Award-winning jazz singer-songwriter Ori Dagan has attracted a dedicated and growing audience, both in his native Toronto and internationally. He brings a wry and agile sense of swing to everything he does, whether interpreting a standard, spinning a pop tune on its head or introducing his own original music and lyrics. Dagan’s rich bass-baritone is unmistakable. His consistently forward-thinking style is inspired by hundreds of heroines and heroes, including Sheila Jordan (with whom Dagan recorded a duet in 2017).

Kicked off by the audaciously truthful “Viruses,” which netted him a Grand Prize at the Great American Songwriting Contest, Dagan’s 2022 release “Click Right Here” solidifies his strengths as a lyricist. The album is a darkly humorous tongue-in-cheek sendup of life in the digital age, with songs about online dating, social media and other 21st century blues ironically paired with the old-school sound of an 8-piece jazz band. “Click Right Here” was praised by John Devenish of JAZZ.FM91 as “fun, provocative, fancy-free and spirited,” while George W. Harris of Jazz Weekly proclaimed: “Rare are the male singers these days who are just as clever with the pen as the vocal sword. Toronto-based Ori Dagan fits into that category with this clever release of mostly originals.”

Ori’s previous recordings, S’Cat Got My Tongue (2009) and Less Than Three <3 (2012), established his creative artistic voice. In 2017, with the support of an ambitious crowdfunding campaign, he collaborated with seven directors from around the world on the visual album Nathaniel: A Tribute to Nat King Cole, which garnered him invitations to headline around the world, won critical acclaim and recognition at film festivals worldwide, as well as an official showcase at SXSW.  During the pandemic, Ori’s weekly live-streamed concert Jazz It Up garnered over one million views collectively.

Whether you are following his TikToks, watching his music videos or seeing him perform the old-school way, the Ori Dagan experience will continue to bring jazz into the 21st century.