third of the PEI Symphony Orchestra’s performances this season, offered an...Between Sun and Snow, the third of the PEI Symphony Orchestra’s performances this season, offered an unusually spicy mixture, thoughtfully blended up to combat those long-winter blues, reassuring us that there’s warmth in our future. Perhaps even some heat.
  
  Guest soloist Teresa Doyle sang sassy jazz tunes from her new CD, Late Night Parlour, including both original songs like “You’re My Cup of Tea” (written for husband Brett Bunson) and “Dance Me Outside” (written for her parents and dedicated to her mother) as well as compatible covers like “Comes Love (Nothing Can Be Done).” And when I say she sang them, what I mean to say is she sang the heck out of them. As is her wont.
  
  Doyle’s one foray out of the jazz she does so well was from Orrachan, her recording of sacred medieval Irish music. Her rendition of a Gaelic song based on the seven sorrows of the Virgin Mary was very stirring—Doyle really has a remarkable voice. I’ve heard her sing “The Seven Sorrows” before but never with the power and emotional impact of this performance.
  
  After intermission we were back to swing-y jazz and a good time was had by all. Doyle, for one, was clearly enjoying herself, smiling hugely and exclaiming exuberantly, at one point, “This is as much fun as it gets!”
  
  Ferde Grofé wrote the five movements of The Grand Canyon Suite between 1929 and 1931. Grofé was inspired by a trip he and friends had taken across the Arizona desert in 1916 to see sunrise over the Grand Canyon. Forty years later, in a radio interview, Grofé said that he’d written the Suite because what he experienced was beyond what could be expressed in words. And that’s where the first movement begins, at sunrise. Through out, we’re led through the day that follows.
  
  Conductor James Mark spoke of the visual quality of the work, Grofé’s ability to paint a picture in music. No kidding. It’s bad form to quote from program notes, but in this case, I can’t resist (although I’ll admit I didn’t try very hard): “…a lone cowboy rides into the picture, passes a waterfall and closes in on a solitary cabin housing a music box. The cowboy gallops out of the picture and the sun sets, leaving the canyon in darkness. The music comes to an end with a cloudburst, then the moon.” I swear, I saw every item. Not to mention the donkey… And to think it was all done with music.

Setlist

Set lists vary greatly from gig to gig. Teresa can present a full evening of either Celtic music or jazz, including her own songwriting in both genres. Normally she does two 45-minute sets. Teresa often does Celtic music for children as well, one 50-minute set.

Basic Requirements

Calendar