The Jazz Council, a quintet from Cranbrook, presents its debut album Dawn, featuring eight original songs, and the single, Rainy Night Caper. Dawn debuted on Sept. 16 and is available at concerts, in stores and around the world online. The Jazz Council plays at the Snoring Sasquatch on Oct. 29.
Bernie Primbs (sax) and Laurel Ralston (trumpet) front the group with their delicious sounds. Primbs’ soulful playing is as confident as it is creative, while Ralston’s smooth, elegant tone melts the soul.
Filling out the backline are Joel Kroeker on bass, Tim Plait on piano and Sven Heyde on drums. The Jazz Council features a wide variety of jazz music at their concerts, including their unique interpretations of jazz standards, as well as music from their debut album, Dawn, which is exclusively comprised of original charts by Heyde, Kroeker and Primbs.
The Jazz Council has 14 shows booked for the fall of 2011, and is playing in a variety of venues and styles — everything from sacred music to theatre gigs and a reinterpretation of the Vince Guaraldi Trio’s soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas, and even an appearance at the Casino of the Rockies in Cranbrook. The Jazz Council’s theatre shows will feature two tight sets of music, including the performance of their debut album, Dawn, in full. Dawn is comprised of eight songs, including two bop songs, three latin numbers, a funk tune, a ballad, and the single, Rainy Night Caper, a very cool 5/4 swing in the theme of spy movie music.
The Jazz Council is also playing a Vespers series this fall at All Saints Anglican in Kimberley and Christ Church Anglican in Cranbrook, which will feature a variety of spiritual music, including concerts titled, Music from Taize, France, Hymns from the Christian Tradition and a set of music that reflects on winter and the tradition of waiting for the light in the circumpolar north, titled Waiting, Watching, Listening. More information on each individual show is available at thejazzcouncil.com.
The Jazz Council has already performed several sold-out shows, including concerts at the Stage Door and Centre 64 in Cranbrook and Kimberley, respectively, both of which were standing-room only. The Jazz Council was the headline performer at Cranbrook’s Canada Day celebrations at Moir Park, where it played a very well-received set of hard bop and funk music to a non-jazz crowd, proving that it is capable of transcending genre restrictions and demonstrating that jazz is neither elitist nor difficult to listen to; it is truly popular music.
Doors to the Oct. 29 show open at 7 p.m.; the show starts at 8. Tickets are $10 at Kingfisher Used Books and Black Bear Books, and $12 at the door.
Bring your appetite to this one — dessert will be served!
— JAZZ COUNCIL