Wow! Last Friday night was awesome. First night of Jazzmania weekend saw six of us trekking around the club crawl in Thornbury taking in no fewer than four super performances of different jazz styles.
Our tasty dinner, served by Rotarians, was more than sufficiant to sustain us through our evening which lasted until past 1:00 a.m. Saturday. Yawn!
Listening to Sploink practice some of their compositions for thier upcoming CD was like listening to old friends, who happen to be accomplished musicians, deliver a range of tunes served up ala Don Buchann who does all the arranging for this five-piece combo. Don and Jason Hunter each played sax, Rob Gasidlo on keyboard, Tyler Wegler on bass and Bruce Campbell on drums sounded like they had always played together. We waved goodbye and left the Valley Bistro to hop on the bus for next location.
The joint was jumping with sounds from Fig Leaf Dixieland jazz as a crowd of dancers, some from Toronto, occasionally blocked my view of some of the six musicians who form this lively group anchoring the scene at Marsh Street Centre in Clarksburg.
A few doors away Charlie Bell Trio played amid a riot of colour in a new venue for Jazzmania, The Loft Gallery. Charlie was accompanied by Jack McFadden on bass and Andy Harasymczuk was magical on guitar. Paintings adorning the walls deserve a return visit.
Back on the free shuttle bus stopping off at The Dam Pub to wait in line for a listen to Heart and Soul. Once inside we didn't want to leave as Bobby Dee Blackburn on keyboard and Hart Richards on trumpet serenaded us until closing time. We caught the last bus back to where our vehicle was parked and
There were six other locations that we didn't have time to visit.