Co-leaders, Mike Manny (a first generation Canadian of Caribbean descent, born in Toronto, living in Ottawa), and Nathan Hiltz (originally from Antigonish and living in Toronto) formed THERMO during the pandemic after performing guitar-piano duo shows online via the magic of cyberspace through the low latency Canadian internet platform, Syncspace.live. A musical kinship blossomed – a few laughs were had, and musical ideas were put into motion. Suddenly, a few live performances took place and a recording date was set – all to include legendary Canadian jazz bassist, Neil Swainson, and the deep swinging Morgan Childs on drums.
THERMO’s debut recording, “Birdlike” recently won a Global Music Award 2023 (jazz category), and features outstanding arrangements performed in synchronous motion by Manny & Hiltz; a style not often heard on modern Canadian jazz recordings.
