Duke Ellington and Lois Armstrong got it right.
The best place to share innovative music is in the comfort and class of an Elks’ lounge.
This tradition continues this Thursday at 7:30 p.m. as the first performers in the Elks' summer music series take the stage.
Comox Valley musician Jeff Drummond is best known as a freelance guitarist. He has toured North America and the U.K. with various artists spanning the genres of jazz, rock, old school R&B and roots music. During these travels he has appeared on high-profile national television and radio programs and shared stages at festivals, theatres and clubs with world-class musicians.
Jeff is also a creative force behind his own group Sinistrio and a leader on many of his own side projects. Well-known as a ‘studio guy’, Jeff has many years of experience producing, engineering and performing on countless recordings . He is a graduate of the jazz performance program at MRU in Calgary and is an experienced music educator.
Bassist Tim Croft has toured much of the country and has played everything from cruise ships to concert halls.
Since arriving on the west coast in 2010, Tim has been passionately active playing nearly every week anywhere between Port Hardy and Victoria.
His latest collaboration is a gypsy jazz group with guitarist Brett Martens. The Brett Martens String Band recently recorded an album that was engineered and produced by Canadian gypsy jazz icon Marc Atkinson. Tim also stays busy fronting his own group the Tim Croft Quartet (TCQ) and playing with the Vancouver Island Symphony.
Drummer Amar brings professional jazz experience from Toronto where he was on the jazz scene for several years, studying with Jim Blackley and recording with Bobby Fenton. His strong musicality and polyrhythmic mastery propel this group to new musical heights.
Heavily influenced by artists such as Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, and Van Morrison, Paul Rodgers is a singer-songwriter whose music blends together some of the old sounds of R&B, jazz, blues, and folk with a new and modern influence.
The Elks’ Club is at 231 Sixth St. in Courtenay. Phone 250-334-2512 for more information.
— Elks' Club