A jazz-infused homecoming with an outsized lineup of two dozen groups and artists is making music for the Sunshine Coast Food Bank. The first-annual pair of Jazz Feeds the Coast concerts feature a distinguished lineup of local jazz musicians, performing to raise funds for the food security initiative of Sunshine Coast Community Services Society. The project also offers a concentrated wintertime counterpoint to midyear jazz extravaganzas like the Gibsons Landing Jazz Festival.
The first evening concert was held on Dec. 19, at the Roberts Creek Legion. A second is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 20 at the same venue.
The concerts are the initiative of musician John Davis, who regularly coordinates live entertainment at the storied “Little Legion” facility on Lower Road. Davis’s vision was inspired by the Jazz Feeds Vancouver series begun last year by the Infidels Jazz record label. The 2024 edition of the Infidels series takes place at six different venues in the city of Vancouver, with seven different concerts. Each venue supports the Greater Vancouver Food Bank in unique ways that include donations and meat draws.
“What they’re doing in Vancouver is super impressive,” said Davis. “Tim Reinert and his label have reinvigorated the jazz community and they’ve got lineups of young people outside jazz clubs these days. They have veterans in the scene but there’s a lot of the younger players very involved in it too, all coming together for a great cause.”
When it came to marshalling local jazz talent for the Sunshine Coast Food Bank, Davis was amazed at the volume of artists’ enthusiasm. “We wanted to shine a torch on the wealth of local talent,” he said, “and not a single person I asked said no.”
A newly formed ensemble of saxophonists Karen Graves, Graham Ord, Ken Grunenberg and Jack Davis will serenade the audience during stage changeovers. The group will be set up for the duration of each night, from 7 to 11 p.m. (Davis cautions that music will be “family-friendly” until only 9:30.)
Davis’s lineup constitutes a who’s-who of Sunshine Coast jazz performers performing in a variety of disciplines within the famously expansive genre. In addition to Graves, Ord, Grunenberg and Davis, keyboardist and vocalist Anna Lumiere will perform on piano and accordion. Peter van Deursen, known for coaxing emotional nuance out of his vintage Hammond B3 organ, plans to appear alongside regular collaborators.
Other contributors include guitarist Budge Schachte, bassists James Meger and John Parker Toulson, and drummers Mitch Lazer, Barry Taylor, John Rule and Pat Havisto. Vocalist Varya Rubin returns to the spotlight. Songstress Deanna Knight, still riding high from the springtime launch of her album Every Little Spark, will revisit sweltering numbers from her Hot Club of Mars collective and provide harmonies for vocalist Kiki Connelly.
Connelly’s new fusion of soul and rhythm-and-blues, the Understory Collective, unites many of the featured participants. “They’re kicking the whole event off and it’s going to be amazing,” added Davis.
A variety of local ensembles share the bill with the Understory artists: the horns of Control Group, groove rock by Astral Motion, instrumental trio the Organics, bossa nova and samba aficionados Martini Madness, bluesy duo Old Stogies, and the savoury rhythms of Deep Dish.
“You can take any holiday song, put it to a jazz beat, and it’s instantly a better song,” explained Davis. He plans to expand the Jazz Feeds series into an annual tradition that encompasses different halls. “My dream is that we’ll be doing this in Pender Harbour one day, connecting stages with a bus that travels from jazz party to jazz party at each Legion on the Coast.”
Tickets and details for the inaugural Jazz Feeds the Coast are available at the website of Roberts Creek Legion: robertscreeklegion.com.
