The Sidney Friday Night Jazz Series brings together the finest in West Coast Jazz talent in an intimate concert setting every Friday evening in Sidney BC. Jazz Night was started by myself and my son Myles English on the premise that there is a dormant jazz audience as well as a wealth of stellar national-level jazz musicians right here on Vancouver Island.
This led us to St. Paul’s United Church that has a beautiful 6-foot grand, excellent acoustics and a warm inviting atmosphere. Each week we bring in some of the finest island talent like Monik Nordine, Cold Cut Combo, Tom Vickery and our own duo 13 Strings. Our current series runs for 17 weeks and we plan to continue through the summer and fall.
We jokingly call it a Jazz Rave because we arrive to set up only an hour before and within that time a church miraculously transforms into a concert venue and jazz sanctuary. As we frantically finish setup, fans are already filing in at the front door; the photographer arrives and musicians are working through their sets in the dressing room, the Sunday school classroom. We’ve recently noticed that these fans are becoming a jazz congregation, many now recognize one another and exchange greetings as they take their seats … you can feel the buzz!
The night now feels like a Jazz event should: interactive, conversational and a bit on the edge, with the crowd fully engaged and responding to the intense creative energy being produced by career performers only feet away. When the lights go up and the bows are taken, we hear; “Incredible”, “that was amazing”, “I was blown away” and “I will see you next week”.
As we break down, it is the sense that something good just happened that compels us to perform yet another series.
By Lloyd English
Professional Performer, Teacher, Songwriter and Producer
Photo Credit: Sue Ferguson Photography
More Information
The Sidney Friday Night Jazz Series
Video: Compilation Video
The Performers: Monik Nordine, Cold Cut Combo, Tom Vickery and 13 Strings
Event Location: St. Paul’s United Church, 2410 Malaview Avenue, Sidney, BC V8L 2G3
Event Day and Times: Fridays at 7:00pm
Leave A Comment