Champagne Republic
Watch out for emerging club and show favourites Champagne Republic.
The emotional and soulful vocals of Emily Chambers, the funky keyboards of Phil Laessoe, the tasty guitar licks of Marty Majerski, the deep, gutsy lines of bassist Eric Lipshultz and the agile drum accents of Kevin Madden combine to create a smooth R & B, pop, soul and funk blend as heady as a tall flute of bubbly.
Featured tonight (Sept. 18, 8 p.m.) in a high profile gig at Vancouver’s Club 560 launching Vancouver Fashion Week, the band can also be caught later this month at a frequent downtown venue, The Park, on Sept. 21 and Sept. 28 (9 p.m. shows).
Among performers at this year’s Spirit of the Sea Festival, the rising band has a strong local connection – Majerski is a local realtor and Lipschultz is a graduate of Semiahmoo Secondary’s award-winning band program.
Also coming is Champagne Republic’s first EP, due for release in December.
For more information on upcoming gigs, visit Champagne Republic’s pages on www.reverbnation.com, www.facebook.com or www.myspace.com
Night On Broadway
The Surrey Food Bank is the beneficiary of 100 per cent of the proceeds from A Night On Broadway, a Sept. 29 Surrey Arts Centre concert tribute to musical theatre presented by soprano Debra DaVaughn and her husband, tenor Christopher Simmons, thanks to sponsorship by Envision Financial.
Joining DaVaughn and Simmons for a selection of some of the greatest music in Broadway history will be mezzo sopranos Tamara Croft and Cathy Wilmot, baritone Joel Klein, soprano Vanessa Coley-Donohue and award-winning ensembles of the White Rock Children’s Choir family directed by Sarona Mynhardt.
The show presented in both a 3:30 p.m. matinee and a 7:30 p.m. evening performance, includes selections from Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Brigadoon, Evita, My Fair Lady, and Leonard Bernstein’s masterwork Candide.
Tickets ($27.50, $25 seniors and students) are available from 604-501-5566.
Jazz Band Ball
The Vancouver Dixieland Jazz Society has chosen the Pacific Inn (1160 King George Blvd.) as its venue for the 2012 edition of the Jazz Band Ball, a two day festival of “old style jazz played in the great New Orleans tradition,” Sept. 29 and 30.
The line-up blends veteran musicians (The Grand Dominion Jazz Band, The Square Pegs) with the younger generation of Vancouver-area traditional jazz musicians (Slipped Disc, Company B and Arne Arntzen’s Hot Foot Five).
Typifying the meeting of young and seasoned musicians is the band Blackstick, a tribute to the work of famed clarinet and soprano sax player Sidney Bechet, in which up-and-coming reedman Evan Arntzen joins his grandfather, veteran Vancouver jazzman Lloyd.
The festival runs 1-10:45 p.m on Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 6:15 p.m. Sunday in two venues at the hotel.
Badges for both days ($55), Saturday all day ($35), Saturday after 6 p.m. ($20) and Sunday only ($25) are available from 604-987-5966.
Little Shop of Horrors
Those who missed Little Shop of Horrors during its Coast Capital Playhouse run this summer – or those who want a second helping – still have a chance to catch the locally-grown favourite Oct. 9-27 at Vancouver’s Jericho Arts Centre.
Directed by White Rock Players Club board member Ryan Mooney (Nunsense, Lend Me A Tenor) and presented by his Fighting Chance Productions, the popular Alan Menken-Howard Ashman musical concerns a flower shop just off skid-row – and Audrey II, the rapidly-growing, bloodthirsty plant from outer space nurtured by assistant florist Seymour Krelbourn.
White Rock’s Kerry O’Donovan (a noted pianist-singer and musical director for Vancouver professional productions) offers a winning characterization as Seymour, while newcomer Melissa Clark delivers a touching, star-making turn as Audrey, Seymour’s co-worker and major crush.
For tickets, visit www.jerichoartscentre.com or 604-224-8007.
Jaclyn Guillou
Rising jazz vocalist, composer and bandleader Jaclyn Guillou comes to White Rock’s First United Church, Oct. 12 at 8 p.m. as the latest in Peninsula Productions’ ongoing series of concerts.
Her debut album showcased her original take on jazz, blending traditional forms with her own conversational lyrics and entertaining theatrical style.
Recipient of the 2009 CBC Galaxie Rising Star Award from the Vancouver International Jazz Festival, Guillou has won raves touring throughout Europe, the U.S. and Canada, including sold-out shows at New York’s Birdland and the Yardbird Suite and, closer to home, Corey Weeds’ Cellar Jazz Club.
Tickets are available after Sept. 21 at Tapestry music, and immediately online from tickets.surrey.ca
Red Beans & Rice
Vintage jazz continues at the Royal Canadian Legion Crescent Branch 240 (2643 128 St.) where Rice Honeywell Sr.’s Red Beans & Rice kicks off the regular White Rock Traditional Jazz Society 3-6 p.m. Sunday sessions on Oct. 7.
Also watch for a continuation of the popular band’s Friday sessions at the historic Porter’s Bistro in Langley’s Murrayville neighborhood.
Outside The Box
Outside The Box, the second annual celebration of fibre and textile arts, continues at venues in White Rock and South Surrey until Oct. 5.
The festival is aimed at promoting awareness of of the rich versatility of fibre and textile art – from purely decorative to functional works.
White Rock Library (15342 Buena Vista Ave.) will hold a display of quilts by the Piece Arch Quilters, and there will also be demonstrations and displays by the Peace Arch Weavers and Spinners (Sept. 21 and 24), the Semiahmoo Guild of Needlearts (Sept. 27), ‘yarn bombings’ and The Dance of the Needle, a bookmaking workshop (Sept. 24, 7 p.m., pre-registration necessary). Artworks by Christian Geissler will also be on display at the library through the festival.
Mind and Matter Gallery, at 13743 16 Ave. – a strong supporter of the festival – is featuring fibrescapes by internationally-known artist Pauline McLean Dutkowski, creator and co-coordinator of
Outside The Box, as well as wood sculpture by the late Arnold Mikelson and pieces by a variety of contributors including painter and multi-media artist Sheila Symington.
White Rock Community Centre (15154 Russell Ave.) will be the venue for an ongoing display Outside The Box: An Exploration of Fibre, presented by Semiahmoo Arts and the City of White Rock and running until Oct. 19, as well as the related exhibit by Don Welsh of Semiahmoo First Nation of his detailed model of an aboriginal fishing village.
In Bryant Park, next to the community centre, artist Alicia M.B. Ballard’s interactive art installation Interknots – which festooned trees with colourful fibre art but was interrupted for a week by unknown vandals who stole donated scarves – will make a comeback thanks to supporters in the community.
White Rock Museum and Archives is in step with the theme with the current exhibit Baskets: Fibrous, Functional and Fabulous, a collection of First Nations basketry originally collected by the late Irene Maccaud and now part of the museum’s permanent collection.
Peace Arch Weavers and Spinners will be featured in their own showcase, Sept. 29 at Semiahmoo Shopping Centre, while there will also be exhibits and workshops at Laura’s Fashion Fabrics and The Golden Cactus Studio.
For more information, visit www.outsidetheboxwhiterock.ca
