The Kingston Jazz Society is a non-profit charitable association of jazz lovers dedicated to the five p's: preservation, production, performance, promotion and perpetuation of this distinctly North American art form.

Fortuitously located on the Trans-Canada highway between Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa, the KJS has hosted some of Canada's best-known and most revered jazz artists. They come to Kingston because our audiences know and appreciate this extraordinary art form.

The jazz community has deep roots in Kingston - dating back to the end of the second World War, the big-band era, when Kingston hosted the Canadian Forces Vimy Band - a world class military orchestra that toured the world, many of whose members played jazz on the side in Kingston bars and restaurants.

Those players blended easily with the local cats creating many memorable evenings of spontaneous, improvised jazz of an untypically high quality. The collaborations that this fusion spawned became the Kingston Jazz Society. Though the Vimy band has relocated, the spirit of jazz - and the local scene - percolates as vigorously as ever.

Kingston still hosts two large dance bands and numerous trios and quartets.

The KJS hosts artists of national and international acclaim if they happen to be transiting through our catchment. The hypoteneuse of the triangle - Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto - is a spectacular place from which to pluck the best and the brightest as they go wheeling down the 401 between major gigs and festivals. Each year we cull from the embarrassment of riches that fills our mailboxes with promo package and CDs to assemble a late-September festival comprised of up-and-coming Canadian artists, most of whom will eventually cost too much for us to bring back. In the winter we host a series in the Public Library to take advantage of the 9-foot grand piano.

That's our strategy and our audiences will tell you that it works great. We are able to deliver to Kingston jazz fans artists of a caliber that would cost $20 and more to see in one of the major venues - but we can put them in small and intimate settings where audience and artist can actually connect. Everyone who has played a KJS event wants to return.

If your project wants to be considered for a KJS gig, forward a promo package to the Board of Directors at the relevant address and plan your routing to fit us in. We'll do our best to fit you in. We're the Kingston Jazz Society and for us it's all about the music.