In The Wonder Of The Night Angela Verbrugge & Ray Gallon

• 1 S'Posing 02:52
• 2 Paradise Defined 03:47
• 3 I'm 99% Sure of You 02:31
• 4 I'm a Cliché 04:28
• 5 The Gift (Recado Bossa Nova) 03:11
• 6 On A Night Such as This 04:20
• 7 Moonlight Becomes You - In The Wonder Of The Night 03:44
• 8 Reaching for the Moon 04:15
• 9 It's De-Lovely 02:51
• 10 Goodbye, Little Dream Goodbye 04:09
• 11 Moonlight in Vermont 05:16
• Total Runtime 41:24

Info zu In The Wonder Of The Night

An intimate voice-and-piano album weaving five witty originals among six classic standards. Captures Angela and pianist Ray Gallon in a late-night, romantic mood with In the Wonder of the Night.

“She has emerged as one of the top jazz singers on the scene.” (Scott Yanow, DownBeat, liner notes)

Angela Verbrugge is a Canadian jazz vocalist, songwriter, and performer whose career has been defined by resilience, originality, and devotion to the Great American Songbook. Based on Vancouver Island, she debuted in 2019 with The Night We Couldn’t Say Good Night (with Ray Gallon and Cameron Brown), praised by Toronto Music Report as “a perfect album” and listed among Scott Yanow’s top 30 jazz albums of the year. In 2020, she won the JazzTimes Readers’ Poll for Best Female Vocalist. Her 2022 follow-up, Love for Connoisseurs, spotlighted her songwriting collaborations and appeared again on Yanow’s year-end list, while Somewhere (2024, OA2 Records) showcased her restraint and lyric clarity. Across her discography, critics have praised her as “fun and quirky, hip and a hoot, wispy and romantic, and [she] cleverly swings” (JazzWeekly) and as “a major lyricist whose songs deserve to be covered by other performers” (Yanow).

On October 10, 2025, Verbrugge deepens her profile with In the Wonder of the Night on G² Records & Publishing. An intimate duo recording with pianist Ray Gallon, the album captures the spontaneity and romance of late-night music making. “I’m a night owl,” Verbrugge reflects. “Some of the most meaningful things in my life have happened at night. At night, you’re granted this space and permission to pursue your passions.” The program intertwines five of her originals with standards by Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, and others, unified by a nocturnal and lunar motif. As Yanow observes in the album’s liner notes, she has “emerged as one of the top jazz singers on the scene.”

Central to the project is Verbrugge’s longstanding collaboration with Gallon. The two first met in 2016 while working with Sheila Jordan at the Vermont Jazz Center, and Gallon has appeared on each of her albums since. Here, their rapport is distilled into the most direct setting possible — voice and piano. “Ray and I have worked together a lot since we first met in 2016 … Ray learned directly from John Lewis, Hank Jones, and Jaki Byard, and has performed with the likes of Art Farmer, Jon Hendricks, Ron Carter, Lionel Hampton … He always seems to be working, whether appearing at leading jazz venues, festivals, and a constant schedule of gigs in New York City, whether as a side musician or leading his own trio (with such musicians as Kenny Washington) for decades. His experience and ear are vast,” Verbrugge explains.

A trusted accompanist and resourceful soloist for more than four decades, Gallon brings a language rooted in bebop and blues, combining harmonic sophistication with rhythmic lift. The New York City Jazz Record has called him “a brilliant pianist deeply rooted in the tradition,” while All About Jazz praised his trio recording Grand Company as “filled with technical proficiency and emotional depth as well as a unique artistic voice.” His résumé includes work with Ron Carter, Lionel Hampton, Art Farmer, Jon Hendricks, and Sheila Jordan, among many others. Together, Verbrugge and Gallon create a dialogue that expands the expressive possibilities of the classic duo format.

Unlike many duo albums that lean heavily toward ballads and rubato interpretations, In the Wonder of the Night offers striking variety: swing, blues, standards, and Verbrugge’s originals, all unified by their nocturnal theme. The title reflects her belief that the night reveals space, intimacy, and clarity — qualities woven through every track. This late-night aesthetic, both romantic and reflective, sets the project apart and affirms her originality as both an interpreter and a songwriter.

With this release — her fourth album since 2019 — Angela Verbrugge distills her talents into a setting of maximum intimacy and expression. In the Wonder of the Night affirms her place as a vocalist of resilience, artistry, and originality, joined by a pianist whose depth and experience elevate every note. It is a recording that celebrates the mystery, romance, and clarity of the night, while continuing the story of one of today’s most distinctive jazz vocalists.

Angela Verbrugge, vocals
Ray Gallon, piano

Angela Verbrugge
is a Canadian jazz vocalist, songwriter, and performer whose work blends the interpretive depth of an actor with the instincts of a trained musician and a lifelong devotion to the Great American Songbook. Based on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, she drew international attention with her 2019 debut, The Night We Couldn’t Say Good Night, recorded in New York with pianist Ray Gallon and co-produced by bassist Cameron Brown (Jazz Messengers, George Adams, Sheila Jordan). Toronto Music Report hailed it as “a perfect album,” and the release earned Verbrugge a spot on music historian Scott Yanow’s list of the top 30 jazz albums of the year. In 2020, she won the JazzTimes Readers’ Poll for Best Female Vocalist, affirming the originality of her approach.

Verbrugge’s artistry reflects a distinctive combination: the storytelling power of a trained actor and the craft of a working musician. Having studied classical piano, theory, and trombone in her youth, she performs not simply as a singer but as a fellow instrumentalist, shaping arrangements, writing lead sheets, and contributing original compositions and lyrics. Critics have often highlighted this dual strength, noting both her interpretive range and her growing impact as a lyricist. Her style is firmly rooted in the swing-era and cool-school vocal traditions of the 1940s and ’50s — Anita O’Day, Helen Merrill, Dinah Washington, June Christy, Ella Fitzgerald — while carrying a modern sensibility.

Her sophomore release, Love for Connoisseurs (2022), marked a bold step into original songwriting. Featuring collaborations with Gallon, Nick Hempton, Ken Fowser, and others, the album once again landed on Yanow’s annual top 30 list. International outlets from Jazzwise to Jersey Jazz praised her personality and writing, while JazzWeekly described her as “fun and quirky, hip and a hoot, wispy and romantic, and [she] cleverly swings.” The Syncopated Times likened her precision and range to Annie Ross, underscoring her strengths as both interpreter and lyricist. Her third album, Somewhere (2024, Origin’s OA2 label), offered a collection of standards noted for restraint and clarity, with Michael Steinman (JazzLives) praising her “light touch with songs that ordinarily lead singers to melodrama,” and JazzWeeklyconcluding, “Less is more on this charmer.”

Her accomplishments have been recognized with major accolades. In addition to the JazzTimes poll win, she was nominated for Jazz Artist of the Year at the 2024 Western Canadian Music Awards — a category spanning all instruments and styles. Her albums have charted on Canada’s Earshot reports and received airplay on CBC, NPR, and JazzWeek-reporting stations worldwide. In Japan, Europe, and the U.S., her CDs are stocked by major retailers, and her songs have appeared on editorial and themed playlists across Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Spotify. She has received support from the Canada Council for the Arts, FACTOR, Creative BC, Music BC, and the Province of British Columbia.

Born in Kingston, Ontario, Verbrugge grew up in a household where her mother accompanied school assemblies and her grandmother played organ at family gatherings. Old songbooks became her childhood companions, and by her teens she was performing with the Kingston Symphony in Gilbert and Sullivan productions and at the Grand Theatre in classic musicals. She studied acting at George Brown College’s Theatre Studies program in Toronto, graduating as one of the youngest in her cohort, and initially launched a career on stage. After moving to Vancouver in the late 1990s, a car accident that left her with two broken legs ended her acting ambitions. Later, while raising three young children, she faced cancer and emerged with renewed determination to pursue her first love: music. Encouraged at a patient seminar to “follow your passion and never look back,” she immersed herself in jazz study, working with Canadian mentors and attending workshops in the U.S. Her mentorship with Sheila Jordan in 2016 proved pivotal, connecting her to Ray Gallon and Cameron Brown and leading directly to her debut.

Since then, Verbrugge has built an international profile, appearing at leading jazz clubs and festivals across Canada, the UK, Japan, Taiwan, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg, and Türkiye. She has performed with Canadian luminaries including drummer Terry Clarke, bassist Neil Swainson, guitarist Reg Schwager, and multi-instrumentalist Miles Black, while pursuing songwriting collaborations with peers such as Gallon, Hempton, Fowser, Neal Miner, and Caity Gyorgy. Her ensembles often include Juno Award winners, nominees, and Order of Canada recipients, underscoring her place within the top tier of Canadian jazz.

Critics have consistently noted her ability to inhabit characters in song, drawing on her acting background to deliver performances of empathy, wit, and theatrical flair. Raul da Gama observed that “she plays the characters to the hilt, inhabiting their skins,” while JazzTimes remarked that she is an artist with “conspicuously good taste.” Yanow adds that she is “a major lyricist whose songs deserve to be covered by other performers.” With each release, she deepens her dual identity as interpreter and writer, ensuring her work resonates in both timeless standards and new contributions to the repertoire.

Today, Angela Verbrugge continues to tour internationally, teach and mentor, and release acclaimed recordings. With four albums since 2019, she has established herself as one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary jazz — an artist whose resilience, musicianship, and interpretive depth mark her as a vital force in the global scene.

Ray Gallon
A NYC-native, pianist Ray Gallon has been a mainstay on the jazz scene for over thirty years. Rooted in bebop and blues, his expressive, swingin’ playing melds old and new into a fresh, original style. Gallon’s latest project as a leader is a critically-acclaimed trio album recorded at Van Gelder Studios with Ron Carter and Lewis Nash for which Bill Charlap wrote the liner notes. As a young player, Ray was taken under the wing of piano giants John Lewis, Hank Jones, and Jaki Byard. He has performed at major jazz festivals and venues around the world with such luminaries as Ron Carter, Lionel Hampton, Art Farmer, Benny Golson, George Adams, Les Paul, and Wycliffe Gordon. Ray has appeared at the White House and the Kennedy Center, sharing the stage with jazz legends Dizzy Gillespie, Milt Jackson, Sweets Edison, and Joe Williams. An in-demand accompanist, he has worked with many vocal greats, including Jon Hendricks, Sheila Jordan, Dakota Staton, Gloria Lynne, Jane Monheit and Chaka Khan. Ray's inventive compositions have been recorded by acclaimed artists T.S. Monk and George Adams. His previous trio album, Make Your Move, features the stellar rhythm section of David Wong and Kenny Washington. Ray is a full-time faculty member of the jazz program at The City College of NY in Harlem and the Vermont Jazz Center’s summer workshops and has taught at Juilliard and The New School.

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