Archive
Guitarist Oliver Gannon Retires…Into a Whole Lot of Activity
A year or so after retiring from his job with PG Music where he developed
materials for the company’s internationally known computer music programs (Band-in-a-Box, etc.), guitarist Oliver Gannon, who has helped define the west coast jazz sound for nearly forty years, is as busy as ever, making the music he loves.
Gannon is best known, of course, for Read more…
Hugh Fraser and Monik Nordine Lead Salt Spring Jazz Camp
Hugh Fraser’s decision last year to step away from institutional jazz programs has given him more time for performance – we’ve been seeing a lot of him of late, which is wonderful – but it’s also meant fewer opportunities for students of jazz to connect with one of the greatest jazz educators this country has ever produced.
Fraser’s infectious enthusiasm for music inspires Read more…
Vocalist Nancy Ruth Brings Her Unique Blend of Sultry Sophistication to Hermann’s
Victoria’s Latin jazz scene has been pretty hot lately with the advent of Turiya
Mareya’s Worldbeat and Latin jazz showcase/jam on Sunday nights at Hermann’s, but it’s about to be turned up a notch or two with the return of vocalist/instrumentalist Nancy Ruth to the bandstand on Saturday night.
Heat may not be quite the right metaphor, however, since Ruth’s latest CD, Me Quedo (Home of Jazz, Netherlands, 2008) shows that her deeply lyrical blend of jazz, pop and Latin, while offering flashes of fire, is decidedly cool and sophisticated in nature, with clearly articulated lyrics and expressive phrasing taking precedence over rhythmic fireworks. This is music with depth, passion, subtlety, and a distinct European sensibility.
Victoria audiences who haven’t heard Ruth for a few years may be a bit surprised by this description since they may recall Read more…
Time For a Little Three Play
Piano and Hammond B-3 master Bob Murphy joins Hugh Fraser and Dave Robbins at Hermann's on Friday night.
Double entendre aside, one thing is certain: when players of the calibre of Hugh Fraser, Bob Murphy and Dave Robbins get together, you can be sure the evening will be filled with uncommon musical pleasure.
When Vancouver keyboard legend Bob Murphy played his first gig at the tender age of 14 in 1959 ( the setting was the Smilin’ Buddha on East Hastings in Vancouver), Hugh Fraser was barely a babe-in-arms, but that hasn’t stopped these two highly creative performers from producing incredible music together, backed by what Fraser calls their “rhythmic furnace,” aka Dave Robbins, on drums.
All three are renowned masters of the jazz idiom and west coast audiences need little introduction to the creative force that is Hugh Fraser, but special attention has to be given to Murphy to understand fully the musical fire Read more…
VCM’s Summer Jazz Workshop Now In Its 24th Year
Coastal BC has one of the most active jazz scenes in North America, and so
it’s no surprise that educational opportunities proliferate, particularly in the form of the excellent summer jazz camps based here.
Gordon Clements, Head of Jazz Studies at the Victoria Conservatory of Music (VCM), is justifiably proud of one such camp – the VCM’ s Summer Jazz Workshop of which he is the artistic director.
Clements founded the workshop in 1985 when he taught at UVic, with the express purpose of Read more…
West Coast Musicians Sweep National Jazz Awards
If it wasn’t obvious before, it should be clear now that the centre of the Canadian jazz universe has moved to the west coast.
The evidence? Musicians who are either from here or who live here completely dominated the National Jazz Awards for the second year in a row.
The names say it all: Terry Clarke, Jodi Proznick, Brad Turner, Phil Dwyer, Hugh Fraser, Bill Coon, Jesse Zubot, Ian McDougall, Don Thompson, Eli Bennett, Ross Taggart, Joe Coughlin, and Cellar Live (that’s a label), with multiple wins going to Brad Turner and Don Thompson, and the jazz festival of the year award going to the Vancouver Jazz Festival.
In fact, including the jazz fest and record label awards, the west coast took Read more…
Tasty Items on the Holiday Jazz Menu
Whatever your taste in jazz, you are likely to find something that pleases on the South Island this Victoria Day weekend.
Got a hankering for big-voiced vocals in the Ella Fitzgerald and Aretha Franklin traditions? Emily Braden, who has been bouncing back and forth between New York and Victoria all year, caps off Read more…
Independent Festivals Worth Supporting
The jazz festival season is nearly upon us, and while many jazz fans are anticipating the likes of David Sanborn, Kenny Wheeler and Al Di Meola setting up their tents at Jazzfest International in Victoria, it would be good to remember the smaller, independent festivals that are at the heart of our local scene.
One such event is the fourth annual Read more…
Phil Dwyer Trio Offers Up Inspiring Piano Jazz
Phil Dwyer and Oliver Gannon at Milner Gardens in 2008
Jazz great Phil Dwyer puts down his saxophone and picks up his piano – well, figuratively speaking – for a local mini tour this week that will take him to Vancouver, Hornby Island and Mill Bay.
Dwyer, performing on piano with bassist Ken Lister and drummer Jesse Cahill, will offer up a tribute to the inspiring jazz piano trios, including those of Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson, Ahmad Jamal, Errol Garner and Keith Jarrett.
The Qualicum-based Dwyer, who has been nominated for an unprecedented four National Jazz Awards this year (Saxophonist, Instrumentalist, Arranger, and Musician of the Year) has been one of the most dominant Read more…
Trio Art and More at Hermann’s This Weekend
Pianist Tony Genge is back in Victoria after completing his latest teaching stint on the east coast and will be appearing tonight at Hermann’s with bassist Sean Drabitt and drummer Kelby MacNayr as part of MacNayr’s ongoing Art of the Trio series, which MacNayr has revived after a hiatus.
With this series MacNayr invites Read more…
