Jazz At The Lake teasing audience with return of infamous pub crawl

With the reestablishment of the full Jazz At The Lake festival planned for 2017, organizers are treating fans to a teaser this Sunday with the return of the highly coveted Pub Crawl.

The Pub Crawl portion of past years has consistently been one of the most well attended events.

Having taken two years off from the full Jazz At The Lake festival, organizers Eric Allison and Cheryl Fisher have been focusing on their concert series, which sees the duo hosting concerts every season.

However, having made the decision to bring back the full fledged jazzy jubilee in 2017 - the pair thought 2016 would be a great time to reinstate Jazz At The Lake’s notoriously infamous pub crawl.

“We have five venues this year, they are all right in a row so there is absolutely no driving around – it’s perfect,” said co-organizer Eric Allison. “It’s the best possible scenario to have some great drinks, amazing food and hear some unbelievable music.”

On Sunday, from 2-9 p.m., five bands will grace five restaurants, pubs and patios spanning the length of Lakeshore Drive and traversing a broad spectrum of musical styles.

The day begins at Fireside Restaurant & Lounge with one of the most popular bands of former pub-crawl years, Jazz Plus Trio – formerly Corner Pocket. From 2-5 p.m. the Trio will perform their signature contemporary jazz, which combines hints of pop and rock.

Next up on the strip is the Sandro Dominelli Quartet at Viva La Sirena from 3-6 p.m. The well-known Edmontonian jazz drummer is well established in the scene and has also asked co-organizer Eric Allison to perform in his trio with him that day.

“We will be playing a really nice jazz standards and Latin jazz set, perfect for the setting,” explained Allison.

Another local jazz artist will be featured next door at the patio of Pete’s On The Beach as the Morgan McKee Trio takes charge from 4-7 p.m.

“He’s kind of a local jazz hero – a young guy who has played here a number of times and taught at Red Deer College,” explained Allison. “He and his trio will be playing plus this year he has a trumpet player with him and we seldom have trumpets.”

Further North along Lakeshore attendees may find themselves at Bravo Gastro Lounge for a taste of ‘gypsy jazz’ presented by The Fedora Club from 6-9 p.m. Modelled after the styles of the band, The Hot Club of France – The Fedora Club is a new musical taste to Jazz scene in Sylvan Lake and boasts a phenomenal violin player.

Last up on what is sure to be a ‘long walk’ down Lakeshore Drive is the Dynamic Trio at Chef Francisco Pub from 5-8 p.m. who will be presenting their audience with an eclectic mix of pop/R&B oriented tunes. The band features a husband on the guitar with his wife on vocals and their talented saxophonist friend out of Calgary joining them for the evening.

“Every band is completely different which is pretty cool,” said Allison. “We stagger, pardon the pub crawl pun, the hours of the bands so you can easily hear every band.”

The Jazz At The Lake Pub Crawl is free of charge for admission. For more information on the Jazz At The Lake festival or to purchase tickets for the Autumn Leaves Concert being held on the Saturday evening before the pub crawl, visit www.jazzatthelake.com.

editor@sylvanlakenews.com