Friday was a day of contrast with two great but very different concerts featuring faculty. The arts centre was packed for Jazz for kids as we performed a number of jazz favorites from the era of those seven dwarfs, Fred and Wilma, and Linus and Lucy. We ended with our sponsored mascot “Salty the Seagull” parading through the isles with the kids to a spirited rendition of the Saints go Marching in . Friday night featured Len Aruliah and the quartet transported into the post- John Coltrane world with a suite of tunes inspired by Canadian trumpeter Kenny Wheeler. It is performances like these that indicate how wide the spectrum for jazz really is at the dawn of the 21st century, from Dixieland to post-modern avant guard
As we head into the final weekend of the festival, we would like to thank our audiences and supporters for coming out to our events this week.
Today features the student concert at 2pm. This will feature workshop participants who have spent the last 4 days at the arts centre learning about jazz improvisation and the skills required to master their instruments. Tonight at the Coast Tsawwassen Inn will feature local Vancouver guitarist Ross Bliss with Djangophllia. This is a straight ahead 1940’s approach to traditional swing featuring the music of Django Reinhardt .
On Sunday at All Saints Anglican Church Ta-Ki-Ta will be performing in the final event of the festival. This is group creates a fusion of classical Indian music with jazz. The trio consists of two traditional Indian instruments with tabla player Hari Pal, Kenneth Wells on Sarode, together with the western influence of Jared Burrows on guitar. A beautiful and easy to listen to mix of sounds that you will enjoy. Admission is free.