Finding highlights at this year’s Gibsons Landing Jazz Festival (June 19 to 21) is not difficult. Michael Occhipinti lights up the Gibsons Market this Friday evening in a special ticketed show.
The Steve Giltrow Quartet kicks off Saturday’s show on the street. Hugh Fraser and his quintet, a crowd favourite, return to perform on Saturday afternoon followed by the Orkestar Slivovica Balkan Band, a rousing crew of musicians with big brass instruments. Rumba Calzada moves to Afro-Cuban rhythms and a new act from Victoria, The Hi Fi, offer Louisiana style jazz. Musical aficionados, the Jazz Group of Seven, perform at the Gibsons Market on Saturday night, and for the more energetic, there’s the annual dance at the Roberts Creek Hall with Soulstream, a nine-piece hot, all styles band. And that’s just Saturday.
There’s a new face at the keyboard at Leo’s Tapas and Grill for the traditional Sunday brunch: Jillian LeBeck from Vancouver. The Creek Big Band is stepping up their game by performing music by Canadian composers to open the free Sunday concert in Winegarden Park. They are followed by the Sh-Boomers, a vocal quartet, and the very musical Mimosa.
But the biggest news is not about the headliners at all.
“The festival turns 20 this year,” said organizer Linda Williams. “Can you believe it?” Williams points to a strong group of volunteers, some of whom have worked for the past 10 years as the secret to its success. “They’re a great group of community-minded people,” she said.
Graham Walker, who is still a loyal volunteer, and Blaine Dunaway organized the first half-day festival in Dougall Park, she recalls. Williams suggested she could give them a hand because she had worked for the Vancouver Jazz Festival. Twenty years later, she’s still at it.
The Jazz Week that takes place prior to the festival started about 12 years ago.
“It gave more opportunity for local musicians to play,” she explained. It also promotes the restaurant venues and gives the festival a more cosmopolitan, big city feel.
When the festival moved from the park to a traffic-free Gower Point Road about three years ago, attendance tripled. The street festival allowed local merchants to display their best, and it gave visitors to the Coast a gorgeous view of the water.
“The new performance stage last year upped the level of professionalism,” Williams said.
This year an added feature is the Saturday beer garden, organized by the Sea Cavalcade committee as a fundraiser.
You can buy tickets to Saturday’s all-day show on line at www.coastjazz.com or at Gaia’s Fair Trade, MELOmania and Strait Music.
