March 2010
Welcome to the Georgia Straight Jazz Society Newsletter, keeping you up to date on the local and Vancouver Island jazz scene and informed about your Society.
AT THE JAZZ CLUB
Jen Hodge and Company B
Sunday Feb 28
7:30 pm
Elks' Hall, Courtenay
Tickets:
$12 members, $16 non-members
Available at the door, and at Bop City, 211 Simms St. Courtenay
Don’t sit under the apple tree with anyone else but Company B! The Georgia Straight Jazz Society presents Company B Swing Band in concert Sunday February 28th, 7:30 pm at the Elks’ Hall. This Vancouver-based sextet delivers a light-hearted, hard-swinging take on 30’s and 40’s-era acts like the Andrews Sisters and the Boswell Sisters.
Shannon Scott, Emily Lyall and Juhli Conlinn sing vibrant three-part harmonies that will bring a grin to your face. Guitarist David Taylor and bassist Jen Hodge back them with infectiously good-humoured rhythmic drive, while reed player Jens Christiansen complements the vocals with tasty saxophone and clarinet licks. Company B have been featured at the Vancouver, Chilliwack, and Sacramento Jazz Festivals in the past 18 months, and regularly play swing dance clubs and concerts in the lower mainland.
Very Special Thursday Jazz Club - Women of Jazz 2010
Thursday March 4
7:30 pm
Elks' Hall, Courtenay
Admission by donation, all proceeds to Comox Valley Transition Society
Every year, on or near International Women’s Day, the Society stages a tribute to the great Women of Jazz. On Thursday, an all-female band and singers will present an evening of fabulous entertainment, and raise funds to support the Transition Society. Perhaps equally important, it’s an opportunity for you to experience the incredible depth and range of women’s jazz talent in this region.
"Women of Jazz 2010" happens Thursday March 4, 7:30pm at the Elks’ Home on 6th Street.
Admission is by donation, with all proceeds going to Lilli House, the Comox Valley’s shelter for women and their children who are leaving abusive relationships. Money collected will be used to purchase new playground equipment.
Some of the greatest women musicians from four communities are coming together for this performance: Pianist Dianne Cassidy and tenor sax player Carrie Fowler hail from Campbell River – they wowed local audiences just last month in their performance with the Little Big Band. Bassist Jen Hodge is a Comox Valley gal now living and playing professionally in Vancouver – fresh from her successful Sunday concert with the Company B Swing Band.
Drummer Tracy Myers and tenor sax player Marty Hilchey, from Nanaimo, are no strangers to local music fans. Hilchey appeared with her quartet at the Elks last year, and Myers has performed here with large and small ensembles, including dance band Big Red Truck. Rounding out the band is local pianist Kelly Thomas, who will be familiar to the many fans of the Georgia Strait Big Band.
Six of the Comox Valley’s finest jazz singers will be featured throughout the evening. Jenn Forsland, Dale Graham, Rebekah Janzen, Jilli Martini, Wendy Nixon Stothert, and Michelle Weckesser present a captivating range of styles and voices as they share the stage in a series of solo and harmony vocal numbers.
The Big Bossa
Sunday March 28
7:30 pm
Elks' Hall, Courtenay
Antonio Carlos Jobim has had enormous influence on the shape and direction of jazz music over the last 50 years. Marrying traditional Brazilian samba with African rhythms, Jobim fathered the “Bossa Nova” sound that came to be embraced by audiences world-wide, and recorded by countless jazz greats including Stan Getz, Frank Sinatra, and Ella Fitzgerald.
On Sunday, March 28th the Georgia Straight Jazz Society presents “The Big Bossa” at the Elk’s Hall at 7:30 pm. Nanaimo-area drummer and bandleader James McRae has assembled eight leading jazz players to perform a tribute to the Brazilian heart and soul of Jobim.
Watch for more information on the Jazz Society website, local papers and upcoming newsletters.
Jazz at the Elks
7:30 pm, at Courtenay's Elk's Hall, September through July. No cover. Musicians welcome to sit in on the Thursday's final set jams.
- Feb 28 Sunday Concert - Jenn Hodge & Company B
- March 4 Thursday Jazz Club - Women of Jazz
- March 11 Thursday Jazz Club - Jilli Martini & Friends
- March 18 Thursday Jazz Club - Little Big Band
- March 25 Thursday Jazz Club - Jenn Forsland Group
- March 28 Sunday Concert - The Big Bossa
Schedule subject to change.
JAZZ NEWS
Grammy Winners - blast from the past
Joe Zawinul, Chick Corea, John McLaughlin. To those of us brought up on late 60's and early 70's jazz, those names evoke memories of synthesizer driven fusion and jazz rock. It's good to see the same names appear on the list of Grammy winners for 2009.
Corea and McLaughlin won for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual Or Group, with their “Five Peace Band - Live" CD, by the Chick Corea & John McLaughlin Five Peace Band.
Joe Zawinul, who passed away in 2007, won posthumously for the CD "75" by the Zawinul Syndicate.
Visit allaboutjazz.com for a complete listing.