Groove to holiday jazz by Deer Head Inn fave and renowned Canadian pianist, Jon Ballantyne. Enjoy our yearly complimentary Open House with hors d’oeuvres, wines, and espressos while you shop last minute works of fine art all less than 200 bucks. All the folks are kind and friendly at Orange. Enjoy wonderful food at the most beautiful music and art room in the mountains. 

Suggested Music Donation $10.

Beer, Wine, Espressos Compliments of Orange

Hors d’oeuvres Compliments of Orange

Free Parking in the Rear

About John Ballantyne

Saskatchewan born, New York-based jazz pianist Jon Ballantyne started playing piano at a very early age, and began formal study at the age of six. His father is also a pianist and both parents’ jazz enthusiasts; therefore Jon was hearing the recordings of greats such as Lenny Breau, Oscar Peterson, Miles Davis, Bill Evans and Duke Ellington from the beginning of his life.

After the early years of absorbing his father’s blues-based approach to piano, classical piano studies, and a stint in a garage rock band as a young teenager, Jon realized his passion and decided to more thoroughly investigate the art form of jazz. This quest led to his winning of a scholarship to attend first Mohawk College in Hamilton, Ontario, followed by classes at the University of Saskatchewan, and finally another scholarship to attend North Texas State University. As an honours student at NTSU, Jon was asked to and did play with in small group formats with visiting artists such as Elvin Jones, Ron Carter, Michael Brecker, Joe Henderson, Emily Remler and Nat Adderley. Jon hit it off particularly well with Joe Henderson and would, just three years later, reunite with Henderson to record in Montreal (with the rhythm section made up of fellow Canadians Jerry Fuller and Neil Swainson) what has become a Canadian jazz classic-“Sky Dance” (Justin Time) which won a Juno award in 1990.

In the mid-eighties, Jon attended jazz workshops at the Banff Center of the Arts in Alberta, Canada; studying and playing with Kenny Wheeler, Don Thompson, Phil Nimmons, Dave Holland, Dave Liebman, Ed Blackwell, Lee Konitz, Cecil Taylor, John Abercrombie, Karl Berger, and Steve Coleman. Fellow students in Banff included Mike Murley, Perry White, Hugh Fraser and Michael Blake, to name a few. At this time, he also studied in NYC with Barry Harris, Kenny Barron, Hal Galper and JoAnn Brackeen.

This period of intensive study naturally led to a performance career, and Jon often shared (and shares) the stage or recording studio with some of the world’s finest musicians, including, as mentioned previously, Joe Henderson, as well as Roy Haynes, Paul Bley, Dewey Redman, Don Thompson, Dave Liebman, Billy Hart, Gene Jackson, Ben Street, Mick Goodrick, Scott Colley, Reid Anderson, Craig Handy, George Garzone, Ed Bickert, Phil Dwyer, Yannick Rieu, Pepper Adams , Kevin Dean, Mike Allen, Terry Clarke, P.J. Perry, Andre White, Drew Gress, Charles Fambrough, Rich Perry, Benny Wallace, Ray Drummond, Ben Perowsky, The Mingus Big Band, Woody Herman’s Thundering Herd, Clark Terry, Al Cohn, Red Mitchell, Jimmy Guiffre, Shorty Rodgers, Buddy DeFranco and Joe Lovano. Traveling often, Jon has performed in eight European countries, the UK, Japan, most provinces and major jazz festivals in Canada, and more than 40 states in the USA.