The Milk Crate Bandits, the joyful, high-energy New Orleans-style jazz band from Vancouver, brought the house down at their Pat’s House of Jazz debut last November.
Now they’re back for an encore on Sunday, Oct. 28 at the Osborne Bay Pub in Crofton.
Expect more intimate acoustic moments and cheeky vocals along with the swinging, gritty sounds of 1920s New Orleans, played by vagabonds from across the globe who sit on stolen milk crates to perform.
It is music born of the streets. Leader Jack Ray began his musical career busking in Sydney, Australia, and in Vancouver, stealing milk crates to sit on.
By 2016, the group had travelled to New Orleans to record two EPs with Preservation Hall trumpeter Kevin Louis. The first, The Neighbourhood, was called “a stunning collection of new music” by Vintage Swing Review in 2017.
The band features Canadian trombonist Brad Shigeta, who played with the Duke Ellington Orchestra and the Illinois Jacquet Band while living in New York City, as well as bassist Jen Hodge and banjoist Ray. Each is a vocalist as well.
“This is music that will make you jump, holler and shout and some even say that being party to a misdemeanor makes it all the more fun,” the group’s website says.
The show is part of a regular Sunday afternoon jazz series, presented by the Chemainus Valley Cultural Arts Society.
It runs weekly from 2 p.m. in 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.