David Riddel’s Dr. Purgatory
September 21 & 22 @ 8:00PM

David Riddel - Guitar
Band - TBA

David Riddel is a Toronto-based guitarist and composer. Since graduating from the jazz studies program at the University of Toronto in 2016, he has recorded and performed extensively across Canada and internationally with some of Canada's most notable musicians. Riddel has been awarded multiple grants from the Ontario Arts Council, including the Chalmers Professional Development grant, with which he studied in Amsterdam with renowned Dutch guitarist and composer Reiner Baas. 

Riddel is a veritable composer and leads many of his own projects, including the avant/chamber jazz group Dr. Purgatory, whose second LP was released in 2025 to critical acclaim. The album features Colleen Allen (sax, flute), Andrew Downing (upright 

bass), Noam Lemish (piano), Aline Homzy (violin), Stefan Hegerat (drums) and Conrad Gluch (sax, bass clarinet), and is accompanied by a novella written by Riddel and illustrated by Sid Sharp. 

In addition to his work as a leader, Riddel is an in-demand sideman, whose work with Chelsea McBride’s big band, ethereal vocalist Laura Swankey, Canadian sax-hero Colleen Allen, Vancouver avant-garde harpist Elisa Thorn, among others, has earned him praise from jazz critics in Canada and the United States. Riddel has performed at the Toronto Jazz Festival, the Edmonton Jazz festival, the Calgary Jazz Festival, the Halifax Jazz Festival and more.