Salt Spring Island’s effervescent songstress Sue Newman offers songs of love and humour that span early jazz to Motown and show tunes.
Newman returns to the Pat’s House of Jazz stage in Crofton’s Osborne Bay Pub on Sunday, Feb. 10, where she has performed many times during the past half dozen years.
Shades of blues, rock, jazz and soul lend themselves to her unique style, which has been honed over the years on stage with her band, which includes bassist Ian Van Wyck, guitarist David Lippincott, drummer Laurent Boucher and trumpet player Michelle Footz.
Newman says she has a special place for classic Jobim tunes as well as originals by herself and her father, Ray Newman, that are sweet and rhythmic.
Newman, who studied jazz with Jay Clayton and Sheila Jordan at the Banff Centre, is also a well-known performance art instructor as well as a dancer, producer and director.
Since moving to Salt Spring 36 years ago from California, where she toured with her jazz musician parents as part of a child variety act, Newman has taught ballet, tap and jazz dance, music, voice and theatre.
She has choreographed or performed in musicals such as Fiddler on the Roof and The Music Man and has sung with Hugh Fraser, Valdy, Randy Bachman, P.J. Perry and Bill Henderson, among others.
In December, she once again mounted her parents’ musical Scrooge — a holiday tradition on Salt Spring. It involved the creative efforts of 100 islanders.
“A performance by Newman will leave you on a real high,” says series publicist Gloria Collins. “She bubbles with such energy and joy in performing that she always leaves you wanting another hit.”
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 $15. For reservations, call 250-324-2245. Tables will be held until 1:30 p.m.
For more information, visit http://osbornebaypub.com.