In celebration of the Kensington Market Jazz Festival’s (KMJF) ten-year anniversary, Demo Magazine paired up with the festival to interview a handful of long-time contributing artists. For this project, I had the pleasure of interviewing accomplished Toronto-based artist Denielle Bassels on a rainy Friday afternoon. Wearing a stylish flat cap, bold red lipstick, and matching red glasses, Bassels is a keen and charming storyteller. She provided me with rich stories about her time as a performer at KMJF, and delved into her impressive musical career.

Though she is well established in the Toronto music scene, her musical journey started outside of the country. As is common among brilliant artists, she turned to music during a chaotic moment in her life. Following the advice of a counsellor, she headed to Switzerland to be an au pair for a child who was attending the prestigious School of Jazz and Contemporary Music of Lausanne. Bassels befriended teachers in the school and attended local shows, immersing herself in the city’s jazz culture. She broke into the music scene on a whim: one evening she spontaneously performed “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” (as popularized by Ella Fitzgerald) in a jazz cave, and promptly became a part of a combo. She described these jazz caves as “small cool underground spots” that host improv sessions. She told me that in Switzerland “everyone creates things on the spot, and people just come up and start playing. There was no, ‘What are we gonna play?’ ” This was a bit tricky for Bassels because at that point in time, she wasn’t bilingual in French nor did she “understand music.” She explained that “I had never taken music lessons, didn’t know what chords were, scales were, nothing.” Despite her lack of musical knowledge, she knew that she “wanted some control over where the music was going and knew this wasn’t it.” So, after touring Europe, she returned to Toronto and attended Humber College’s contemporary music program to learn music theory, composition and production, where her “whole world opened up musically.” She proudly relayed, “I was learning how to speak to musicians and how to manifest my musical ideas in my head into charts and into the hands of musicians.” In talking to Bassels, one can sense her deep devotion to and care for her music, and her songs provide concrete evidence for that devotion and love.  

Bassels’ musical prowess is easily noticeable by her animated and classy voice, her thoughtfully crafted lyrics and instrumentals, and her cross-genre compositions. “I’m not the type of person who sticks to a genre,” she said. “A lot of albums are about themes, and I like the genres to be really fluid: music is music no matter what genre it is and I’m not totally jazz, I would say. I was raised on country, I liked punk music, I liked ska music from the 50s…” Listening to her music, you can hear Bassels’ far-reaching talent and her eclectic sources of inspiration. She has justly received her share of recognition and awards. Her first album, What About Wool Wishbags, features the first song she ever wrote, “Cool Cool Water,” which won Grand Prize in the International John Lennon Song Competition. She confessed that “Cool Cool Water,” is still her favourite song to play. Written on her friend’s kid’s guitar, the song, she said, “was like a gift from the gods,” describing how the lyrics just poured out of her. Her second album, Little Bit a’love, was nominated at the JUNOS for Best Vocal Jazz Album. “I didn’t even think it was possible,” she said, “I just applied because I was told I should.” Even when she got invited, she was completely shocked when she realized she had been nominated: “I couldn’t believe it.” Getting nominated reassured Bassels that “what I was doing is connecting with people. Maybe I can do this.” Her latest release from earlier this year, It Goes Like This, also boasts several amazing tracks—my personal favourites being “Woman Like Me,” “I Can’t Give You Anything but Love,” and “Songbird.” Many songs from this album can be heard during her performance at the festival in September. 

Bassels fits in seamlessly amongst the brilliant performers at the KMJF. She has contributed to the festival since its inception ten years ago. She knew Genevieve ‘Gigi’ Marentette, one of the festival’s co-founders and, in Bassels’ own words, “one of my favourite singers and one of my favourite people.” Through Marentette she met Molly Johnson, the festival’s other co-founder whom Bassels “had always been a huge fan of” and “loved right away.” Johnson immediately took a liking to Bassels, having bonded with her over their smoking habits. Bassels described how “[Johnson] pointed at me outside of a show for a smoke break and went, ‘I like you even more now.’ ” Bassels relayed how charming and authentic Johnson is, saying, “Of course she would be behind the coolest festival in town.” Soon after their meeting, Bassels booked a show at Panemar for the festival. She has since performed five more times at the venues Supermarket and Lola. When asked about her participation in KMJF, she admitted that it is the most exciting festival to be a part of: “You see people you love and respect, [and] it’s an amazing opportunity to build community within the scene, and make these connections, and grow all our fanbases.” 

When walking down the streets of Kensington, the tight-knit and dense community that Bassels mentioned immediately presents itself. The connectivity and compactness of the neighbourhood allow people to easily bounce from venue to venue, landing themselves in an intimate and charged gathering space for creative performers. Endless outlets of jazz entertainment await the buzzing crowds. Bassels described how she usually skips off to see her favourite artist right across the street after wrapping up her show. You can probably catch her “criss-crossing” the Kensington streets on the festival’s weekend, which runs September 19th–21st. A place like Kensington could not be more ideal for an artist—when wandering around on that weekend, the neighbourhood is bursting with pedestrians who are keen to be entranced by the skillful performances of well-established and emerging Toronto musicians. 

Bassels recently received an Ontario Arts Fellowship for which she will be headed to France. She is planning on attending opera and guitar lessons, and a mix of workshops including one on body percussion and another with Vinx, a percussionist and singer who has worked with legends like Stevie Wonder and Tracy Chapman. Bassels hopes to produce a French-English bilingual album during her time spent immersed in Paris’ vocal jazz scene. Her upcoming KMJF show, in fact, will be her grand Canadian farewell, making it especially enticing. “We’ll be showcasing a lot of songs from my newest album, [and] a brand new single,” she said, “featuring seven people on stage.” Bassels and her beloved backup singers will be performing at Supermarket on Sunday, September 21st at 8:30 p.m., so show up to see this amazing local talent before she heads off to Europe! Bassels has time and again proved herself to be a gifted musician, and I have no doubt that she will host a memorable show for her Kensington audience. This show is certainly not something you’ll want to miss.