The Big Bang Jazz Band, which just changed its name from the 51st Eight, recently celebrated its 10th anniversary. They are staking out a well-earned reputation in Western Canada and the USA and appear at most of the major jazz festivals in the West. The back row shows Bria Skonberg, who leads on trumpet; Colin Farquhar, founder and band manager, clarinet; Georgia Korba, string bass; Lukas Matheson, trombone, and Vashti Gray, piano. In the front row are Josh Roberts, banjo; Evan Arntzen, alto sax; and Benji Bohannon, drums. (Photo: courtesy Bria Skonberg)

It is so reassuring for veteran jazzers to learn that there are young musicians playing our kind of jazz, the kind of jazz we used to listen to when we were young and learned at the feet of the masters. Chilliwack in British Columbia is richly endowed with young jazzers playing the traditional style.

The City of Chilliwack, British Columbia, is a community of approximately 76,000 people, located 100 kilometres east of the City of Vancouver. One cannot help but ask how such a relatively small community can produce such exciting groups of young jazz musicians, playing our kind of jazz. It seems to be due, in part, to a couple of very enlightened music teachers at Chilliwack Senior Secondary. One is Roy Hopkins, who was partly responsible for establishing the Chilliwack Jazz Festival some 20 years ago. The other music teacher, Gary Raddysh, was responsible for rehearsing the young jazz musicians, starting a group with a dixieland focus and sustaining the interest to subsequent following generations. These two teachers were clearly a major inspiration. Young trumpeter Bria Skonberg says that when Ron and Marion MacQueen of the Vancouver Dixieland Jazz Society and the Chilliwack students got connected, sparks really began to fly!

Bria was sponsored by the VDJS to go to one of the Sacramento Traditional Jazz Society's camps in Mammoth Lakes in 2000, and she fell totally in love with the music. Since then she has been a camper, a counselor, and, in 2009, will be part of the faculty at the Sacramento Jazz Camp. Over the years, the society has sponsored many Chilliwack senior students to go to the trad camps, including most of the band you see in the photo accompanying this column. One can see that they are youthful and attractive, but the heck of it is that they can really play the old jazz! If you doubt me, then take a listen to the samples from their latest CD. You can hear them at http://cdbaby.com/cd/bigbangjazz

Bria Skonberg was a winner of the annual Kobe Jazz Friendship Award, received at the Breda Jazz Festival in Holland on May 20, 2007. This highly regarded honor included an invitation to perform as a featured soloist at the 26th annual Kobe Jazz Street Festival in Japan, held Oct. 5-8. This was the 13th year of the award, established between sister festivals Breda and Kobe, to recognize up and coming young talent and their international musical contributions. Congratulations, Bria!

Jazz enthusiast Bob Lane tells me that the Lancaster Jazz Club in the Kitchener/Waterloo area in Ontario has been holding Saturday afternoon jazz matinees for the past 30 years. To celebrate this memorable landmark, they booked a band from the USA for their Sept. 20 session. The band was Wally's Warehouse Waifs, and Bob reports that they were a great success. The event was a sell-out and the band played two shows at the club on that day, the first from 2-5 p.m. and then an evening performance from 7 till 10 p.m. The band is relatively new on the scene, but it has already released three CDs. They are mostly Michigan-based and have become popular on the festival circuit. Some of the members previously played with the well-known and long-established New Reformation Jazz Band.

October 2008 issue | © 2008 The Mississippi Rag

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