Nancy Ruth

Overview

Nancy Ruth is a Canadian-born singer, songwriter, and pianist. Trained in classical and jazz traditions at the Royal Conservatory and Berklee College of Music, she blends jazz, Latin, and flamenco influences into a distinctive sound shaped by more than twenty years in Málaga, Spain. Career highlights include featured appearances at Canada’s du Maurier International Jazz Festival and Senegal's Festival du Saint-Louis, a month-long engagement at the Royal Palace of the Sultan of Brunei, and tours across Europe, Southeast Asia, Canada, and Australia. Her original songs appear in the Spanish feature film La Ley del Embudo, available to stream on Amazon Prime and FlixOlé, and her music has received airplay on U.S. jazz radio.

Early Training

Nancy’s love of jazz began in family jam sessions growing up in British Columbia, Canada. She went on to study music at the Royal Conservatory of Music, Douglas College, and Berklee College of Music, along with acting and theatre at Langara’s Studio 58—a combination of technical and performance training that continues to shape both her stage presence and her artistry today.

Career Highlights

Nancy’s professional career began singing in bands and touring Canada with Axess, Renaissance, and Aces High. From 1992 to 1997, she starred in the long-running musical Beaver Creek Rendezvous in Canada’s Yukon Territory, performing for international audiences. She released her self-titled debut album, Nancy Ruth, in 1998, fronted jazz trios at festivals including Canada’s du Maurier International Jazz Festival, and toured internationally as a pianist-vocalist, including a long-running residency as a featured performer at Disney’s Sessions and Cadillac Jazz Clubs. Nancy has also been a guest entertainer on countless cruise ships and in jazz clubs worldwide.

She was invited to perform for the Sultan of Brunei at the Royal Palace, learning to sing in Malay and Indonesian for a month-long engagement—one of several international residencies that took her around the globe, including guest vocal work with WEA recording artists The Lovehunters in Singapore.

Her travels have directly shaped her music: she has collaborated with Arabic and Berber musicians in Morocco and flamenco artists in Andalusia, and appeared as a guest artist on albums by Canadian trumpeter Gabriel Mark Hasselbach and New York composer Joe Gianono.

A performance with Panamanian composer Toño Robira inspired her to explore the boleros and ballads of Latin America, resulting in Spanish-language songwriting for her 2008 release, Me Quedo. Returning to Spain, she wrote and recorded Para Ti in both English and Spanish, then produced and starred in Trío Pasión, an international touring stage show celebrating the music of Spain and Latin America.

In 2017 and 2018, she toured cities across Australia performing her original music. She also co-starred in the musical Mojito, which featured several of her songs. The production enjoyed its own tour and a successful run at the Adelaide Fringe Festival.

In 2019, Nancy travelled to New York to record new work, including a soundtrack piece featuring members of the New York Philharmonic, arranger Joe Gianono (Blood, Sweat & Tears; Michel Camilo), and Grammy-winning engineer Oscar Zambrano. That same era saw her performing as a featured composer and artist at the Festival du Saint-Louis in Senegal—Africa's largest jazz festival.

She also wrote and directed a documentary on cross-cultural musical collaboration, filmed over several years in Morocco. Nancy Ruth’s Musical Adventures in Morocco made successful rounds on the festival circuit. Her original songs "Llórame" and "Sigo Viviendo" appear in the Spanish feature film La Ley del Embudo.

Discography & Recent Releases

Nancy Ruth’s five studio albums include Nancy Ruth (1998), It's Got to Be Love (2004), Me Quedo (2008), Para Ti (2011), and Sangria Jam (2016)—a musical travelogue of her life in Spain that blends jazz, Latin, and flamenco influences into original songwriting. Reflecting on her creative process, she notes: "I write what flows freely… I'm not trying to create a fusion, I just play what I feel. I'm a product of my experience and surroundings."

Recent singles include "Todo Para Ti" (2018), followed by a run of 2020 releases: "Breathing in Indigo," "Just Can't Let It Go (Extended Mix in Morocco)," the orchestral piece "Where the Sea Melts to Sky" (featuring members of the New York Philharmonic), and the ballad "Turn the Lights Back Down," which received significant airplay on U.S. jazz radio stations. Her most recent singles, released from 2024 to 2025, include "One More Lucky Day," "It's Always Been You," "I Don't Wanna Walk Away," "Straight Back Down," and "Drown in Indecision."

TODAY

Today, Nancy tours with her intimate live show Songs, Stories & Spain—a trio featuring piano and vocals, bass, and guitar. The show takes audiences on a musical journey from smoky jazz clubs to the Moorish mystique of southern Spain, weaving elegant jazz standards, fiery Spanish songs, and original compositions with the personal stories behind them. It offers an intimate and richly textured musical portrait of the artist and the places that have shaped her career.