Karin Plato is bringing her umbrella to Jasper – her umbrella of jazz that is.

The jazz musician is returning to Jasper on her “Get Out Of Town” tour, where she will perform a variety of jazz hits and original songs from her new CD, Out Of Town.

Plato will be performing in a trio with Juno nominated pianist John Roney of Montreal and cellist Bryan Holt, also of Montreal.

“The cello is not the typical instrument for a jazz ensemble, but this has been my choice since on the recording I included cello on several tracks and I loved the effect,” Plato said. “Now while touring this music live, the cello takes on the role of the acoustic bass by playing walking bass lines that you hear in swing music as well as playing beautiful lines with the bow, which gives the cello that more classical sound that people are probably quite familiar with. The fun thing is hearing the cello really swing and be a part of the jazz tradition in playing solos and getting bluesy and soulful. I love hearing that.”

Plato herself was nominated for a Juno in 2000, and she is embarking on her first major tour since 2001. In that time she has received three nomination as Canadian Jazz Vocalist of the Year at the National Jazz Awards, and was nominated for Jazz Recording of the Year at the Western Canadian Music Awards. 

Out Of Town contains revamped versions of Irving Berlin’s Blue Skies and Harold Arlen’s If I Only Had A Brain. Plato said jazz gives her the ability to take a standard song and make it her own. 

“The actual songs presented are often standard songs and the reason for that is that this material to begin with is so strong and often there are great possibilities within that framework to improvise and to re-invent the songs,” she said. “I think that people coming to our show will be treated to the element of surprise that exists in jazz music. There is improvisation and fresh interpretation so each night the songs will change in some ways even though it might not be dramatically different.”

The volume of genres encompassed in jazz allows Plato to draw from different sounds. She calls this “The Umbrella of Jazz”. It includes sub-genres of swing, blues, bossa nova, samba, ballads and jazz waltzes. She also draws from folk and some classical music.

“Those are the grooves,” she said. 

Besides classic jazz tunes, Plato enjoys performing her original songs that are sometimes written about trivial things such as the weather, or topics that one can find some familiarity with. 

Plato was last in Jasper to perform at the Music and Wine Festival held at the Jasper Park Lodge several years ago.

“I love Jasper’s natural beauty and the small town feel where everyone seems to know each other,” she said. 

On her tour, Plato is being featured at many local jazz societies, which sees her performing in many small and intimate venues, such as jazz clubs and restaurants. She will perform at Papa George’s Restaurant on Nov. 1.