Dockside Drive, Victoria’s high-energy show band packing a big-band sound and Manhattan Transfer-style vocals, returns to Pat’s House of Jazz in Crofton on Sunday, Feb. 3.
With eight pieces, including four vocalists, this band is known for its tight harmonies and fresh musical arrangements of classic swing and showtune favourites.
From Route 66 and Tuxedo Junction to In the Mood and the music of Ray Charles, Glenn Miller, Louis Prima and more, the band delivers it all. Even if you don’t dance, they guarantee you’ll be swingin’ and singin’ along.
When the band performed at the Sid Williams Theatre in Courtenay, general manager Deb Renz called the show “a fantastic night of big band-style jazz and swing (with) powerhouse vocals, riveting instrumentals, a wonderful richness and class to the whole show. This show rocked! We would bring it back in a heartbeat.”
The band has a roster of seasoned and established musicians with individual international and national touring and performing careers. Many are veterans of the Dixie, swing and jazz festival circuit.
The band includes vocalists Chris Newstead, Angela Ireland, Fran Bitonti, leader Heather Burns on keyboard and vocals, Ryan Tandy on bass, Don Leppard on drums, Dave Flello on trumpet and Paul Wainwright on tenor sax.
Together since 2012, the band opened for the Victoria Symphony’s ‘Symphony Splash’ last August and has played Government House, Butchart Gardens, the Sidney Pier & Bandshell and at regional theatres from Quesnel to Quadra Island, Coquitlam and through the Okanagan and beyond.
Sunday’s show, presented by the Chemainus Valley Cultural Arts Society as part of its weekly jazz series, begins at 2 p.m. in the all-ages Osborne Bay Pub, 1534 Joan Ave. in Crofton.
Admission is $20. For reservations, call 250-324-2245. Tables will be held until 1:30 p.m.
For more information, visit http://osbornebaypub.com.