Tag Archives: Vancouver Jazz

Come on a Dream Ride Sunday September 4

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Dear Fine Folk… you are warmly invited to come on a Dream Ride with us September 4, 4pm @ St. Andrews Wesley Church in Vancouver.

DREAM RIDE

Can’t believe eight years have passed since I bounced off the end of my mother’s bed and into a very different head space! 

All was not lost though. Beautiful new music has come to the surface, twenty pieces for solo piano and new project called Dream Ride. Serendipitous events that have urged us forward in surprising ways, like finding baritone Pablo Romero in the forest. 

Featuring Linda Lee Thomas, renowned VSO pianist, also known as the “Queen of Tango”. Dream Ride explores the Tango idiom while venturing into realms of pure lyric beauty.

Next Performance: September 4 @ 4 pm – 5 pm

St. Andrews Wesley Church (Burrard and Nelson) Vancouver. By Donation *no upward limit! free parking under the church.

Dream Ride ~ the music of Holly Burke and Bill Runge

Featuring:
      Linda Lee Thomas – piano
             Pablo Romero – vocals
                    Bill Runge – soprano saxophone and clarinet
                              Holly Burke – flute

Here’s a video taste of what you’re in for…

On the subject of heads…here’s another cool thing I stumbled upon in the forest.

This amazing carving known as “Twin Spirits” is just off of Rawlings trail in Stanley Park, not far from Second Beach.

The Parks Board in their greater wisdom do not “acknowledge” this remarkable creation because the artist failed to go through their application process. Hey maybe the artist didn’t know where the office was – didn’t have a computer – was living in the park? I’m just so glad this carver went ahead with their vision, their inspiration for all the people to enjoy.

Thank you, Park Banksy. Love to know who you are and meet you one day ❤️

 

 

                                       “Cos you know two heads are better than one” – Twisted

‘Two Eagles’ takes flight January 8 @ Frankie’s Jazz Club

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Yes, it’ll be the first public performance of Two Eagles ~1000 hours later…or is it ten thousand hours later…Bill has meticulously finished the band arrangement of ‘Two Eagles.’ Can’t wait to hear it played by Bill’s stellar band The Bill Runge Quintet. Miles Black on piano, Bernie Arai on drums, André Lachance on bass and Nick Apivor on the magical vibes. It was a full circle type of experience with this tune. It began on a cold clear February day when I spied two magnificent eagles in the large evergreen just off my building. They were there for hours…just hanging out. I went to the piano and found a figure I liked, and a couple of potential places to go and Two Eagles was born (I kept running back and forth from the piano to the window to the window to see if they were still there.) Last week, Bill was completing the full band arrangement and looked out his window to see two glorious eagles soaring around his building. “We’re not changing the name!” said Bill.

Listen to an excerpt of “Two Eagles”!

Can’t help but get a little excited about stepping out onto the new terrain of a new year. The forever hope of things being better. Things will be better, it always feels that way, even this year. So here we are sending some good vibes your way )))))

Your buddies,

Holly and Bill

Blog ON Bill C51 and there will be NO frog kissing allowed

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Had to cancel our much anticipated, much promoted Blue Frog Concert. miserable. What are do you to do, when both Facebook and Shaw lock you out because of inviting “too many” friends? As it turns out: they were both wrong. Not enough people were invited and my hands were tied to do more. Stephen Harpers Gestapo Bill C51 has gone much too far. This is my living and I won’t have my tools taken away. HBposter5

Hello World!

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Hi, I just had to say hi 🙂 That’s it really. I like you, just wanted to give you a shout. But wait…there’s more…here are TWO MUST SEE SHOWS!! The Blue Frog click here. ” TICKETS ”

The PeaceWeaver show is Friday night, will be epic: all info in poster. Feast your eyes, feast your ears…

JUNE 21 in Whiterock 7:30

JUNE 21 in Whiterock 7:30

June 12 PeaceWeaver

June 12 PeaceWeaver

Come to the Garden Come to the Sea!

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Summer’s first sweet roses are here…with a scent that carries you far away,

or is it far within?

bite into your first shiny purple cherry, slip on a foxglove

watch blue back swifts dip and curve through the amber evening air

see tiny wood ducklings zoom at bugs darting in the air just over their heads

See all the firsts. All the miracles of Summer’s colourful pageant beginning…

What a time to be alive!

I offer you two great shows this Saturday. Come to the Garden, Come to the Sea!

Dino DiNicolo and I will be at 338 E.14th st. North Vancouver 2-4 pm. The whole band will be at the Silk Purse for 7:30 MUST SEE!!!

May 30 2-4 pm

May 30 2-4 pm

jazzwaves2015_poster (4)

Vancouver Horn Players Blow Away Fog

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Fog Horns

The chilly Vancouver fog really is oppressive today
We quiet down like birds at night still stopped waiting
pondering which colour of tea would be most beneficial
green matcha, yellow camomile, red rose. we have all the colours.
you just can’t see them today.

How about this: I invite, entreat, any and all of the wind players in Vancouver to meet at Prospect Point to play today at 2 pm to play improvised communal tones together, to blow the fog away.

weather permitting

Vancouver Fog

Here’s January 23 @ The Beautiful Genesis Theatre ‘LIVE@5005’

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Yes. This beautiful theatre in Delta/Ladner has it all. Lights! cameras! action! Sit back and enjoy a truly satisfying concert filled with delightful musical surprises…great for the whole family and all your friends, every single one of them. It’s going to be an incredible night!picmonkey_image

Tickets only $15 @ the door. Doors open at 7:30 – show @ 8pm. 604 – 946 – 5005.

We so look forward to being in the music with you again!! “I think the main thing a musician would like to do is give a picture to the listener of the many wonderful things he knows of and senses in the universe” – John Coltrane

Let’s warm ourselves by the fires of Art and Culture January 22/23

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It’s winter in Canada. That mysteriously long seeming season that settles whitely across most of our wide land for months. CBC radio is a lifeline. People go to concerts and shows to warm themselves by the fires of Art and Culture. It’s cool, in every way! Vancouver is like the unfrozen area at the edge of the pond so to speak, where the ducks can still swim around. Lucky ducks.

So come warm yourselves January 22/23, and swim around, you lucky duck. How does a downtown Vancouver Caribbean island sound to you? Reservations 604 – 568-5882.

HB & The NATURALS LIVE @ Calabash Jan 22

HB & The NATURALS
LIVE @ Calabash Jan 22

Goodbye Ça Va ~ Hello Calabash, Genesis, St. Andrews Wesley and beyond!

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We had a good run! Thank you to everyone at Café Ça Va, we look forward to future dates. ‘Le Petit Spectacle‘ was a fun show. We are super excited now looking forward to the return of Holly Burke & The NATURALS! Coming right up in 2015.

Plan on coming to “COCONUT THURSDAYS” January 22 ~ 9 pm/$8 the NATURALS will be deeply affecting the earth’s rotation in company with Special Guest Hugh Fraser. ’twill be a night of nights!! 

Holly Burke & The NATURALS LIVE 9 pm

January 22 428 Carrall st. MUST SEE!!
“COCONUT THURSDAYS”

Hugh Fraser, Stunt Driving and the Power of Flowers

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What richness flows out of Hugh Fraser! While it’s true stunt driving and split second timing were involved in picking Hugh up and actually getting to Café Ça Va, peace and majesty prevailed, once we were there.

I was thrilled to find an exquisite bouquet of flowers waiting for me, and a tender note, from Lois Keane Flowers…needless to say this inspired the music-making! Perhaps the highlight of the evening was playing Hugh’s heartbreakingly beautiful composition ‘Fairytales’.  As well, Hugh graced me with a copy of his newest Hugh Fraser Quintet release “Concerto”. Beautiful! I’ll quote Hugh from his liner notes, as he thanks his band members Ross Taggart, Campbell Ryga, Dave Robbins and Ken Lister, “I cannot say enough about the artistry, virtuosity, and personal dedication Cam, Ross, Dave and Ken bring to the Quintet.  They are all leaders, composers, performers and educators of the highest level, and have dropped everything to follow me to the most exotic and extreme opportunities I have created to share our collective joy of playing – from the first to last note of every performance, total dedication to the music and the peace and love it brings make any other challenges drop away.”

Hugh Fraser

Thanks Hugh, hugh-fraser2 Imagefor a quietly tremendous night.