Fort Langley Jazz & Arts Festival begins soon!
We have once again been invited to host the grand finale event
Jazz AWE (Alternative Worship Experience) on Sunday, July 28, 2024
Doors Open at 4pm; Service at 4:30pm
with community time to follow with musicians
to celebrate the successful 2024 Jazz & Arts Festival.
This event is BY DONATION,
but you need to register so we can know how many people to plan for
and if "cafe-style" seating needs to be set up in the Hall.
Featured Artists:
Maureen Washington:
Canadian/International Jazz singer, Maureen Washington is one of Vancouver Island's most sought after vocalists. Her rich tones and captivating emotions have cultivated large audiences with her styling that encompasses the soul of Etta James, Carmen McRae and the modernity of Holly Cole. And yet she remains a voice of her own.
Maureen began her musical career in her home town of Prince George, British Columbia. Her vocal diversity lent itself to performances of blues, swing, jazz and funk with BOP, a band widely acclaimed as the best dance band in the Prince George region. Their versatile repertoire, ranging from Jazz and R&B classics to lively originals, brought them sold out crowds.
Victoria, British Columbia has been her home since 2006 and Maureen continues to create new musical avenues and is blessed with a growing entourage of fans as she performs with duos, sextets, and solo artists, including singing back up on Canadian Folk legend Valdy’s 2011 album, Read Between the Lines.
Having had the honor of working with some of BC's best musicians, Maureen is an accomplished jazz and blues vocalist, songwriter, and instructor. In the winter of 2016, Maureen released her ninth album, “Harvest Moon”, working alongside West Coast producer, Joby Baker, who is known for his Juno and Grammy award-winning tracks.
Maureen's effortless charisma, crystal-clear control, and room-filling stage presence is enough to inspire any audience to fall in love with jazz again.
Karel Roessingh
Born in Leiden, Holland, raised in Calgary, Canada, Karel began his professional musical career in 1970. He first studied piano under Henry L. Peters, then took jazz instruction from Ray Petch. In 1973, he studied jazz arranging and composition at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, and completed a degree in secondary music and mathematics education at the University of Victoria in 1981.
Karel has played throughout the world in almost every imaginable venue. He has led bands for Howie Mandel, Rich Little (and his lesser known brother Fred), Bob Newhart, Shari Lewis (and Lambchop), and Ted Knight, played with Valdy, the Moody Blues, Powder Blues Band, Jan Arden, The Shirelles, and Leslie Gore, and opened for the Temptations (with vocalist April Gislason) and solo for legendary jazz guitarist John Pizzarelli.
Karel has composed extensively for film, television and video productions. Television and film credits include a great many themes and scores for documentaries, news, drama and children's programs broadcast world-wide.
He has produced more than sixteen of his own recordings, including several for the Canadian Naturescapes series, which have been distributed world-wide, two jazz trio CDs and many solo piano CDs. His new solo project, birdsong in the parkade, was recorded in August, 2017 on a magnificent Steinway piano at the lowest level of Victoria's View Street parkade, with music based on bird songs collected on a cross-Canada camping trip he and his wife Brenda took in 2016.
Karel has played on countless recordings for other artists. In 2011, he produced and played on Canadian folk legend and icon Valdy's latest CD, and more recently he has performed and arranged on recordings for Maureen Washington, Edie Daponte, and Garnett Betts.
In the field of children's music, Karel was musical director and keyboardist on Babes, Beasts and Birds by Pat Carfra (the Lullaby Lady), chosen by the Ladies' Home Journal as one of the six all-time best children's bedtime albums, keyboardist and arranger on John Demers' My Backyard, and George Dixon's series of children's musical stories. He has also written a series of music for interactive toys made by Fisher Price.
Karel is in his sixth term as municipal councillor and has served two terms as mayor (1999 - 2005) in his home municipality, the District of Highlands. He is a founding member and director of the Island Biodiesel Co-op and serves on the CRD Arts Commission (and served a term as chair), the Greater Victoria Public Library board (also serving a term as chair), and as vice-chair of the CREST Board of Directors.
Joey Smith
After touring for two and a half years with the Glenn Miller Orchestra as bassist and arranger, Joey Smith was married in Victoria and moved to Rochester, N.Y. to pursue graduate studies at the Eastman School of Music. For the past 18 years he has been bassist for many local groups and has collaborated with various artists during their stops in Victoria. Joey has written numerous arrangements for such groups as the Glenn Miller Orchestra and the Victoria Symphony, also arranging some of the music for the Commonwealth Games in 1994.
Currently, several of his arrangements appear on recordings by The Bills and The Marc Atkinson Trio. Joey plays with the Marc Atkinson Trio, the Karel Roessingh Trio, the CanUS traditional jazz band and many other groups in town. He has been a faculty member at the VCM in the Jazz Studies Department since 2004 and has been involved with the Conservatory’s Summer Jazz program since 2006.
Damian Graham – Drums
Having performed all across Canada, USA and Europe, Damian has been busy changing the way people think about the drums. Born in New Zealand and raised on the west coast of Canada, Damian’s musical diversity has led to performances with some of the finest musicians in the country and abroad. Damian maintains a busy live and studio schedule with his own ensemble and as an in demand freelance musician.
Performance highlights have included sharing the stage with Joshua Redman, Albert Collins, Cecil McBee, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Holly Cole, The Shuffle Demons, Buddy Guy, Metalwood, The Paladins, Colin James, The Odds, Junkhouse, Jane Bunnett, Dave Bartholemew, Joey DeFrancesco. Shows in Chicago, London, New York, San Francisco, Cologne, Stockholm and numerous festival appearances including the Montreal Jazz Festival, Toronto and Vancouver DuMarier Jazz Festivals, Beilefeld Jazz Festival (Germany), Hultsfred Festival (Sweden), High Sierra Music Festival (USA), Tuno Festival (Denmark).
As well as playing drums, Damian regularly works in the chair of Producer, Engineer, Web and Graphic Designer, Composer and has run his own label Bagel Boy Records since 1989. Recording highlights include his latest release as a band leader entitled “Trios” a follow up to the well received album “Digs”. As a composer Damian has written a large collection of material encompassing a wide variety of musical genres both on his own and in collaboration with other artists. Many of these compositions have been featured on radio and TV throughout Canada, Europe and the US.