Bio for Big Rude Jake Singer/song-writer Big Rude Jake is a remarkable and distinguished figure on the Canadian music scene with a notable presence around the world. A true innovator, a deft craftsman of song and a powerful and compelling lyricist, he has been knocking audiences dead with his impassioned performances for some 15 years, in venues across Canada, the U.S. and Europe. While most jazz devotees of his generation appreciated jazz from an academic point of view, Jake found that he was drawn to the Jazz tradition for its’ passion and sensuality. He lamented the rise of the stuffy “jazz intellectual,” and longed for a return to a time when jazz was, instead, rich in emotion, sensuality and desire. Thus was born his vision to bring Jazz back to it’s street-wise and rough-hewn roots. Part of the process was developing a stage persona that was evocative of strident passion and longing. In the first few years of his career, he actually avoided playing in jazz venues altogether. Instead, he performed his own jazz and swing compositions in rock venues and blues bars across Canada, where he hoped to find the kindred spirits who could appreciate his dream of a “Bawdy House Jazz” revival. Originally billed as “alternative music,” Jake’s vision caught the attention of media across the country. He made a splash in magazines and newspapers in every major city in the land, on TV and on radio, and performed live for thousands of people. His independent records were sold in the “rock,” “punk” and “alternative” sections in record stores, and he proved that Jazz and Swing, with the right attitude, could have as much street credibility as any rock, soul or hip-hop act in the country. Then came the rise of such U.S. bands as Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and the Squirrel Nut Zippers, and suddenly, Jake was swept up into the Neo-Swing movement that was all the rage across North America. Understanding that he needed to develop a more international profile, Jake moved to New York. There, he signed with RoadRunner Records and began touring Europe and the United States. More importantly, while living in New York, Jake had a chance to work with some of the finest jazz musicians in the world, further developing his craft as a singer and as a song-writer, and acquiring an deep affection for the Jazz community. Eventually, he would grow beyond the “Bawdy House” Jazz of his beginnings, and begin to pen tunes reminiscent of the smooth and sophisticated styles of New York Jazz artists from the 1950’s. Having thus sown his wild oats, Jake has returned to Toronto with a dream to make music, this time not for street urchins, but for all lovers of great music, with a special interest in targeting the newly blossoming Jazz scene that’s recently won the hearts of listeners of all ages across Canada. He has a new bag of all-original songs and a new album in the works, strongly influenced by his residency in New York and the friends that he made during those years.