The Dave Stewart Quintet with special guest Ken Lister

Exciting jazz music returns to The Avalanche stage this Thursday at 7:30pm, when Ken Lister, Chad Geekie and Aaron Amar come together for the first time this Thursday to form a Dream Trio that should not be missed. The unique collaboration of these three well-known and highly adept musicians promises a listening experience that will be hard to beat on Vancouver Island or abroad, and provides an exemplary foundation for the quintet’s performance.

Two sets this Thursday will feature a refreshing balance of Traditional and modern standards.

Ken Lister, bass, has been a professional jazz bassist since 1983, winning accolades and Juno awards along the way. He currently performs and teaches in Vancouver and on Vancouver Island and has toured across Canada and internationally to Australia, the British Isles, Cuba and South America. As a member of the Phil Dwyer Orchestra, Ken won a Juno Award for Contemporary Jazz Album of the Year, 2012; with the Hugh Fraser Quintet, the Juno Award for the Best Mainstream Jazz Album of 1997.

As a freelance bassist, Ken enjoys the opportunity to perform with many of his talented peers, performing with many great musicians including Don Thompson, Tommy Banks, Phil Dwyer, Ingrid Jensen, David Hazeltine, Misha Piatigorsky, Pat Coleman, Bill Mays, Vincent Herring, David Schnitter, Jim Rotondi, Steve Davis, Dmitry Baevsky, Ray Vega, Thomas Merriott,  Ian Hendrickson Smith, Terrell Stafford, Slide Hampton, Chucho Valdes, Steve Turre, Kenny Wheeler, Joshua Redman, Herb Ellis, Charlie Byrd, Rob McConnell, Ian McDougall, P.J. Perry, Sam Noto, Ernie Watts, Guido Basso and many others.

Dave Stewart is a 32-year veteran of jazz trumpet performance in large and small ensembles. He is one of Canada's foremost music educators, recipient of Prime Minister's Award for Teaching Excellence and the prestigious Keith Mann Top Canadian Band Director Award. Last year a jury of peers selected him as BC’s Top Music Educator. He teaches music at Kwalikum Secondary School, where his students benefit from his wide and diverse musical experience. His audience benefits in turn as he pours all the energy and passion from teaching into his performance.

Dan Craven also teaches at Kwalikum Secondary School, and brings the benefit of extensive performance experience to his students. 2001 recipient of the Prime Minister's Award for Teaching Excellence,  he is an educator who has also had the honour of sharing the stage with top musicians like Don Thompson, Phil Dwyer, Ian McDougall, P.J. Perry, Campbell Ryga, and many others. In 2007 Dan joined Phil Dwyer's Sax Summit, which first launched in 2002 with the release of Sax Summit on CBC Records, and has recurred in various incarnations throughout the country since then.

As Phil Dwyer was heard to say, “Chad Geekie…THAT guy can play!”  Chad is an extraordinary keyboard player. Chad is a top class musician with multiple Juno nominations to his recording credit. He has performed around the world with, among others, Benny Golson, Jamie Aebersold, Phil Dwyer, Ingrid Jensen and Christine Jensen, and recorded most recently with Marc Atkinson, Damian Gaham and the Kerplunks. Chad’s playing carries with it a refreshingly high level of harmonic  prowess, making everything he plays a sensational aural experience.

And finally, there’s Aaron Amar: Intricate, sensitive drive with a stalwart dash of reflective complexity. Aaron is a highly entertaining and most capable drummer whose talent has graced stages across Canada. His musical career began in Toronto, and we are very fortunate that it has continued here on Vancouver Island.

So there you have it – a really exciting line-up with whom you can enjoy a summer’s evening of live music for only a $5 cover. Great sounds, great company, and a wonderful jazz club atmosphere.