Vincent Wolfe

Photo: Lubin Tasevski

Photo: Lubin Tasevski

Photo: Lubin Tasevski

One of my fave tunes, and the original theme from the first "Pink Panther" film.

Belting out "Birth of the Blues" during our December 2014 show at the SEVEN44.

Loved playing back there in May and June of 2014. I hadn't performed in that venue since my 2001 CD release gig when it was The Top O' the Senator, a jazz landmark here in Toronto. Here's Peter Hill and Jordan O'Connor... my current trio configuration. Great guys, amazing players...

Singing for my supper on the fabulous Queen Mary 2. The Queens Room was the place to dance, to mingle, to see and be seen. Taken December 2009.

This was a great gig, just days before I headed out to sing at sea with the Cunard Line. The joint was packed and YES I did sing the "Love Boat Theme"... crowd went nuts. Rob Thaller on piano. That was such a great, classy little venue. I miss it as it used to be.

Here's the guy behind VegasNorth Entertainment. My arranger/conductor/agent/good friend Anthony Rice. We have a great time, onstage and off. This is right after my "solo" debut with the VegasNorth Orchestra on June 23, 2014 at The SEVEN44. Crazy talented trumpeter Peter Kim is behind us...

Went up to this legendary summer venue to do a big band gig with Bob Cary, but it was the coldest, wettest day and we froze onstage. There was no heat... and here's Sean Bray and yours truly doing an acoustic jazz tune so the band could warm up their hands.

I love London and riding the tube is a must. I could live there. Seriously. I still may...

At the Jazz Garden... one of the bigger clubs there... and my first time in Europe, where the clubs are still smoky. Interesting, because the trio basically spoke only Hungarian and mine was limited to swear words. Thankfully the promoter could translate. We were doing some Stevie Wonder here... what fun.

This air-conditioned tour bus was the ONLY way to get out of the 48 °C heat in Queensland. Oh, and the Pinot Grigio helped too. We had the day off and it would have been criminal NOT to sample some of the best Australian wines. Dig the hat, mate!

Just waiting to make my entrance to open the show (the first of eight performances that weekend!) for legendary songstress Jean Carn, at our favourite venue. There's so much history here... and almost every famous jazz singer and player has gone up and down these stairs, to and from the dressing room. It feels like my second home. This was in 2008, I think.

At the "Jazz Corner of the World". A thrill every time I'm there. I adore NYC and they seem to like me too.

Lunch with one of my best friends, a frequent co-star, and a brilliant, celebrated vocalist, June Garber. I adore this lady. Toronto. Summer 2014.

I've had the honour and pleasure of working many times with the legendary "Queen of Philly Soul"... Jean Carn. I graduated from singing backups to opening the shows for her in venues like Blues Alley in Washington, The Apollo in NYC, Chene Park Amphitheatre in Detroit, Sculler's in Boston... amazing times with one of my musical idols.

There are always celebrity visitors in the audience and backstage, and here I am sandwiched between Jean and Helen Scott (of the famed Three Degrees).

If you're going to be at sea for months on end and singing with the same band night after night, these are the cats to do it with... I so enjoyed my gigs on the Queen Vic and I miss these guys.

Sometimes I DO go to church and usually I'm asked to sing. Always a beautiful thing. 2011.

Some of my best times onstage. I learned so much from Bob... and he's played with a "who's-who" of stars including Peggy Lee, Tony Bennett, Sonny and Cher and (get this) Judy Garland at Carnegie Hall... here we are in November 2013.

Posing at Chalker's Pub for the jazz festival gig that year. I had just returned from my lengthy engagement on Cunard, so I kind of felt like a "new" artist in town... once again.

One of the many gigs I did with the amazing pianist Rob Thaller, often just the two of us in an intimate setting. I really liked playing at the Central in Mirvish Village, Toronto. This was circa 2007. I believe I was singing Kurt Weill.

I loved writing and performing my third cabaret show "Addicted to TCM". A dramatic moment (singing "You're Nearer") with the brilliant Mark Kieswetter, doing our thing at the Pubaret in Toronto in May, 2011.

One of my favourite (and last) gigs with the Bob Cary Orchestra on August 3, 2014. A balmy summer night, a fabulous big band behind me, and an adoring audience. What singer could ask for more? Loved this gig.

Right after the Stan Kenton concert with the George Lake Big Band, hanging with Sean, who now plays guitar in the band. Love this venue...

My last contract on this fabulous ship ended in May 2010 and here I am posing between shows. Can't wait to get back to sea as a headliner.

Alex Pangman (Canada's Sweetheart of Swing) dropped in to a swing dance gig I was doing with the George Lake Big Band at the Dovercourt House. We had a blast. June 2014.

I love Montreal, everything about it and particularly the jazz clubs. Performing at Modavie was a thrill for me. With Claude Lavergne (drums) guitarist Greg Clayton, and Morgan Moore (bass). Great guys too...

I love working with Peter Hill and Jordan O'Connor and we really dig playing the Old Mill. Taken right before a show in June 2014.

Had a blast with the Bob Cary Orchestra and songbird Sharon Smith at this popular outdoor venue in Toronto. I'd always wanted to play there and it was packed. August 2014.

Saying farewell to the Bob Cary Orchestra after a fantastic three year run. Love these guys and gals.

Taken in 2012 at the Seven44 Lounge by Philip Singh.

I had often come to this legendary venue at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel to see famed performers as a very young man, so it was a special thrill to sing there a couple of years ago with the Toronto Sounds Big Band. This was THE star dressing room for many years... almost any show-biz legend you could name played here.

A dream come true AND a MAC Award nomination for my first NYC show.

Taken by the renowned Tim Leyes in Toronto. 1999.

Tim Leyes, 1999

Taken around 2008 at Manhattan's Jazz Bistro in Guelph, Ontario. By this time guitarist Sean Bray and I had been working together for 10 years and had recorded three albums. Nice memories, and I love the jazz trio setting where I can just let loose and have fun... and always a treat with the stellar Artie Roth on bass. I miss working with them...

They took a ton of different photos for my second CD entitled "Until Tomorrow"... and this was an out-take. Styling by Shawn Smandych and photos by Nathan Briggs. I liked being fussed over... was fun.

Dig my Elvis hair... this is a rare poster from one of my very first jazz-cabaret gigs in Toronto at Crew's Showroom. I was just a kid who had to sing. Those were the days, playing in all kinds clubs and pubs, paying those proverbial "dues". It was a blast and where the hell did 20 years go?

With the legendary Canadian pianist Norm Amadio. An honour to meet and finally work with this dear man. God Bless him, he said in a recent Toronto Star interview "Take that Vincent Wolfe, he's going to be one of the jazz greats!"

With my dear friend and mentor the "Queen of Philly Soul" Jean Carne. Here we are after one of our Blues Alley shows. Always a thrill to work with her, and I have learned much. Jean loves to tell her audiences that she "inherited me from Phyllis Hyman..." and in truth she did.

A bunch of years ago at her birthday party in NYC... Club Savage I think. Phyllis Hyman was my idol, who later became a good friend and mentor. Even though she left us in 1995, I think of her every day and credit her with pushing me and helping me focus on jazz. I love you Pepper H.

Legendary Marlena, jazz and soul icon. A dear friend and another valued mentor. I love her madly and here we are at the "afterparty" for her sold-out concert. Boy did we have some fun on the road!!!

I grew up loving the Manhattan Transfer so it's always a thrill to catch up with them, as a unit or individually. Janis is the greatest and a fierce solo jazz singer. heck, she can sing anything and I'm honoured to call her a friend. The Transfer had a huge influence on me.

The Colors of Christmas... backstage at Massey Hall visiting with the legendary Al Jarreau. One of the nicest guys in the industry and another big musical influence for me. Love this man!!!

Miss Julie Wilson, Cabaret Goddess. She was one of my teachers at Yale, and we became fast friends. She also wanted to record one of my original ballads and told a packed audience at the Metropolitan Room in NYC that "Vincent is going to be the next Mel Torme". I flipped out. She is my dear, dear friend and she has just celebrated her 90th birthday. Right beside me and cheering me on when I was nominated for a MAC Award for my cabaret debut in 2008.

The legendary jazz pianist. I was humbled to be on the same bill when they played the Phoenix here in Toronto in the "Original Superstars of Jazz Fusion" Tour in 2006. Lovely man!

More jazz/soul legends. Ronnie Laws and Roy Ayers clowning around with me after the show. I was thrilled to be on the same bill when they played the Phoenix here in Toronto in the "Original Superstars of Jazz Fusion" Tour.

Backstage with Alan Paul, one of my favourite singers, a great guy and a huge musical influence. Right after a sold out concert at Theatre Maisonneuve after which the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal presented The Manhattan Transfer with the Ella Fitzgerald Award.

Backstage with the lovely Janis Siegel, whom I adore. Right after a sold out concert at Theatre Maisonneuve after which the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal presented The Manhattan Transfer with the Ella Fitzgerald Award.

Laurel is one of the loveliest and most spiritual people I know and her guidance and wisdom had a profound effect on me. She was one of my Yale instructors and of course she is one of the founding members of the Manhattan Transfer. She left the group in 1979 but is still considered one of the finest jazz singers around. I must agree. It was Laurel who dubbed my voice "somewhere between Chet Baker and Mel Torme..."

Photo: Lubin Tasevski

Photo: Lubin Tasevski

Photo: Lubin Tasevski

One of my fave tunes, and the original theme from the first "Pink Panther" film.

Belting out "Birth of the Blues" during our December 2014 show at the SEVEN44.

Loved playing back there in May and June of 2014. I hadn't performed in that venue since my 2001 CD release gig when it was The Top O' the Senator, a jazz landmark here in Toronto. Here's Peter Hill and Jordan O'Connor... my current trio configuration. Great guys, amazing players...

Singing for my supper on the fabulous Queen Mary 2. The Queens Room was the place to dance, to mingle, to see and be seen. Taken December 2009.

This was a great gig, just days before I headed out to sing at sea with the Cunard Line. The joint was packed and YES I did sing the "Love Boat Theme"... crowd went nuts. Rob Thaller on piano. That was such a great, classy little venue. I miss it as it used to be.

Here's the guy behind VegasNorth Entertainment. My arranger/conductor/agent/good friend Anthony Rice. We have a great time, onstage and off. This is right after my "solo" debut with the VegasNorth Orchestra on June 23, 2014 at The SEVEN44. Crazy talented trumpeter Peter Kim is behind us...

Went up to this legendary summer venue to do a big band gig with Bob Cary, but it was the coldest, wettest day and we froze onstage. There was no heat... and here's Sean Bray and yours truly doing an acoustic jazz tune so the band could warm up their hands.

I love London and riding the tube is a must. I could live there. Seriously. I still may...

At the Jazz Garden... one of the bigger clubs there... and my first time in Europe, where the clubs are still smoky. Interesting, because the trio basically spoke only Hungarian and mine was limited to swear words. Thankfully the promoter could translate. We were doing some Stevie Wonder here... what fun.

This air-conditioned tour bus was the ONLY way to get out of the 48 °C heat in Queensland. Oh, and the Pinot Grigio helped too. We had the day off and it would have been criminal NOT to sample some of the best Australian wines. Dig the hat, mate!

Just waiting to make my entrance to open the show (the first of eight performances that weekend!) for legendary songstress Jean Carn, at our favourite venue. There's so much history here... and almost every famous jazz singer and player has gone up and down these stairs, to and from the dressing room. It feels like my second home. This was in 2008, I think.

At the "Jazz Corner of the World". A thrill every time I'm there. I adore NYC and they seem to like me too.

Lunch with one of my best friends, a frequent co-star, and a brilliant, celebrated vocalist, June Garber. I adore this lady. Toronto. Summer 2014.

I've had the honour and pleasure of working many times with the legendary "Queen of Philly Soul"... Jean Carn. I graduated from singing backups to opening the shows for her in venues like Blues Alley in Washington, The Apollo in NYC, Chene Park Amphitheatre in Detroit, Sculler's in Boston... amazing times with one of my musical idols.

There are always celebrity visitors in the audience and backstage, and here I am sandwiched between Jean and Helen Scott (of the famed Three Degrees).

If you're going to be at sea for months on end and singing with the same band night after night, these are the cats to do it with... I so enjoyed my gigs on the Queen Vic and I miss these guys.

Sometimes I DO go to church and usually I'm asked to sing. Always a beautiful thing. 2011.

Some of my best times onstage. I learned so much from Bob... and he's played with a "who's-who" of stars including Peggy Lee, Tony Bennett, Sonny and Cher and (get this) Judy Garland at Carnegie Hall... here we are in November 2013.

Posing at Chalker's Pub for the jazz festival gig that year. I had just returned from my lengthy engagement on Cunard, so I kind of felt like a "new" artist in town... once again.

One of the many gigs I did with the amazing pianist Rob Thaller, often just the two of us in an intimate setting. I really liked playing at the Central in Mirvish Village, Toronto. This was circa 2007. I believe I was singing Kurt Weill.

I loved writing and performing my third cabaret show "Addicted to TCM". A dramatic moment (singing "You're Nearer") with the brilliant Mark Kieswetter, doing our thing at the Pubaret in Toronto in May, 2011.

One of my favourite (and last) gigs with the Bob Cary Orchestra on August 3, 2014. A balmy summer night, a fabulous big band behind me, and an adoring audience. What singer could ask for more? Loved this gig.

Right after the Stan Kenton concert with the George Lake Big Band, hanging with Sean, who now plays guitar in the band. Love this venue...

My last contract on this fabulous ship ended in May 2010 and here I am posing between shows. Can't wait to get back to sea as a headliner.

Alex Pangman (Canada's Sweetheart of Swing) dropped in to a swing dance gig I was doing with the George Lake Big Band at the Dovercourt House. We had a blast. June 2014.

I love Montreal, everything about it and particularly the jazz clubs. Performing at Modavie was a thrill for me. With Claude Lavergne (drums) guitarist Greg Clayton, and Morgan Moore (bass). Great guys too...

I love working with Peter Hill and Jordan O'Connor and we really dig playing the Old Mill. Taken right before a show in June 2014.

Had a blast with the Bob Cary Orchestra and songbird Sharon Smith at this popular outdoor venue in Toronto. I'd always wanted to play there and it was packed. August 2014.

Saying farewell to the Bob Cary Orchestra after a fantastic three year run. Love these guys and gals.

Taken in 2012 at the Seven44 Lounge by Philip Singh.

I had often come to this legendary venue at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel to see famed performers as a very young man, so it was a special thrill to sing there a couple of years ago with the Toronto Sounds Big Band. This was THE star dressing room for many years... almost any show-biz legend you could name played here.

A dream come true AND a MAC Award nomination for my first NYC show.

Taken by the renowned Tim Leyes in Toronto. 1999.

Tim Leyes, 1999

Taken around 2008 at Manhattan's Jazz Bistro in Guelph, Ontario. By this time guitarist Sean Bray and I had been working together for 10 years and had recorded three albums. Nice memories, and I love the jazz trio setting where I can just let loose and have fun... and always a treat with the stellar Artie Roth on bass. I miss working with them...

They took a ton of different photos for my second CD entitled "Until Tomorrow"... and this was an out-take. Styling by Shawn Smandych and photos by Nathan Briggs. I liked being fussed over... was fun.

Dig my Elvis hair... this is a rare poster from one of my very first jazz-cabaret gigs in Toronto at Crew's Showroom. I was just a kid who had to sing. Those were the days, playing in all kinds clubs and pubs, paying those proverbial "dues". It was a blast and where the hell did 20 years go?

With the legendary Canadian pianist Norm Amadio. An honour to meet and finally work with this dear man. God Bless him, he said in a recent Toronto Star interview "Take that Vincent Wolfe, he's going to be one of the jazz greats!"

With my dear friend and mentor the "Queen of Philly Soul" Jean Carne. Here we are after one of our Blues Alley shows. Always a thrill to work with her, and I have learned much. Jean loves to tell her audiences that she "inherited me from Phyllis Hyman..." and in truth she did.

A bunch of years ago at her birthday party in NYC... Club Savage I think. Phyllis Hyman was my idol, who later became a good friend and mentor. Even though she left us in 1995, I think of her every day and credit her with pushing me and helping me focus on jazz. I love you Pepper H.

Legendary Marlena, jazz and soul icon. A dear friend and another valued mentor. I love her madly and here we are at the "afterparty" for her sold-out concert. Boy did we have some fun on the road!!!

I grew up loving the Manhattan Transfer so it's always a thrill to catch up with them, as a unit or individually. Janis is the greatest and a fierce solo jazz singer. heck, she can sing anything and I'm honoured to call her a friend. The Transfer had a huge influence on me.

The Colors of Christmas... backstage at Massey Hall visiting with the legendary Al Jarreau. One of the nicest guys in the industry and another big musical influence for me. Love this man!!!

Miss Julie Wilson, Cabaret Goddess. She was one of my teachers at Yale, and we became fast friends. She also wanted to record one of my original ballads and told a packed audience at the Metropolitan Room in NYC that "Vincent is going to be the next Mel Torme". I flipped out. She is my dear, dear friend and she has just celebrated her 90th birthday. Right beside me and cheering me on when I was nominated for a MAC Award for my cabaret debut in 2008.

The legendary jazz pianist. I was humbled to be on the same bill when they played the Phoenix here in Toronto in the "Original Superstars of Jazz Fusion" Tour in 2006. Lovely man!

More jazz/soul legends. Ronnie Laws and Roy Ayers clowning around with me after the show. I was thrilled to be on the same bill when they played the Phoenix here in Toronto in the "Original Superstars of Jazz Fusion" Tour.

Backstage with Alan Paul, one of my favourite singers, a great guy and a huge musical influence. Right after a sold out concert at Theatre Maisonneuve after which the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal presented The Manhattan Transfer with the Ella Fitzgerald Award.

Backstage with the lovely Janis Siegel, whom I adore. Right after a sold out concert at Theatre Maisonneuve after which the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal presented The Manhattan Transfer with the Ella Fitzgerald Award.

Laurel is one of the loveliest and most spiritual people I know and her guidance and wisdom had a profound effect on me. She was one of my Yale instructors and of course she is one of the founding members of the Manhattan Transfer. She left the group in 1979 but is still considered one of the finest jazz singers around. I must agree. It was Laurel who dubbed my voice "somewhere between Chet Baker and Mel Torme..."