Thirsty Ears? Bruce Ward Played To A Full Gallery

By Brent Ellis. The Bruce Ward Jazz Quartet played to a packed coffee shop on May 22. The concert took place at the Clayburn Gourmet Gallery as part of the Envision Financial Coffee House concert series. I was happy to catch their first set. The first thing that I noticed about their sound is how balanced it was. I could hear each instrument clearly and the overall volume was just right. The tone of each instrument was perfect for that classic Jazz sound I came to hear.

Bruce Ward’s band played straight ahead Jazz standards and traded some fun solos. Bruce started the night off on his tenor saxophone and later played his soprano sax. His tone was warm and his solos were enjoyably melodic. Johan Worst added to the band’s authentic Jazz sound with his upright bass. He supported the tunes with solid walking bass lines and the audience appreciated his creative bass solos.

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Michael Toth was on guitar. Mike played a vintage Gibson L5 and during some of his solo lines I found my self remembering Barney Kessel. Jim Kempton was on drums and did an fine job backing up his band mates and trading ‘fours’ on several songs.

Again I’d like to credit Kimberly Arthurs, the owner of CGG, with hosting a fun evening, and working hard with her employees to serve all the thirsty Jazz fans that turned out for the show. Her coffee shop really is a great place to meet friends and get comfortable while listening to some good music. Keep it up Kimberly!

In my next column I’ll be writing about a teenage drummer named Cole Ellis who is a band member of Even Keel.

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Cole is a guest drummer for my band (The Brent Ellis Group) that will be playing at a charity event for the Abbotsford food bank at King’s Music at 2669 Langdon Street at 1pm on Saturday May 29th.

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Free hot dogs, pop and popcorn with any non-perishable food donation or cash donation to the food bank. Please bring your family and support this worthy charity event.

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Editor’s Note:Brent Ellis’ column on the local music scene for us called “Thirsty Ears?” appears regularly in our Music Section in Arts/Entertainment.

Brent Ellis
Brent Ellis is the owner of LS Records, a part time project studio located in east Abbotsford. Brent has been helping local talent do CD demos and CD projects since 1991. He uses SAWSTUDIO for recording, editing, mixing and mastering. Brent and his band, The Brent Ellis Group, are a jazz fusion band that have performed in Abbotsford at The House of James.

Brent can assist you with your music production, whether you want a quick CD demo with simple graphics, or a CD and graphics ready for the manufacturing plant.

His studio experience includes projects with diversified musical styles but his head and heart is mostly into Jazz.