Beat Niq performances easily worth your time
December has fewer jazz gigs than usual but fewer doesn’t mean less quality. The two gigs spotlighted this month are easily worth your time.
A week before Christmas jazz vocalist Johanna Sillanpaa will be at the Beat Niq for a gig featuring songs from her Christmas album One Wish . The Swedish-born Sillanpaa now makes her home in Calgary and her career continues to receive international acclaim. She’s trained with such luminaries as Sheila Jordan and Jay Clayton and this one-night performance is sure to deliver. She’s backed by Sheldon Zandboer Aaron Young Kodi Hutchinson and Tyler Hornby; expect an evening of original compositions and traditional holiday tunes. Sillanpaa’s gig is on Saturday December 19.
If you’re looking for non-holiday season fare from some of the best young jazz musicians in town you owe it to yourself to hit Beat Niq on Thursday December 17. Jazz saxophonist Brent Mah’s gig will feature Brenda Swanson on piano Simon Fisk on bass and Karl Schwonik on drums. Mah is a Calgarian a student at Vancouver’s Capilano University and an accomplished musician who has trained with the likes of Campbell Ryga Hugh Fraser and Kirk MacDonald. Add that to performances with legends like Chucho Valdes Jon Faddis and Jimmy Heath and you have a must-see artist at a must-see gig.
