The man Bluegrass Unlimited magazine called “one of the world’s undisputed masters of the mandolin,” headlines a Christmas benefit concert in Cordova Bay.
John Reischman and the Jaybirds perform Saturday at Cordova Bay United Church to benefit Our Place Society.
The Vancouver-based Reischman is revered for his ability to play genres ranging from bluegrass to jazz to hot swing to Latin and beyond. He played on the Grammy-winning True Life Blues: The Songs of Bill Monroe and was a member of the influential Tony Rice Unit, which blended jazz, bluegrass, swing and folk.
This will be the ninth time the band brings a Christmas show to Victoria and will also celebrate the release of the Jaybirds’ seventh album, On That Other Green Shore, hailed by Peghead Nation as “one of the most beguiling bluegrass-rooted recordings of 2017.”
“I’m really excited to introduce Victoria to the newest Jaybird,” said Reischman. “Patrick Sauber is a fabulous player and we are very happy to have him in the Jaybird family.”
Sauber has played and recorded with John Fogerty, Doc Watson and Peter Rowan and was a cast member of the movie comedy A Mighty Wind. The Dec. 2 performance will also include special guests Miriam Sonstenes and Jeff Dill. Sonstenes has played with Victoria’s award-winning The Sweet Lowdown and had one of her original songs featured on the 2017 International Bluegrass Music Association’s Bluegrass Album of the Year, Mountain Voodoo, by Balsam Range.
The show’s Christmas theme will include selections from the Jaybirds’ 2015 CD On A Winter’s Night, featuring eight tracks that relate to the Christmas season taken from the rich traditions of English and American folk cultures.
The Dec. 2 show – starting at 8 p.m. in Cordova Bay United Church, 813 Claremont Ave. – is presented by the Victoria Bluegrass Association and the Sooke River Bluegrass Festival Society. Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door, with $5 from each ticket going to Our Place Society. Tickets are available at brownpapertickets.com.
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