Miranda Sage debuts -produced On this Day

Sage performs with Don Thompson and band April 23 at the West Hall Theatre

She is a favourite vocalist of Order of -winning artist Don Thompson, who praises her as “the ultimate professional” – and next month, she will perform with Thompson and several of his associates for a rare concert in .

West Coast singer Miranda Sage takes to the stage April 23 at the West Hall Theatre in Toronto to launch her new album, On this Day – recorded in Toronto with an all-star 10-piece band and Thompson at the helm.

A vocalist with extensive classical and jazz training, praised for her lovely tone and phrasing and for her airy sensuality, Sage is often compared to the seminal British jazz singer Norma Winstone, with whom she studied for a time.

Relatively unknown outside B.C., largely because she chose to raise a family rather than pursue a life on the road, she has nonetheless become a “musician’s singer,” loved by some of the country’s finest players and composers for her vocal dexterity and ability to sing compositions other vocalists can’t do justice to.

On this Day features several notable standards – a playful rendition of Johnny Mercer’s “I Remember You” punctuated by punchy brass flourishes; a suitably dreamy cover of Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Dreamer” flavoured by Reg Schwager’s tasteful guitar; and a filmic version of Johnny Mandel’s “A Time For Love” featuring a vintage-sounding arrangement dominated by horns and – along with originals from both Sage and Thompson.

“Fat Cat,” recorded in a single take, is a groovy number Sage wrote years ago – but its cynicism toward greed and exploitation seems a propos for the present era.

“On this Day” is a Thompson composition that Sage wrote lyrics for. The instrumental version was called “Gone Astray,” an inside reference to Duke Ellington collaborator Billy Strayhorn.

And “Return to Isfahan” features a Miranda Sage lyric set to the Ellington/Strayhorn classic – and although Sage believed the words described an imaginary scene, a man greeted her in tears after her very first performance of it telling her she’d described the city of his birth a half a world away.

The album was recorded at Toronto’s Inception Studios, with its gorgeous Steinway piano, Thompson’s favourite place to record. It was produced and arranged by Thompson, engineered by Chad Irschick (Susan Aglukark) and features Reg Schwager on guitar, on bass, on drums, on tenor sax, Shirantha Beddage on bari sax, John de Simini on alto sax, Kevin Turcotte on trumpet, and Kelsley Grant on trombone.

Front and centre, of course, is Sage’s voice, which has been described by Monday Magazine as being "of thrilling flexibility and range, making jazz singing sound like it's the easiest thing in the world."

Sage has done extensive vocal training, both at the University of Victoria and the Royal Conservatory of Music, and at numerous jazz workshops in North American and Europe. In addition to Winstone, she has studied with , Jay Clayton and Louise Rose.

She began her musical studies at four and, along the way, picked up piano, guitar, lute, harp, sax and clarinet - though she now concentrates on voice and guitar. In her 20s, she toured Europe with a creative arts group from the States before setting aside her professional career to raise her children.

Returning to music in the 90s, Sage was championed by Hugh Fraser and released two CDs on his Boathouse label. She's performed with his Hugh Fraser Big Band and with the Port Townsend Jazz Festival Big Band. Other performance highlights include the Isle of Wight Jazz Divas Festival and Scotland's Mid Argyle Annual Gala. Sage has released a total of six albums, and appears on sixteen compilation discs out of Taiwan and Singapore. She performs regularly around Victoria, and the surrounding islands with many ensembles from duo to big band, and she has performed several times at the Victoria International Jazz Fest.

Sage met Thompson through Fraser, who invited him to play on Sage’s second album, Moon Tiger. Fortuitously, Sage says she was too unaware of Thompson’s accomplishments to be intimidated by him, so the two clicked, and a fruitful musical friendship was formed.

Sage says she lives by the motto “Don’t Doubt Don,” and On this Day is evidence that that mantra serves her well.