Stretching Out 

JUNO award-winning jazz saxophonist, composer and arranger, Allison Au (pronounced “ow”) refuses to be defined. Born to a Chinese father and Jewish mother and raised in the multicultural metropolis of Toronto, Au found music as a young child. Exposed to a wide array of musical styles, she was captivated by the unhinged freedom of jazz. Jazz became Au’s lab for self-expression, exploration and musical experimentation. Her work weaves a mosaic of influences into a seamless and soulful sound, a concoction steeped in jazz tradition but skillfully laced with elements of classical, pop, R&B/hip hop, Latin and world music.  

Au’s music transports you to a place where instrumentals ring bold and emotions run free. Melodies cascade and collide, highlighting Au’s gift for layering voices and rhythms. Her writing showcases the colour and character of each instrument while providing ample room for her bandmates to push her compositions to new heights.   

Au earned her first JUNO nomination for her debut album The Sky Was Pale Blue, then Grey in 2013 and in 2016 seized the JUNO for “Best Jazz Album of The Year: Group” for Forest Grove. In 2019, she garnered another JUNO nomination for “Best Jazz Album of the Year: Group” for Wander Wonder. 

Formed in 2009, the Allison Au Quartet has toured extensively in Canada and the US. The group was awarded the TD Jazz Fellowship Scholarship (2011), the Alfred and Phyllis Balm Scholarship (2012) and the Margareta and Benno Nigg Scholarship (2013) for three consecutive artist residencies at the Banff Centre. 

The Allison Au Quartet has won the 2017 Montreal Jazz Festival TD Grand Prix de Jazz, received the 2017 Halifax Jazz Festival Sting Ray Rising Star Award and was named a 2017 Finalist for the Toronto Arts Foundation Emerging Jazz Artist Award. 

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