Bassist Henry Heillig
was born and raised in Montreal. His parents were music lovers, his
dad an amateur who played folk and calypso on the guitar, Bach on harpsichord
and blues and jazz on the piano. Henry’s first musical incarnation was
as singer/songwriter, accompanying his own songs on acoustic guitar in
local coffee houses.
Henry’s first professional bass gig occurred in the wilds of Ghana. While he and
his friend Michael Bard were travelling in West Africa a chance meeting
led to their joining F. Micah’s Concert Party, a 38 member vaudeville
style troupe which traveled village to village, performing a 5 hr variety
show outdoors nightly. Michael and Henry played R&B and funk tunes
with the highlife drummer in the troupe, causing much amusement among
the rural audiences who had never before witnessed 2 white boys shakin'
their tailfeathers!
Henry returned to Canada and settled in Toronto, where he resumed bass studies
and performed in folk circles with, among others,
Ian Tamblyn and Nancy
White
In 1979, Henry and Matt Zimbel founded the nine piece latinfunksalzajazz band
Manteca.
This Juno winning ensemble released 8 LPs and CDs and toured the
world’s major festivals, from Stockholm to the Hollywood Bowl, before disbanding
in 1998.
During those years, Henry also toured and recorded with some of Canada’s top children’s
entertainers including
Sharon,
Lois and Bram,
and Eric Nagler,
for whom he produced three albums and the music for 5 seasons of Eric’s
World TV.
More recently, Henry has been freelancing in the busy Toronto jazz and blues
scene. He toured Western Canada in 1999 with pianist Joe
Sealy and has been playing a lot with
master harmonicist Carlos del Junco.
Henry has been musical director for both the Genie and Gemini Awards (Canadian film and Televison) shows,
and has composed music for film and documentaries.
Pianist Craig Harley was born and raised in Parry Sound, Ontario, where
he began music study at a young age. He moved to Toronto in 1993 and graduated
from the University of Toronto Jazz Program in 1997. Since then, Craig
has performed at many music festivals across Canada, and is a regular at
Toronto’s jazz clubs. Craig has arranged for and played on many recordings,
including those by Jordan O’Connor, Rebecca Campbell, Jennifer Ryan,
and the band Cash Cow. He has a solo piano album slated for release
in Autumn,2003. Currently, Craig is a member of The Breath, a co-operative
Canadian organization that operates a webzine and independent record label
as well as promoting concerts. 
