September 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
Jazz at the Elks - Fall Season Begins Thursday Sept. 9
Another great season of live jazz starts on September 9 when the Thursday Jazz Club at the Elks returns. The season begins in classy style, with Indigo Jazz featuring Dale Graham. Indigo Jazz, normally the trio of Graham, Al West and Rick Husband, has expanded for this evening to inclued Aaron Amar on drums and Sam Lennox on sax and flute. Don't miss it!
Thursday Jazz Club info:
7:30 pm, at Courtenay's Elk's Hall, September through July.
No cover, donation requested.
Musicians welcome to sit in on the final set jam unless otherwise noted.
September at the Jazz Club:
- Thurs Sept 9 - Indigo Jazz
- Thurs Sept 16 - Jazztet
- Sunday Sept 19 - Amanda Tosoff Quartet in concert (more info below)
- Thurs Sept 23 - Lensmen
- Thurs Sept 30 - The Wire Choir
See all coming events on the GSJS web site >>.
(artist scheduling confilcts may result in schedule change without notice)
Amanda Tosoff Quartet
Sunday September 19
7:30 pm
Elks' Hall, Courtenay
Tickets:
$12 members, $16 non-members
Available at
~ Bop City, 211 Simms St. Courtenay
~ Thursday Jazz Club at the Elks
~ at the door
The GSJS is proud to present the outstanding Amanda Tosoff Quartet in concert on Sunday September 18. Jazz pianist/composer Amanda Tosoff and her quartet have been steadily gaining critical acclaim since the release of their debut album Still Life (Cellar Live 2006). Their unique and mature sound as band has captured the ears of audiences around the world. With Evan Arnzten on saxes, Sean Cronin on bass and Morgan Childs on drums, Tosoff has opened for jazz legends Bobby Hutcherson, Renee Rosnes and Oliver Jones, and has performed with guests such as Ingrid Jensen, Brad Turner and Phil Dwyer. The group has recorded for CBC Radio programs Hot Air, Jazz Beat and Canada Live. Recently, they were chosen as one of seven Canadian bands to be featured on Espace Musique’s live concert series Portraits Jazz.
In 2008, the Amanda Tosoff quartet released their second album Wait and See featuring Juno award-winning trumpeter, Brad Turner. The record has garnered positive reviews and continues to be featured on radio stations around the world, including the US where Wait and See charted amoung the top 50 records on the jazz week
charts.
Tosoff’s group has been the recipient of several awards, including the CBC Galaxie Rising Star Award for best emerging artist in 2007. In the summer of 2009, the quartet was chosen out of ten nominees as the winner of the General Motors Grand Prix de Jazz at the Montréal Jazz Festival. They also were awarded full scholarship to attend the Banff Centre Winter Workshop in 2010.
Listen to samples from
Amanda's
CD "Wait And See"
on CDBaby.com
“... a gifted musician with refined compositional skills.”
Marke Andrews
(Vancouver Sun Review)
“Tosoff shows a remarkable grasp of the art of the song.”
Raul d'Gama Rose
(Allaboutjazz.com)
"...Tosoff shows great promise: as a composer, leader, and performer...Her quartet swings with a genuine spirit, and she interprets clearly with a crisp motion. .. she brings the piano into full view through her calm demeanor and complete confidence."
Jim Santella (Cadence Magazine)
JAZZ NEWS
Made In China
It should be no surprise that as China ramps up its market economy Western culture is making large inroads. Jazz is no exception. Once banned in China, it's now a thriving art form.
This intriguing little video, from Shanghai Jazz ( their tagline: "From the decadence of Old Shanghai . . . A new Jazz Era awakens!") takes a quick look at jazz then and now. It's interesting to see and hear traditional Chinese instruments such as the pipa (four string lute-like instrument), erhu (bowed like a violin), and zheng (the multi-string plucked instrument) being used along side sax, trumpet, and electric guitar.
It looks suspiciously like the band is "playing" along to recordings, but it's fun nevertheless. Love the little note at the end of the video: "Musical seduction from China's age of decadance."
