Patrick Dilkie

On the verge of the 10-year anniversary of the release of his sole solo album, long-time Toronto-based sideman and jazz pianist Patrick Dilkie (Emma Worley, Do Tell, The Bettys) is returning to performing his music in anticipation of a coming (as-yet unnamed) recording project. Patrick practices song writing as a therapeutic technique to process grief, love and memory with compositions drawing from deep emotional wells of childhood joy, human connection and bereavement. Each piece of music represents a moment of understanding and growth through a gentle, patient interrogation of his experiences and values.

Patrick creates sonic collages through the marriage of gestural, open piano playing and incisive, confessional lyrics brimming with whimsy and insight. With a melodic and harmonic sensibility informed by a love of jazz and a deep repertoire cultivated as a cruise ship piano bar performer, he pulls together disparate styles and techniques to create a unique sound which he describes as “If Joni Mitchell, Randy Newman and Patrick Watson awoke from a deep slumber on a Jovian Moon and howled with sleepy awe at an alien sunrise”