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‘Canada’s Sweetheart of Swing’ brings vintage jazz and story of resiliency to Orangeville

May 28, 2026   ·   0 Comments

By Sam Odrowski

 Juno nominee Alex Pangman is returning to the Orangeville Blues and Jazz Festival (OBJF) nearly two decades after her first appearance, having survived not one but two lung transplants along the way.

“I come to you through the courtesy of organ donation,” she said. “When I say I’m a whole new person, I mean almost literally.”

The Canadian jazz and swing vocalist will perform at OBJF with her quintet, Alex Pangman and Her Alleycats, on the Orangeville Opera House stage at 5 p.m. on Saturday, June 6.

“I was really happy that Larry [festival director] remembered me and was happy to have me back,” she said. “It feels great to reconnect.”

Known as “Canada’s Sweetheart of Swing,” she is eager to take listeners on a journey through the jazz of the 1920s and 1930s, blending upbeat swing numbers with thoughtful, reflective ballads.

“You’ll find it a good mix of happy, buoyant music and a couple of thoughtful ballads that will hopefully help people reflect on life,” she said. “It’s a vintage repertoire, but it’s so current. These songs never go out of style – and there is a little hint of the retro to it.”

Pangman draws influences from young Ella Fitzgerald and Jack Teagarden – artists who are wonderful with a melody but could also swing the beat to make audiences dance and laugh.

Grateful for the ability to continue performing after undergoing a lung transplant in 2008 and an additional one in 2013 to treat end-stage cystic fibrosis, Pangman didn’t hesitate when describing the experience.

“It was like somebody gave me a new engine in my car… It’s truly the gift of life,” she told the Citizen.

“I like the music from the 1930s, but I like the medicine from this era a lot better.”

And for Pangman, healing extends beyond the operating room.

“There’s a lot that is stressful and wrong in this world right now. Music can’t fix everything, but an hour with good melodies and good rhythms and good lyrics is quite curative for the soul,” she said.

Host of Swing Set on Jazz.FM91, Pangman is well-versed in the genre and knows how to put together a strong performance.

A standout moment of her quintet’s set at OBJF will be when they perform “Swing That Music,” by Louis Armstrong.

“He is so important to the history of early jazz music and to the art form of jazz and entertainment,” Pangman said. “I think it’s really important that we always include some Louis Armstrong.”

That reverence carries over to the musicians she shares the stage with. 

“It feels like you put on your favourite sweater — everything just fits well and is harmonious,” Pangman said of the band’s chemistry. “That’s what the interplay between the guys on stage feels like – it feels like home.”

Founded in 1999, Alex Pangman and Her Alleycats are midway through a new recording project, and look forward to its release.

The OBJF runs from June 5 to 7 with a free stage on Broadway, near Second Street, a ticketed stage in Alexandra Park and a ticketed stage at the Opera House.

Tickets to see Alex Pangman and Her Alleycats take the Opera House stage, at 87 Broadway, Orangeville, on June 6 at 5 p.m. are available for $30 or a weekend pass is costs $40 at ticketscene.ca/series/1633/.

“This music is joyful. Hopefully it will make people happy for the hour that they hear us and take them away from the troubles,” she said.

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