A celebrated figure in Canadian music and an inductee of the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame, keyboardist and composer Bill Sample brings decades of high-level experience. A former musical director for David Foster, he has performed with Celine Dion, Ray Charles, Kenny Loggins, and opened for Oscar Peterson and Monty Alexander. He was also one of Diana Krall’s early piano teachers. His partner on and off stage, vocalist Darlene Cooper, is a respected jazz/soul/gospel singer, arranger and educator whose collaborators include Eric Bibb, Dee Daniels, Marcus Mosely, Leon Bibb and many more.

Formed in 2017, Wild Blue Herons have appeared at leading festivals and clubs across Canada including Vancouver Folk Festival, the Filberg Festival, Frankie’s Jazz Club, Jazz Bistro Toronto and more. Their first two albums, the full-band funk-leaning On the Outside and the intimate lockdown project You and I, established the pair as a versatile and deeply connected creative partnership. 

With It’s All About Love, Sample and Cooper widen the lens. Adding a full horn section in 2023 sparked a shift toward a more groove-oriented, Crusaders-meets-Steely-Dan aesthetic – deep pocket, joyful energy, and sophisticated arrangements shaped by Sample’s writing. The album moves fluidly between jazzy swing, funk-driven anthems and soulful ballads, unified by themes of presence, gratitude and keeping love at the centre.

Recorded with a band of long-time collaborators – musicians whose résumés include work with Van Morrison, Tom Cochrane and k.d. lang – the project captures the warmth, chemistry and lived-in musicality that define Wild Blue Herons’ live shows.