Bio

Vocalist and trumpet player Anita Eccleston writes music deeply influenced by jazz – catchy songs that resonate.

Jazz sweetheart Anita Eccleston is a multifaceted vocalist, instrumentalist, composer and arranger. Born in Kamloops, she was raised in a musical family who encouraged her music when she fell in love with the trumpet and vocal jazz. She pursued it in Montreal, studying at McGill University, and eventually landed in Vancouver, releasing her debut solo album, Jazz EP (2011).

Upon releasing So It Goes (2014), her first album of original songs, she toured eastern Canada, showcasing at Canadian Music Week in Toronto. She has also led her band at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival several times, melding her eclectic songs with her jazz in spectacular style.

Eccleston’s records have been played on radio stations across Canada. Her most recent jazz album, More Trumpet (2016) hit #5 on the !earshot National Jazz Charts. She has also performed for CBC Radio One’s jazz program, Hot Air, and her music has been featured on European radio.

Anita has traveled internationally with Canada’s premiere all-women mariachi band, Las Estrellas de Vancouver, performing at festivals in Mexico, Los Angeles, and the Vancouver Folk Music Festival. As a sideman she plays with local salsa and reggae bands and various summer festivals.

Her holiday single Long Nights (2021) received a warm reception, garnering over 20k streams on Spotify.

While Anita has been dazzling jazz audiences for a long time, in recent years her chops have been honed as a music producer and beat-maker.

In 2022 Anita produced and mixed an instrumental lofi dream jazz album, Gala Gardens. On !earshot the album charted for 16 weeks and reached #1 on CFUV Jazz charts and #4 on Top 30 charts for CJSF and CFBX. . She created 2 stop motion videos to go along with it and it has recently received airplay on CBC Music’s radio program Afterdark.

“I just wanted to do something different. I didn’t realize how much I would love creating these new songs from the beats up as a producer. The Gala projects have taken on so much life and given me such a liberated feeling.”

Wielding her horn as her primary voice of expression, Anita builds ambient electronic beats overlaid with jazz chords, the palette on which she paints her instrumental polyphony. Vinyl horn lines trade off with haunting lofi electric ukuleles and pianos weave their refrains through synths and organs while she wraps the compositions with layers of velvety vocal pads.

Eccleston is poised this fall to release “Winter Gala”, a nostalgic reinvention of traditional wintertime songs. They are jigsaws pulled apart and remade with fragments of age-old melodies intertwined with counterpoint and memorable beats and bass grooves, all adorned with bells – like tinsel on the tree.

Anita’s lead single “Magi” (out now) begins starkly with haunting rhythmic voices leading to a driving snare drum. Expressive trumpets proclaim a vision of hope amidst dreamy layers of lofi electric ukulele and rich choral pads. Midway, a lonely wavering synth magically playing the refrain ‘field and fountain, moor and mountain’ feels like being in the desert at night following that yonder star, brighter than the rest. Inspired by “We Three Kings”, “Magi” is a journey song about believing in a dream and following through to find it realized.

Her second single “Jingle” from Winter Gala has just been released. It’s a laid-back cheerful song that sounds like the magic of the first snowfall of winter. The lights are up and there is nostalgia for years past and hope for the new year. Through the lens of lofi dream jazz Jingle weaves cozy refrains into newborn melodies.

Teaching Info

TRUMPET & UKULELE LESSONS

Anita Eccleston’s Private Lesson Studio is currently accepting new students. With over 20 years of teaching experience and a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Performance (Trumpet) from McGill University, she also performs often in Vancouver.

Teaching Philosophy:
Music is a lasting gift you can give yourself or your child. I make music both fun and fascinating. My passion for all aspects of music spreads to my students, be it classical performing, theory, jazz improvisation, composition and arranging. I have found that every individual student has unique interests and styles for learning and I tailor my approach to suit each student.

• Beginners to Advanced
• Teaching Studio located centrally in Vancouver (currently ONLINE ONLY)
• Incorporates practical coaching and theory instruction for both jazz and traditional styles
• References available upon request

Please email trumpetlessonsvancouver@gmail.com directly to inquire about lessons or specific openings.