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Guitarist's playing 'flawless, sizzling and melodic'

The Marc Atkinson Trio receives rave reviews after every performance.

The Marc Atkinson Trio receives rave reviews after every performance.

Rick Gibbs of Island Jazz said, “It's really hard to imagine a better roots/jazz trio performing anywhere in the world today.”

From Phil Dwyer, “Marc and his trio completely captivated the all-ages audience.”

The trio, formed in 2000, has toured North America, England and Europe and has received standing ovations everywhere they perform from the Montreal Jazz Festival to the Vancouver International Folk Festival to DjangoFest Northwest.

On Oct. 16, you’ll be able to add your voice to the chorus of praise, when the Marc Atkinson Trio performs at the Courtenay Elks Hall. Presented by the Georgia Straight Jazz Society, this is a concert not to be missed.

Atkinson is one of Canada's finest Juno Award-nominated, Western Canadian award-winning musicians, a multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger, and producer.

His compositions, found on the trio’s four self-titled CDs (one of which was voted a top-five album in North America by Acoustic Guitar Magazine) take guitar beyond the usual repertoire and sound.

Marc plays with a fiery but elegant style, infused with a catchy blend of influences. Atkinson’s picking has been described as flawless, surprise-filled, sizzling and supremely melodic.

“Atkinson is a daring and inventive acoustic guitarist and a powerful force in the new roots/jazz movement (gypsy jazz),” says the Toronto Star.

Joining Marc are Joey Smith on bass and Brett Martens on guitar.

Joey, in addition to teaching at the Victoria Conservatory of Music, has written arrangements for the Glenn Miller Orchestra (of which he is a past member) and the Victoria Symphony Orchestra. He is an incredibly versatile bassist, equally at home in the trad-jazz group CanUS as in big band and gypsy jazz settings.

Brett’s playing, influenced by greats such as Django Reinhardt, Grant Green, and Tony Rice, is the perfect complement to Marc’s guitar style.

“The Marc Atkinson Trio. What extraordinary musicianship. Just when you think you know where the music is going, it takes you down another road to somewhere else. Music that's not easily labelled, it's music that is a treat for any music lover,” says Brenda Heatherington of the the Arden Theatre in Alberta.

Tickets ($15 for Georgia Straight Jazz Society members, $20 for non-members) are available at Bop City Records, Comox Videos ‘N’ More, at the Thursday Jazz Club at the Elks Hall, and at the door. Advance tickets are recommended; seating is limited and they are selling quickly.

The concert starts Oct. 16 at 7:30 p.m. at the Courtenay Elks Hall.

— Georgia Straight Jazz Society