You Are The Light And The Way was made possible thanks to the generosity of the Canada Council for the Arts, who fully funded the release of this emerging new talent.

Alex Bird is a Jazz singer and songwriter in Toronto, ON. With a swinging style and an indescribable charm, Alex is currently working on an entirely new chapter in the Great American Songbook. His debut album Whisky Kisses was released in October 2020 and received reviews, awards, airplay, and distribution around the world. The title track was awarded Best Jazz Song at the World Songwriting Awards and music from the album was featured in a short documentary entitled Because One Day which debuted on the opening night of The Canadian Film Festival (2020) and received the award for best music by the film festival jury. Bird has released his second album only a year after the first release; which is highly anticipated and is set to continue the momentum from Whisky Kisses.

Alex literally grew up with the classics. As a young boy he was taken to hang around the Toronto Jazz scene, and had the opportunity to see and meet many of the greats along the way; Tony Bennett, Diana Krall, Ray Brown, Oscar Peterson, Mel Tormé, Ray Charles... the list goes on. Without even knowing it, his musical training developed, sitting around at smoky jazz clubs into the wee small hours of the morning.

"Every now and again, an act emerges from the cosmos and shakes up the planet. One of those groundbreaking bands is Alex Bird & The Jazz Mavericks. Bird and his group of talented players are rewriting the textbook for vocal-infused Jazz.” - Brian M. Owens at Metronome Magazine (Boston)

Alex Bird - Vocals

Ewen Farncombe - Piano/B3

Eric West - Drums

Jacob Gorzhaltsan- Tenor Sax/Clarinet

Leighton Harrell - Bass

Guest Personnel

Alexander Brown – Trumpet (4,5,8)

Jesse Ryan – Alto Sax (8)

Patrick Smith – Baritone Sax (8)

Tom Richards – Trombone (4, 8)

Will Lamoureux – Violin (2, 7)

Mo Mitchell – Violin (2, 7)

Andrew Chung – Viola (2, 7)

Jill Sauerteig – Cello (2, 7)

Lyrics by Alex Bird

Music by Alex Bird and Ewen Farncombe

Produced by Alex Bird and Ewen Farncombe

Recorded by Jeremy Darby and Julian Decorte at The Canterbury Music Company (Toronto, Ontario)

Mastered by Peter Letros at Wreckhouse

Photography by Aref Mahabadi

Artwork and Graphic Design by Zoran Jovicic