Jennifer Hodge - Four Eyes Quartet
Jen Hodge
(J Osborne photo)
The Georgia Straight Jazz Society is proud to host the
Four Eyes Quartet featuring Jennifer Hodge
Sunday March 22, 7:30 pm
Elks Home, 6th Street, Coutenay
Catch a rising star – heck, catch four rising stars! Young, hip and oh-so-talented jazz musicians Jennifer Hodge, Catherine Toren, Jens Christiansen and Mike Ardagh blaze through Courtenay on Sunday, March 22.
The Four Eyes Quartet played last year’s Vancouver International Jazz Festival and was nominated for the 2008 Galaxie Rising Stars Award. They bring a compelling mix of musical sophistication and playfulness, drawing on influences as diverse as Ahmad Jamal, Bela Fleck and The Beatles. Each member contributes original tunes and arrangements to the band’s repertoire.
Jennifer Hodge plays upright and electric bass. She is a Vanier grad and began appearing professionally in the Comox Valley at the age of 15. She moved to Vancouver, where she completed her Bachelor of Music in the Jazz Studies Program at Capilano College in 2007. Since graduating she has obtained steady work in jazz and other musical genres, in Vancouver and abroad. Performance credits include appearances with Lloyd Arntzen, Alan Matheson, Sharon Minemoto, and the Vancouver Philharmonic Orchestra.
You can hear Jennifer on her myspace page.
Catherine Toren is a superb jazz pianist, improviser, and composer. She veered into jazz after twelve years of study in classical piano and has been rewarded with artistic residencies and scholarships for recording and composition. The past year has seen her working with jazz greats such as Maria Schneider and Ingrid Jensen, as well as leading her own Vancouver-based trio and playing with the Four Eyes Quartet.
Jens Christiansen plays every woodwind instrument you could imagine, with stunning technique and great creativity. He will graduate from Capilano College this year, after a star tenure in their premier student band. The student life has not kept him from a full slate of performances with the Hoppin’ Mad Orchestra, Cheek funk band and Company B Swing Band as well as the Four Eyes Quartet.
Mike Ardagh handles the drum sticks in the quartet and comes armed with a fierce groove, a sense of humour and an array of vintage instruments. He is an alumnus of the Courtenay Youth Music Camp, and continued his music studies at Selkirk College in Nelson, BC. He works with Vancouver’s finest musicians across many genres, live and in the studio.
Jens Christiansen, Mike Ardagh, Catherine Toren, Jennifer Hodge