Preview
JAZZ AT THE JACK
Featuring Sheri-D Wilson, The Viviane Cardinal Group, Vicky Oveson’s Masacoté and Keith Smith
Friday, October 24
Jack Singer Concert Hall
To find professional jazz in Calgary, one usually has to brave the treacherous steps down to the basement of the Piq Niq Café to the Beat Niq Jazz and Social Club. Arnold Faber of Vibré is attempting to change that, and the way people listen to jazz.
He wants to get the music out there to the people that he feels are the future of the genre – the thousands of kids playing in junior high and high school bands across Canada. Faber feels strongly that with his latest project, Jazz at the Jack, he’ll not only be able to reach all of those kids, but also put Calgary on the map as a thriving jazz community.
"It’s really about the kids," says Faber. "They’re the next level coming up. Jazz in Alberta is huge. We have the heaviest jazz programs at the junior high and high school levels than any one else in the country. We want to educate these kids and expose them to jazz in a professional way."
Mistress of ceremonies for the event, spoken word poet Sheri-D Wilson, agrees quoting the great painter, trumpeter and jazz poet Ted Joans. "Jazz is my religion," says Wilson, "and with that religion comes a great education."
As host of the event Wilson promises to do more than keep the audience’s attention, and with her participation with the performers onstage, Jazz at the Jack sounds less like a concert and more like an all-encompassing experience. The plan is to transform the Jack Singer Concert Hall into an intimate jazz club, and with the likes of The Viviane Cardinal Group, Vicky Oveson’s Masacoté and solo guitarist Keith Smith, the task doesn’t seem so daunting.
Along with exposing world-class Calgary talent to a larger, more diverse audience Faber also hopes to contribute a substantial amount of money to the Children’s Hospital Foundation.
"I had decided that if we were going to do all of this, maybe we should get a charity involved," says Faber. "It adds to our profile and makes the jazz community seem even more useful.
"I think this event is going to change the jazz scene in Calgary. I think it’s going to give Calgary an identity to its sound. I really think that the jazz community in Calgary is going to become prominent because of this." |
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