Sunday, July 19, 2009

All That Jazz

Okay, this is going to be one of the most difficult posts I will ever have to write. Reason being, how in the hell do you describe the music I heard without letting you hear it all too. Blogger has to come up with a way for us to upload our own music. Anyways, what a week end! Beginning to end, the week end was filled with some really great Jazz from mostly Canadian Jazz musicians. Including an expat American, Tim Louis, who became a Canadian citizen and now lives in our neck of the woods. Also included in this week ends line-up was a group called Zapati Jazz who came all the way here from Chile. On top of all the music, I accidentily found out we were having a Rib and Beer Fest. This little shindig was only about 10 minutes away so I figured I would have to go pay that venue a little visit too. After all, a man has to eat from time to time. Needless to say, both events were just filled to capacity with people, young and old, enjoying themselves immensely.



Now, I'm trying something a little different here with the pics. Just an idea I stole, I mean borrowed from Lori over at My Life Interupted. It's kind of a slide show as opposed to me waiting for three days to upload some of what I took. I'm not sure if you can stop the thing and enlarge the pics. So, we'll see how that works. There were 12 acts over the three days and I was able to catch 8 of those. Luckily for everybody involved, the weather kind of co-operated a little. It was cool and windy but the sun stuck around most of the time. Don't mind me if I'm a little all over the place. I'm still trying to run everything through my head.

The event started on Friday night around 6pm and was led off by Carol McCartney (no relation to Paul). I even managed to score an autogrphed copy of her latest CD. Carol performs mostly in Canada and the United States so if she is coming to your town any time soon, go check out her music. Next up was the only international group in the line-up; Zapatti Jazz. Only one way to describe these guys and that is UNBELIEVABLE! They have been around since 2004 coming out of Puerto Varas, Chile. I don't think one of them is even close to 30 years old yet. They stunned the audience which encouraged them to a well deserved encore. And closing out Friday's soiree, was Chris Smith who is up against the likes of Michael Buble and Diana Krall for the 2009 Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards.



On Saturday, I spent a few hours at the Rib Fest, feeding my face and running into a few familiar faces in the crowd. Then I headed back across town to continue with the music infusion. Apparently I missed some pretty damned good acts earlier. Including, The Toronto All-Star Band, Andriy Tykhonov and Julie Crochetière who apparently put on quite a show. I did make it back in time to catch Tim Louis, whom I mentioned above. You want to talk about a prestigious career. This guy has performed for Bill Clinto, Jean Chrètien and Prince Andrew. And here he was, performing for all of us and we didn't pay a dime. Although I am sure somebody was footing the bill for this. I found a clip on YouTube of Tim performing at a nearby club, The Rude Native where he performs regularly. I hope it shows up and enjoy it if it does.



Now, fortunately we were not required to vote on any of the acts because this next artist, Divine Brown, would have had my vote hands down. More of an R&B/Soul singer, this young woman literally moved the audience to tears with her performance. Surrounded by her back up singers and dancers, she didn't miss a beat as she had people both dancing in the aisles and in their seats. When she sang 'One More Chance', from her 2008 release, 'The Love Chronicles', she was barely able to choke out the last of the lyrics before breaking down in tears. I'm sure there wasn't a dry eye in the house after that perormance. Ms. Brown rebounded quickly and again had the audience eating out of the palm of her hands. This was indeed a huge surprise to me. Sadly, when I went to purchase her CD, they had already sold out. Of course that didn,t stop me from ordering it online when I got home:) Aside from the YouTube clips, you can hear more of her music here.




Rounding out last nights performances was Michael Kaeshammer who dazzled us with his incredible ability behind the piano. In Michael's bio he is quoted as saying, "being onstage is about hanging out with people, having a conversation. I just love it. I don't want my audience to all be jazz fans or piano fans. I want people who want to hang out with me. You can really open yourself up onstage, and that's like a high for me." Well, believe me, he was very successful because nobody moved from their seats to leave while he played. Incredible music.

And finally, today I managed to catch the final two acts of the week ends performances. Two completely different styles if I ever saw one. The John Sherwood Trio consisted of Terry Clarke on drums, Dave young who used to play with Canadian Legend Oscar Peterson and John Sherwood who just so happened to have arranged the latest CD by Carol McCartney (still no relation to Paul) who started this whole week end off. You can tell these guys have played together forever the way they just lulled you into a blissful sunny Sunday afternoon. Last but not least were a collection of former street perfomers collectively known as The Shuffle Demons. Giving the crowd a tast of what was to come, they snaked their way thru the crowd getting everybody's heart rates up. They didn't stop once they returned to the stage keeping the audience captivated right to the final note of this years very successful festival.

So uh; I guess I had a busy week end to say the least. Hope you all had a great week end yourselves!

12 comments:

Michelle said...

Wow, that sounds awaesome!

Will have to come back later and nick your music :)

xxx

Anonymous said...

YEEEAAAAAAH Bogey! What an EXCELLENT weekend! I am so thrilled - and more than a tad jealous, I might add. That is awesome. I am so happy that you took part in both the jazz festival and the rib fest. The slide show is great - yes, you can enlarge the pics and you can view them full screen. You got some incredible pictures - I can't believe you needed a reservation for the ribs ;)
Excellent! So...what is next on the docket? I am off to Taste of Edmonton tonight! Hmmm...wonder if they will serve ribs?

ms toast burner said...

Mmmmm grilled corn on the cob...

Sounds and looks like you had a great time! :-)

I think the Shuffle Demons are playing local to me this week (if I'm remembering a poster I saw correctly). I may just check them out.

"accidentilly found out we were having a Rib and Beer Fest" Ha! You're not fooling anyone. ;-)

James said...

That sounds like a fantasic weekend. This post really tells a fun story, I love the mix of slide show and videos.
Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

I am a little jealous too! You live in such a great area of the world. That is the part that makes me jealous. Great post. Glad you got out an enjoyed yourself so much.

Bogey said...

Go ahead Michelle, I don't think they would mind and I'm sure you will enjoy them too!

Audrey, I was just kidding about the reservations. With all those people there, it was hard to get a place to sit. I hope your event goes just as well as ours did. Looking forward to your pics. I have to check the calendar but I heard there was a Blues Fest coming up as well as a Buskers weekend next month. Will keep you posted. Glad you enjoyed them.

MTB, if you like funky Jazz, you will enjoy these guys. Their attire is uh, kinda interesting too! They have an amazing story and have been togehter for 25 years. And discovering the Rib Fest was an accident. If you consider eavesdropping an accident;) Well, will you look at that British Columbia turned 138 today. Go figure.

Thanks James. Glad you enjoyed the presentation. Being there was just a blast. I almost needed a day off from the week end.

Thanks Queen. Sorry to hear the King has gone off and left you to your own resources. I am sure you would have had a blast here. And I'm not so sure you don't have similar activities outside your doorstep as well. Mind you, the heat you describe, does kind of take the joy out of being outdoors. Thanks for stopping by!

Nancy said...

Sounds like an absolutely wonderful way to spend the weekend, Bogey. I will look for these artists are the Portland Jazz Festival next time.

Cynthia Pittmann said...

Wow, Bogey! I don't know how I got behind here but you have got a lot going on.

Thanks for sharing your active weekend and the Shoe Box Memories. I know what you mean about how someone else might just toss out your boxes if you were gone. We have to give value to our life experiences; it's kind of a self validation. Also, what you said about commenting on the previous post. I have noticed how you so heartfully leave generous and reflective comments. It is appreciated by me, too. About the aging post...I followed your earlier suggestion to visit and am keeping track of the tips being offered.

Sorry I got behind here. I think this whole Explorer 8 problem is throwing me off. (Now I'm going back to check what happened. Why aren't you showing up on my reader? I'm a follower.)

Anyway, thank you for sharing your life and thoughts. <3

Lori ann said...

Hi Bogey,

I really enjoyed this post, after I finally got in! i keep getting this big mean X bumping me off. i wonder what is going on?

i liked your slide show, it was great to see all the acts and i especially enjoyed your captions underneath. You really saw a lot of shows. it sounds like you completely enjoyed yourself. maybe with the ribs the most? why do guys love ribs so much?? ugg messy haha! ☺

thanks for all the great videos and introductions to new music!

lori

Bogey said...

If they do head your way Nancy I am sure you will have quite an enjoyable time.

Thank you Cynthia for all of the lovely comments. I think I am blushing! I've had a hard time getting onto your site from time to time. As Lori would say, I got this "big mean X" blocking me. I'm not sure what is the cause of the problem. Regardless, I still appreciate your visits.

I appreciate your persistance Lori Ann. There were probably too many things to load from the slide show to the clips. I had a great, relaxing time. The crowds really did make this event a great success. As for the Rib thing, I think it goes back to the caveman days. The smell of charring meat on a grill with a multitude of sauces and it's a big ol' grunt fest. I do hope some of these Canadian Artists find their way thru the U.S. Thanks for dropping by and I hope you are beginning to feel better.

Hilary said...

It sounds like it was a great weekend. All that jazz and ribs, to boot! You write a fine review. :)

Rosaria Williams said...

Lucky you. I am jealous.