Disney Digs D’Jazz

On behalf of the Nanaimo Jazz Orchestra and Vocalists, we wish to give thanks to the Nanaimo International Jazz Festival Association Members, Board of Directors and their sponsors.
It is always a great pleasure to be here in the Port Theatre and we appreciate the professional staff of administrators, stage crew, audio and video technicians, front-of-house and volunteers who helped make our music reach your ears.

And then, there is our audience. After all, this concert is for you – and we hope you enjoyed our presentation and that you will support other jazz events at the Port Theatre.
The musicians you will hear tonight all live north of the Malahat – from Salt Spring Island to Courtenay – but mostly in Nanaimo.

Born from its parents, Ragtime and Blues, Jazz is recognized world-wide.

One only needs to remember the accomplishments of Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong, Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington, Mary Lou Williams, Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Ornette Coleman, Oliver Nelson, Charles Mingus, Miles Davis and those who studied and inherited their innovations which changed the world musically and socially.

The Nanaimo Jazz Orchestra was formed by its Musical Director, Andrew Homzy, especially for this concert. Andrew chose the Disney theme as a means to help develop a larger audience for jazz – through engaging listeners with well-known, beloved melodies used as the foundation of interpretation, improvisation, syncopation and other “ations” central to this unique art music born from the sorrows and joys of African Americans and shared with the world.

As Dizzy Gillespie said: “You can’t steal a gift”, we acknowledge that heritage and also remember the art of Bix Beiderbecke, Pee Wee Russell, Jack Teagarden, Benny Goodman, Django Reinhardt, Stan Getz, Gil Evans, Francy Boland, Carla Bley and others who melded the African American fundamentals with their own musical heritages.