Hello, I am Don, the artistic director of the Saskatoon Jazz Society. I have been a musician ever since my cousin showed me how to play On Top of Old Smokey on his Magnus chord organ in 1965! I have taken a long and circuitous route to my current position as artistic director of the Saskatoon Jazz Society. My first gig was playing a right-handed guitar upside down as a left-handed self-taught three-chord wonder in church. Eventually, I accepted my fate to become a nerdy piano player and began the long process of putting in 10,000 hours of practice. And although I now spend most of my time booking 180 shows per year at the Bassment, I still get to occasionally sit down at the piano and play On Top of Old Smokey.

The previous location of the Bassment was in the basement of the Glengarry Building on Third Avenue South. When it closed in 2008, it only made sense to stay Downtown and so we settled in the basement of the old Post Office Building on Fourth Avenue North. It’s great to be centrally located as we attract live music fans from all over the city. The fact that we have 3,850 members is proof that Downtown is a perfect location for what we have to offer.

I love live music and so when I am not working, a perfect night would be for my wife Heather and I to have a meal at a restaurant Downtown and then catch a concert at TCU.
Saskatoon is special to me because I have had nothing but good things happen to me since I moved here in 1987. I have lived in bigger places, but never in a better place!

https://thebassment.ca/
202 4th Avenue N