Multi-instrumentalist Doug Farr brings The Company Men quartet to Pat’s House of Jazz in Crofton’s Osborne Bay Pub on Sunday, April 29 for an afternoon of in-the-pocket jazz standards.
He’ll be joined by guitarist Jim Burns, bassist Bill Kent and drummer Barry Gray, all rooted in the jazz tradition.
Farr started playing in Victoria in 1981 as a bass player and has been gigging around on chromatic harmonica, piano, guitar, vibes and bongos ever since.
He has also been teaching keyboard instruments as well as electric bass, guitar and harmonica since 1982.
Farr will be remembered by the regulars at Pat’s House of Jazz for bringing his mom, Catherine, to the pub every Sunday for years, right up until her death two years ago.
Catherine, Farr said, insisted on going to the jam every Sunday to listen to her son sit in on harmonica.
For Sunday’s gig, Farr will switch between piano and vibes, with maybe a little harmonica thrown in.
Guitarist Burns, who started his musical career as a rock drummer before switching to guitar, has performed in Victoria, Vancouver, Kimberley and Seattle. He co-founded a jazz jam at the Cottage Bistro in Vancouver that continues today.
Bassist Bill Kent began his 40-year music career as a jazz pianist and teacher, switching to bass a decade ago. He currently plays and performs in five groups around Victoria and Vancouver.
Drummer Gray, who has played drums in and around Victoria for many years, provides a solid anchor for the rhythm section.
The performance is one of a Sunday afternoon jazz series presented by Chemainus Valley Cultural Arts Society.
It runs every Sunday from 2 p.m. at the Osborne Bay Pub, 1534 Joan Ave. in Crofton. Admission is $15.
Reservations are recommended. Tables will be held until 1:30 p.m.
Phone 250-324-2245 or visit http://osbornebaypub.com.