2013 | Contemporary Jazz Album of the Year | Allison Au Quartet | | The JUNO Awards

Allison Au is a Toronto-based saxophonist, flautist, composer and arranger. The Allison Au Quartet has been featured at Toronto's major jazz clubs. The group was awarded the TD Jazz Fellowship Scholarship in 2011 and the Alfred and Phyllis Balm Scholarship in 2012 to attend the Winter Music Creative Residency at the Banff Centre. As a contemporary ensemble, the quartet focuses on Au's original repertoire. Au is constantly intrigued by new sounds and textures, and strives to emanate a sense of exploration and discovery in her work. She aims to create musical templates that sound fresh, unconventional, yet engaging and thought-provoking. Allison has been earning recognition both nationally and internationally. As a composer/arranger, her work has been featured with Hilario Duran's Latin Big Band (Canada), Grammy-nominated jazz vocalist Roberta Gambarini, Blue Note recording artist Ruben Hein, The Metropole Orkest (The Netherlands), The WDR Big Band Orchestra (Germany), the Filarmonica 900 del Teatro Regio and Torino Jazz Orchestra (Italy). The recipient of a 2011 Ontario Arts Council Popular Music Recording grant, Au produced her recent release The Sky Was Pale Blue, Then Grey. The album features Allison Au (alto saxophone), Todd Pentney (piano), Jon Maharaj (bass) and Fabio Ragnelli (drums).