THE FUNNEST FUN MUSIC ON SIX LEGS! 

The trio features Michel Neray on lead vocals, guitar, archtop ukulele, resouke, and banjolele; Abbey Sholzberg on upright bass and snarky commentary; Pierre LeGendre on percussion, Natalie Wong on violin and background vocals, and, Brianna Goldberg on guitar and background vocals, plus of course, Jacques Russell himself! 

WHO IS JACQUES??? 

Jacques is a dog of all trades: manager, roadie, and occasional backup singer. He's stuffed with mounds of moxie, heaps of chutzpah, and plenty of plucky prowess.  

"Crowd-pleasing, quirky acoustic!"

That's how one audience member described the JRT experience... and we agree! If you're looking for an eclectic mix of singer-songwriter, upbeat swing blues and fun covers, that's us!

Michel is the lead singer/songwriter/storyteller and plays guitar and tenor ukulele, resoukue, banjolele, and a bunch of otherleles. As a professional motivational speaker, he knows that 'music performance' is equal parts music and performance!

Pierre has performed in France, Germany, Israel, Holland, Cyprus and Syria. He also played drums and toured with Shania Twain for four years. Pierre is a member of Batucada Carioca, the Megacity Big Band, the Franklin Street Quintet and Tartistry's House Band. Yes, he's busy. 

In 1969, Abbey attended Woodstock. He went on to pursue a career in music and undertook Jazz & Classical Studies at McGill University. In 1999, he was a founding member of the gypsy jazz band Club Django and won accolades for both performing and recording, which includes The Canadian Collectors Congress Award and a nomination for The National Jazz Award.

Natalie and Brianna join us whenever they can... because they are awesome!

Natalie began her musical studies at the age of 3. She started playing violin at the age of 7. At the age of 16 she received the ARCT performance diploma at the Royal Conservatory of Music, and majored in violin performance at the University of Toronto. She is active as violinist and vocalist in numerous bands in the past 15 years with a wide spectrum of genres including pop, folk, R&B, jazz, rock and metal, performed in numerous events, broadcasted television productions, and recorded for soundtracks and albums.

Brianna plays guitar and sings backups for JRT. She is a multi-instrumentalist who has performed in jazz orchestras, indie-rock bands, and folk groups; Brianna also performs solo, with a special focus on providing live music for yoga classes. (Ohmmmmmmmm.) Though she has enjoyed playing great Toronto venues such as The Broadview Hotel and Rancho Relaxo, her favourite gigs are ones that serve community groups by bringing listeners together through song.

Jacques is a dog of all trades: manager, roadie, and occasional backup singer. He's stuffed with mounds of moxie, heaps of chutzpah, and plenty of plucky prowess.

Plus, special thanks to Bill Beard and Grantley Gibbons who took the best photos on this site.