Doug Wilde’s Wilderness Ensemble

Colleen Allen – Saxes, Eric St-Laurent – Guitar, Henry Heillig – Bass, Charlie Cooley – Drums, Doug Wilde – Keys. The Wilderness Ensemble was formed in 2024 to perform the music of Doug Wilde.  All members of the group, which features players from Toronto’s A list of jazz musicians,  have been recording with Doug for many years. While Doug has spent most of his  professional life in Toronto as a composer, he is probably best known as the principal  composer, music director, and keyboard player for the Canadian world/ jazz /fusion  ensemble Manteca. When Doug writes, a distinctive voice is evident – harmonically rich  and melodic, yet idiosyncratic and at times quirky. This voice can be heard on jazz  recordings under his own name (with the members of the Wilderness ensemble) – Secret  Places and Rhymes with Reason, and in his work with Manteca – Monday Night at The  Mensa Disco, The Twelfth of Never, Augmented Indifference, and The Offspring Project. The Ensemble features Colleen Allen – Saxes, Eric St-Laurent – Guitar, Henry Heillig – Bass, Charlie Cooley – Drums, and Doug Wilde – Keys.