A globetrotting percussionist whose musical appetite was whetted at West Sechelt Elementary School is planning a homecoming concert that will feature a rising star of Canadian jazz as its lead singer.
Kristian Braathen is a 25-year veteran of the professional music world. The trio he founded in 2008 is planning a concert at the Heritage Playhouse in Gibsons on Oct. 21, with Miles Black on piano and Steve Holy playing acoustic bass.
Steve Maddock, a seasoned soloist and jazz faculty member of Capilano University, will perform vocals. Maddock has previously appeared with large groups including the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and has been a featured artist on CBC Radio.
For Braathen, who himself studied at Capilano University while taking the occasional hiatus to perform on cruise ships, his love of jazz is rooted in the West Coast.
“I kind of fell in love with jazz after studying at Capilano,” he said. He was exposed to a pantheon of artists who became foundational influences: Miles Davis, the Oscar Peterson Trio and the Ray Brown Trio.
“Listening to that kind of music,” he recalled, “and trying to hone my own sound around a lot of those players, I had this idea to create my own trio with where we were also somewhat based around the influences of those great artists but also have our own sound as a unit as well.”
During the last decade, Braathen’s musicianship was shaped through instruction in dramatically different styles. For five years he studied with Aaron MacDonald, a classical percussionist from the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.
In 2017, he received a B.C. Arts Council grant that allowed him to spend time learning from jazz drummer Kenny Washington in New York City.
“I think playing the drum set, there’s a bit of a classical foundation as well as obviously the various jazz influences,” said Braathen. “That’s where the drum set first came from, was jazz.”
Braathen began teaching drums while living on the Sunshine Coast and has been providing private instruction since 2000.
The trio released Braathen’s first album in 2015, featuring Black on piano and bassist Jodi Proznick. The drummer arranged all the tracks and composed new music for the recording. The title track of his Tempus Fugit album features Braathen’s characteristic precision and silvery touch, focused through the kindred lenses of cool jazz and swing.
According to Braathen, the upcoming Gibsons concert will draw heavily on Maddock’s repertoire and include originals by pianist Black. The ensemble will also highlight its recent collaboration with Vancouver-based composer and university educator David Rehorick. Together with Maddock as vocalist, the trio recently recorded several of Rehorick’s newest numbers.
“I think it’s gonna be a great concert and I’m just really excited to be playing a show back on home turf,” said Braathen. “And seeing lots of friends come out who probably haven’t seen me play for a very long time, some of them.”
The Kristian Braathen Trio featuring Steve Maddock will perform at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 21 at the Heritage Playhouse in Gibsons. Tickets are available at Strait Music in Sechelt and online via brownpapertickets.com.
