Anita Eccleston

Vancouver-based bandleader Anita Eccleston's acrobatic voice and lyrical trumpet style honour the traditions of jazz, often melding familiar and new in both her large and small ensembles. Featuring core band members, Andrew Smith (guitar), Doug Gorkoff (cello), and Graham Clark (bass), her ongoing project showcases original songs and jazz favourites highlighted by instrumental improvisation, sweet sultry vocals, and sweeping cello counterpoint. Her major influences include Ella Fitzgerald, Amy Winehouse, Diana Krall, Miles Davis, and Chet Baker. Anita's energetic performances incorporate many styles from jazz to soul, funk, reggae, pop, and the blues.

Her latest album, More Trumpet (released Dec 18, 2016) is a collection of traditional jazz standards, showcasing her distinctive vocal stylings alongside her playful trumpeting. She pays tribute to the timeless songs to which she connected with as a budding musician. Anita has said “Although I am often artistically drawn to many genres of music, my deepest love is for jazz and I feel the most at home within the sphere of the jazz world...I wanted to create an album that would allow me to sing and play from my heart.”

In 2011, Eccleston released her debut Jazz EP, a collection of jazz recordings from 2003 to 2010. Anita was featured in 2012 in a performance for CBC Radio One’s program “Hot Air.” She released her Trio EP in 2013, and in 2014 completed her long-awaited original LP, So It Goes. The full length original album explores her eclectic tastes in music with jazz running through every vein. Her music is available for purchase online her website (and iTunes & Bandcamp) as well as at live performances.

Anita toured Eastern Canada and BC in 2014. In 2015, she both performed with her trio and was a featured guest with the Plastic Acid Orchestra at the TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival. In summer 2016 for the jazz festival she brought a 9-piece lineup to perform on Granville Island.

Anita is currently writing new songs and promoting More Trumpet in between gigging and teaching private trumpet lessons.