Party: CANADIAN JAZZ SERIES - From Toronto "THE WORST POP BAND EVER"

Party: CANADIAN JAZZ SERIES - From Toronto "THE WORST POP BAND EVER"

With influences ranging from Wayne Shorter to Levon Helm to J Dilla, The Worst Pop Band Ever is a Toronto-based quintet that tries to combine a love of improvisational jazz and indie pop. Featuring two Juno award winners, the members of the WPBE have worked with a who's who of Canadian and international musicians, including Ernie Watts, Brad Goode, Feist, Blue Rodeo, Laila Biali, Brandi Disterheft, and the Shuffle Demons. Together, whether it's blending acoustic bass with turntables or analog synths with the saxophone, the WPBE sets out to twist and bend both originals and covers, straddling genres and butting heads with expectation.

They have played festivals and packed clubs throughout North America from IAJE to NXNE; St. John's to Chicago, sharing stages with the Bad Plus, Happy Apple, Jeff Parker, Elizabeth Shepherd, Kelly Jefferson and Rich Underhill. They were called "highlights of the festival " at the 2012 TD Canada Trust Toronto Jazz Festival by the festival's own website. Their music has also been used for film and videos for CBC, the National Film Board, the UN and even Disney.

Allaboutjazz.com described their 2012 album "Sometimes Things Go Wrong" recorded live at the Cellar in Vancouver, as "…music for people, whether they dig jazz or not…a tight band playing with substance and feeling for an appreciative audience." (Mark Turner, July 2012). Their latest CD "Blackout", a concept album about events in Toronto during the Great Northeastern Blackout of 2003, has already received similar acclaim and attention.