Keegan Isaac performs with the Itsy Bitsy Big Band on the main stage at the Saskatchewan Jazz Festival in Saskatoon in July 2025. (Photo Credit/ SaskTel Saskatchewan Jazz Festival - Jeremy LeClair)

By Kenneth Cheung

LOCAL TALENT

The Battlefords’ Keegan Isaac and Itsy Bitsy Big Band to headline Saskatoon’s Broadway Theatre

Aug 7, 2025 | 5:04 PM

Keegan Isaac, who is in his early 20s, admits it’s a strange dream to have.

“It’s always been my dream to be a big band singer,” he said. “Which is kind of a funny dream for a teenager growing up in Saskatchewan — and also a little bit far-fetched.”

But that far-fetched dream is now his reality.

On Aug. 30, Isaac and his 17-piece ensemble, the Itsy Bitsy Big Band, will headline their first full concert in Saskatoon at the Broadway Theatre. The show marks a milestone for the young musician, who has performed twice at TeleMiracle and recently took the main stage at the Saskatchewan Jazz Festival in July.

“This is our first full concert in Saskatoon, which is really exciting for me because that’s where a lot of our band members live now… lots of them are originally from the Battlefords,” he said.

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The show promises a mix of jazz standards, original music and re-imagined pop songs, all delivered with a twist.

“We try to build our show so that it can be experienced by all ages and enjoyed by all ages,” Isaac said. “Whether it’s somebody who’s listened to big band music their whole life, or someone who’s experiencing it for the very first time.”

One of the band’s most popular numbers is a swing-style arrangement of Carly Rae Jepsen’s Call Me Maybe, reworked into a Buddy Holly-era groove.

“At every show we do, I introduce it like, ‘This is what you would get if Carly Rae Jepsen owned a rotary phone,’” Isaac said.

“And I say, ‘But the problem with that is half of you don’t know who Carly Rae Jepsen is, and half of you don’t know what a rotary phone is,’ and they always laugh at that joke.”

The show will also feature a vocal trio — Sanjana Brijlall, Paulina Salisbury and Emma Gillingham — performing solo and in harmony, inspired by the Andrews Sisters from the 1940s.

“They’re going to be performing some songs that are very popular today in the style of the Andrew Sisters, which I’m really excited about,” Isaac said.

From left to right:Sanjana Brijlall, Paulina Salisbury and Emma Gillingham (Keegan Isaac Music/Facebook)

The concert builds on the momentum Isaac has generated since forming the group just over a year ago. Their first performance in Meota, raised more than $11,000 for the Battlefords Union Hospital Cancer Centre.

“My upbringing here in the Battlefords has had such a strong influence on my music,” Isaac said. “But Saskatoon has also done that… The connections I built and the mentors I have there — they’ve all kind of influenced me and helped me grow to do this and to be capable of doing this.”

The Broadway Theatre seats 430, and Isaac hopes to fill every one. More than anything, he wants to help people rediscover a genre they may not know they love.

“It’s not that they don’t like big band music — it’s that they don’t know how much they love it yet.”

Keegan Isaac performs with the Itsy Bitsy Big Band on the main stage at the Saskatchewan Jazz Festival in Saskatoon in July 2025. (Photo Credit/ SaskTel Saskatchewan Jazz Festival – Jeremy LeClair)

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Kenneth.Cheung@pattisonmedia.com