Award-winning and Internationally acclaimed guitarist, composer and producer Jesse Cook is set to mark 25 years of music with 25 special tour dates across Canada, starting with Nanaimo, BC this March 20th.
Tickets for The Tempest 25 Tour — a nod to his 1995 debut, Tempest (Narada) — are available for presale this Thursday, October 24 and to the public October 25th.
The tour serves as a bemusing milestone for a guy who never planned on releasing an album.
“If you had asked me at age 22, I would have said I would never, never make music for the public,” Cook says with a laugh. “I would have told you the public is much too fickle… They may love you one minute and forget you the next.”
“Well… It turns out I did the thing I said I’d never do, and somehow it’s worked out.”
That’s an understatement.
By the numbers, Jesse Cook holds ten platinum and gold studio albums with combined sales exceeding two million copies, five concert DVDs and live discs, and five PBS specials — his most recent, directed, edited and mixed by Cook himself.
He holds a JUNO Award win for Best Instrumental Album with 2000’s Free Fall (Narada) — which celebrates its 20th anniversary next year — and 11 JUNO Award nominations. These stack alongside three Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards, a Gemini Award and Acoustic Guitar Magazine Player’s Choice Silver Award, not to mention thousands of concerts in dozens of countries, plus millions of views and streams, and countless fans around the world.
His latest release, Beyond Borders (2017, eOne Music), explores a sonic landscape unfettered by geography, ethnicity and musical styles. Forging a unique world music hybrid, the release is Cook’s most sonically diverse and distinctive release in what’s amounting to a vast and varied discography.
“25 years ago, before Tempest was released — and all that would follow — if you had asked me what I wanted to do with my life, I would have told you I was happy in my solitude,” Cook reflects. “I didn’t want to be in the public eye. But I was wrong.”
“Before Tempest, I’d never seen the rest of Canada,” he continues. “I never dreamed I would one day see Asia, let alone tour it. My fans have lifted me up in so many ways and have given me the freedom to follow my muse and chase my dreams. They opened the world to me and have given me the opportunity to meet and perform with my musical heroes.”
“Without my fans, none of this would have happened. Words are not enough to thank all the people who have been with me on this crazy, beautiful journey these last 25 years.”
“And now, I can’t wait to see where the next 25 will take us…”
Jesse Cook is currently in the midst of a 48-date U.S. tour, headlining stops that include Nashville, Atlanta, Philadelphia, New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and many more.
The Tempest 25 Tour will visit cities from Nanaimo, BC all the way to a special five-night engagement at Théâtre Nouveau Monde in Montréal, QC, during the 2020 Festival International de Jazz de Montréal.
// The Tempest 25 Tour
March 20 – The Port Theatre, Nanaimo BC
March 21 – The Centre in Vancouver, Vancouver BC
March 23 – Kelowna Community Theatre, Kelowna BC
March 25 – Winspear Centre, Edmonton AB
March 26 – Red Deer Memorial Centre, Red Deer AB
March 27 – Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, Calgary AB
March 28 – Vic Juba Theatre, Lloydminster AB
March 31 – Conexus Arts Centre, Regina SK
April 1 – TCU Place, Saskatoon SK
April 2 – Centennial Auditorium, Brandon MB
April 3 – Burton Cummings Theatre, Winnipeg MB
April 4 – Community Auditorium, Thunder Bay ON
April 8 – Centre in the Square, Kitchener ON
April 9 – Meridian Hall, Toronto ON
April 11 – National Arts Centre, Ottawa ON
April 14 – Rebecca Cohn Auditorium, Halifax NS
April 15 – Capitol Theatre, Moncton NB
April 16 – Homburg Theatre, Charlottetown PE
April 17 – The Fredericton Playhouse, Fredericton NB
April 18 – Salle Louis-Fréchette, Quebec City QC
June 25 – Théâtre Nouveau Monde, Montreal QC
June 26 – Théâtre Nouveau Monde, Montreal QC
June 27 – Théâtre Nouveau Monde, Montreal QC
June 28 – Théâtre Nouveau Monde, Montreal QC
June 29 – Théâtre Nouveau Monde, Montreal QC
