The Little Jazz Orchestra at the Key City Theatre, Saturday June 11, 2016, 7:30 pm
The Little Jazz Orchestra (LJO) with their straight ahead Jazz concept has been a fixture on the local music scene for a number of years. The original membership of the band consisted of Dave Ward (Trumpet and Fluegelhorn), Janice Nicili (Acoustic Bass), Jim Cameron (Guitar) and Graham Knipfell (Drums). From time to time they featured other local guest artists. Dave and Janice remain on board with the latest edition of the band while Jim and Graham have moved onto other endeavors. Sven Heyde has taken over the drum chair, Graham Barnes is now on guitar and Evan Bueckert has joined the band on Keyboards. The LJO is now a quintet. In keeping with their newer slightly more funky approach Janice Nicili has switched to Electric Bass
Normally they have a regular gig on the first Thursday of every month at the HeidOut Restaurant in Cranbrook. While that venue bristles with ambience it is a fairly noisy environment and to hear the band in this concert setting was a very welcome opportunity to really hear their music. It was an evening for the band to plunder the archives and come up with a solid batch of Dave Wade’s original tunes. The tunes go all the way back to the local band Wham go the Ducks (I never did find out about that name) when Dave was barely out of High School. From that era of “Heaven and Hell” tunes (Dave’s description) they extracted Beelzebub and Heavenly Bodies. As witnessed by his tribute to his mum and dad in the tune Me and My Old Man and My Old Man’s Lady Dave is never at a lost for whimsical titles. It was also evident in his nod to two long time fans Les and Vera-Lynn in Les is More. The lyrics were hardly ground breaking poetry but the sentiment and the riffs were heart felt . Sean Heyde added some tasty low keyed drum riffs on the tune Where to, a tune written specifically for one of Janice Nicli’s bass lines. According to Dave, Make it So, was reaching for a Star Trek ambience. As a tribute to Graham Barnes and his occupation as a chef Janice named the whimsical tune It’s Chefie Pants. Sprinkled though out the sets were a couple of ballads that included the tune Nectar . One of the definite pluses of the evening was the opportunity for Evan Bueckert to show case his talents on the Hammond B3 Organ. This magnificent beast doesn’t get to see the light of day very often so it was real treat to hear one of Jazz’s unique sounds. The last time I heard the “B3” in the Key City Theatre it was when Dr. Lonnie Johnson came to town with Cory Weed and his jazz outfit. That was a night not to be forgotten. This LJO event was also another memorable night with a choice mix of original tunes and tasty solos in a very choice intimate environment. Hope fully there will be more of the same in the future. Here are so images from the evening.
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to offer. Case in point is Ali Sellin on stage at BJs last Saturday night. The music was country but Hollywood and Nashville were way over the horizon, almost out of sight and far away from ear shot. Ali is from Medicine Hat and on this visit to Kimberley she renewed her acquaintance with mandolinist Dave Carlson and guitarist Bud Decosse. These two 
gentlemen (dare one use that word in this day and age of “Bad Dudes”) are probably two of the finest musicians in the area. They are both well known and
highly respected in the Kootenays. With their smooth accompaniments and slick lead lines they were a perfect foil for Ali’s voice and her choice of material. All the more so when you realize that all of the evenings music was largely unrehearsed. Although Ali is a Singer / Song writer most of her material for this evening were covers of such classics as Red Wing (the Steel Wheels version) Anne Murray’s Snow Bird, Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire, Gershwin’s Summertime, Willie Nelson / Patsy Cline’s Crazy, Take the Ribbon from Your Hair, Green Green Grass of Home, Banks of the Ohio, and Dolly Patton’s Joliene. That is just the tip of the iceberg. There was a sprinkling of her original material plus lesser known songs from the country repertoire. Dave and Bud did their bit with material from their own huge bag of songs and instrumentals. Ali obviously enjoys performing and it was reflected in her happy demeanour and rapport with the audience. It was an especially fine night of music and if, and when, Ali comes back to this area she should not be missed. Here are some images from the evening.
Dr. Darryl Edwards and during this past summer she attended the Centre for Opera Studies in Italy. For this concert she performed Quando men vo from Giacomo Puccini’s opera La Boheme. For her second piece she chose Ah! Je Veaux vivre from Charles Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet. Caitlin plans to pursue a professional career in Opera.
currently completing her A.R.C.T. Performance Diploma with the Royal Conservatory of Music and is planning to begin her BMus in Vocal Performance at either UBC, University of Toronto or McGill. She chose Must the Winter Come So Soon from Samuel Barber’s Vanessa and Faites-lui-mes aveux from Charles Gounod’s Faust.
and choreographer at Stages School of Dancing in Golden. Her selections were Breathe from In the Heights by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Leonard Bertein’s Glitter and be Gay from Candide.
High School Heather attended the University of Lethbridge and obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Classical Music with a major in Vocal Performance. She has returned to the East Kootenays with the intention of starting her own teaching studio. Heather selected La Mer est plus belle from the music by Claude Debussy and the poem by Paul Verlaine. Her second selection was Cruda Sorte! Gia so per practica from Giachino Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri. 
at Capilano University in Vancouver. Darren performed Try Me from Jerry Bock’s She Loves Me and Jason Robert Brown’s The Old Red Hills of Home from Parade. He was joined by Courtney Green for a duet performance of Jason Robert Brown’s I’d Give it all to You.
of Music. He has been studying for five years with aspirations of becoming an opera singer. He performed Francesco Paolo Tosti’s Ideale (lyrics by Carmelo Errico). He followed that up with a refreshing performance of the old war horse Mother Machree. He was joined on 
stage by Danielle Nicholson for a duet performance of Come What May from the Baz Luhrmann’s movie Moulin Rouge.
a fourth year vocal performance major at Western University studying under Todd Wieczorek. She has participated in professional development programs offered by the Canadian Operatic Arts Academy and the Accademia Europea Dell’Opera and is looking forward to her first full operatic role, Trisbe, in La Cenerentola. For performance on this evening she chose Charles Gounod’s Que fais-tu, blanche tourterelle? and Alma Mahler’s Laue Sommernacht (lyrics by Gustav Falke).
back in the area and for her performance this evening she chose A Change in me from Alan Menken’s Beauty and the Beast and How Lovely to be a Woman from Charles Strauss’ Bye Bye Birdie.
from Capilano University in 2014 and has also received a significant number of awards and scholarships. For the evening’s performance she chose Frere! Voyez! du gai Soleil from Jules Massenet’s Werther and Ah, Love, but a Day written by Amy Marcy Beach. Amanda Weather and Caitlin McCaughey returned to the stage for a duet performance of Leo Delibes Sous le Dome epais from Lakme. Amanda sang the mezzo-soprano part and Caitlin the soprano part. As always, this was an extremely popular selection. And not be forgotten the accompanists for the evening were Arne Sahlen and Erica Ortlieb (Ross). Arne’s solo performances of We Three Kings and Beethoven’s second movement of the Pathetique were enjoyable instrumental interludes in a night of vocal music.
