January 2011
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
Spring 2011 Season kicks off January 13
7:30 pm, at Courtenay's Elk's Hall, September through July. No cover.
Musicians welcome to sit in on the final set jam (check schedule - not all events include a jam).
- Thursday Jan 13 - Fractal (following the 6:00 pm AGM)
- Thursday Jan 20 - The Lensmen
- Thursday Jan 27 - Niall Harvey Combo
- Sunday Jan 30 - Griffith Hiltz Trio (see more below)
See all coming events on the GSJS web site >>.
(artist scheduling confilcts may result in schedule change without notice)
SOCIETY NEWS
All Jazz Society members are encouraged to attend our Annual General Meeting:
- Thursday January 13
- 6:00 pm
- Elks Hall, 231 6th Street, Courtenay
Election of Society Board, review of 2010 activities and Society finances, planning for 2011.
Stay after the meeting for the great music of Fractal, beginning at 7:30.
SUNDAY CONCERT
Griffith Hiltz Trio
Sunday January 30
7:30 pm
Elks Hall, Courtenay
The Georgia Straight Jazz Society is getting a reputation. Take two sold-out Sunday concerts in the fall 2010 season, add record crowds for Thursday Jazz at the Elks, and it is not surprising that rising stars on the Canadian jazz scene want to add a Courtenay date to their touring schedule.
On Sunday, January 30th, the Toronto-based Griffith Hiltz Trio will take to the stage at the Upper Elk’s Hall. Featuring Johnny Griffith on saxophones and bass clarinet, Nathan Hiltz on guitar and bass pedals, and Sly Juhas on drums, the trio produces a melodic jazz sound that is at once familiar and exotic.
The bass pedals that form the core of the band’s sound had been gathering dust in Johnny’s basement until a lucky conversation brought them to Nathan’s attention. He had been working with a lot of organ players and was curious about the effect of using the vintage technology of the pedals to replicate the organ’s place in a trio. It quickly became apparent that they were on to a great new sound.
Hiltz is the most promising Canadian guitarist of this generation, and he soft-shoes his way across the array of bass pedals with the deftness of Gene Kelly. The spirit of Rashaann Roland Kirk is channeled through the daring multi-reed explorer Johnny Griffith. Ever tasteful and precise, the supportive Sly Juhas seems incapable of playing anything that isn’t "right on the money!"
Their 2009 debut recording “Now and Then” gives a nod to jazz legends Horace Silver, Lee Morgan, and Herbie Hancock, and also incorporates Celtic, Norse, and Eastern motifs. It was named the #1 Jazz Album of 2009 by Jazz FM.
"Johnny Griffith and Nathan Hiltz have uncommon telepathy. They write memorable themes, rooted in the blues and bop, and they rock freely on them, playing off one another with total confidence." Jack Chambers, author of Milestones: The Music and Times of Miles Davis
This is the first in the 2011 Sunday Concert series for the Georgia Straight Jazz Society. Tickets are $12 for society members and $16 for non-members, and will soon be available at Bop City Records in Courtenay, Play It Again Music Recycle in Comox, and weekly at Thursday Jazz At The Elks.
JAZZ NEWS
Passed in 2010
The jazz world lost some gems in 2010. This list celebrates a few who continue to make our musical world richer.
ABBEY LINCOLN - The former wife of Max Roach was one of jazz music's preeminent singers from the 1960s forward. Abbey enjoyed a particular renaissance over the last 20 years after signing with Verve.
LENA HORNE - One of the towering figures of 20th century entertainment, Horne became a movie star after signing with MGM in the early 1940s, though her singing career pre-dated and post-dated her film work—culminating in her signature song, the title track from the film Stormy Weather. The light-complexioned entertainer's refusal to bow to film executives' ideas about fudging her race helped make her a heroine of the civil rights movement..
JAMES MOODY - The jazz saxophone and flute legend's recordings stretched from 1949 to the early 2000s, following a career-establishing mid-1940s stint with Dizzy Gillespie, with whom he reunited for a period in the ‘60s.
BILLY TAYLOR - A leading jazz musician and composer, Taylor introduced the genre to wider audiences as a TV broadcaster, teacher and booster of new talent. The Kennedy Center for the performing arts in Washington, D.C., where Taylor had been the artistic director for jazz since 1994, called him "a great statesman and ambassador for jazz throughout the world."
BUDDY COLLETTE - A Grammy-nominated jazz saxophonist, flautist, bandleader and educator, Collette played important roles in Los Angeles jazz as a musician and an advocate for the rights of African American musicians.
BUDDY MORROW - Morrow was a big band era trombonist (with a mastery of the upper range), hit-making recording artist, studio musician and most notably, bandleader of The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra band for over thirty years.
ROB McCONNELL - Bandleader and valve trombone player McConnell was known primarily as the leader and arranger of the internationally renowned Boss Brass. McConnell's arrangements for his band and numerous television shows set a standard and defined the Canadian sound for big band music for decades. "Rob was one of our greatest gifts to music," said Ross Porter, CEO and President of Jazz.FM91. "His stature, talent and importance in Canadian jazz should rank him with Oscar Peterson."
HAROLD BLANCHARD - American jazz pianist, arranger and composer.
JOHN DANKWORTH - Altoist Dankworth led his own bands and often performed with American jazz musicians, including his idol, Charlie Parker. In 1958 he married the singer Cleo Laine. Besides his stage work, Dankworth also composed music for films and TV shows, among them the TV series "The Avengers". He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2006.
CHRISTOPHER DAGLEY - One of England's top session drummers and member of the famed Ronnie Scott House Band.
ART VAN DAMME - The playing style of this jazz accordion legend has influenced all of the western world's jazz accordionists. One musicologist made the following neat comment: “The hippest cat ever to swing an accordion, Art Van Damme dared go where no man had gone before: jazz accordion".
HANK JONES - A master musician with a great technique, Jones loved taking musical risks. He was a gentleman on and off the stage, a musician who could make those on stage with him shine like few others.
ED THIGPEN - The drummer often described as 'Mr. Taste' for his sensitive accompaniment of instrumentalists and singers such as Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, Bud Powell and Billy Taylor.
HERB ELLIS - Ellis was guitarist in the classic Oscar Peterson trio of the 1950s, and later toured with Ella Fitzgerald before settiling in California to work in movie and television studios. He also toured with his own groups including the "Great Guitars" with fellow jazz guitarists Barney Kessel and Charlie Byrd.
