Jazz violinist Richard Moody will perform tonight alongside double bassist Scott White, as part of the Sidney Friday Night Jazz Series.
They will be performing standards from the 1930s to 1950s, with lots of instrumental in a swing style. The pair will be joined by two guitarists for a quartet performance.
Moody comes from a very musical family. One of his sisters plays violin with a symphony in New Zealand. His other sibling, Ruth Moody, is a member of the music group The Wailin’ Jennys.
Originally from the Prairies, Moody moved to Sidney five years ago.
“I’ve always been interested in acoustic music like jazz and folk music and I play with a Victoria group called The Bills,” he said.
He said the reason he chose the violin is because it was just something he ended up doing in a school program and then one thing led to another and he still plays.
“I’ve always liked the string instruments. I play violin, viola and also guitar and mandolin.”
Moody likes the stylings of world class jazz violinists Stephane Grappelli and Joe Venuti, as it’s an uplifting, creative, improvisational and happy style of music.
Moody has had quite the musical career, touring the United States, U.K. and Sweden — and has performed throughout Victoria as well.
He will embark on a tour of the U.K. next week with a western string outfit called Woody Holler and His Orchestra. He also mentioned that he has some recordings planned.
“I like to play with a lot of different people so I have a lot of little one-offs planned,” he said.
He will also be touring with The Bills in the summer.
Their most recent release is titled Trail of Tales.
The performance is tonight (Friday, April 1) and the Sidney Friday Night Jazz Series runs every Friday beginning at 7 p.m. at St. Paul’s United Church.
A donation of $10 is suggested at the door.
