[JamesTornC]

After eight and a half years Ross and I have decided to move on from the Kino Cafe gig on Tuesday nights. The owners are feeling the pressure with the RAV line construction on Cambie Street and want to "try different things" in order to attract more people, we wish them well but decided to not continue with a reduced rotation.

The Kino was a great gig for both Ross and I. We have been very fortunate to have so many strong musicians play with over the eight and a half year run. Benji Bohannon Drums and Michael Paterson Bass were an absolute pleasure to play with and we will be releasing our second CD “The Library Sessions” this spring. Our first CD, True Bliss featured Andy Milne, Liam McDonald and Will Geode. Will wrote and arranged many of the compositions on the CD and I am forever grateful for his partnership and spirit. Having Will on alto sax was more fun than a bag full of hats! Ross and I can’t believe Andy, to this day, the only Bass player we know that calls us for gigs!

In the order they played in the band, I would also like to thank and acknowledge on drums, Joe Poole, Liam McDonald, Morgan Childs, Dan Gaucher, Christen Braathen, Ron Rooth, regular subs included Jeff Hicks, Niko Friesen, Mike Magnuson, and Kenton Weins.

On bass our founder Yoshi Omori, Andy Milne, Eric Lipshultz, regular subs Peter Carruthers, Karlis Silins, James Forrest, Sean Cronin, Adam Thomas and on one memorable night Ihor Kukurudza on “Fender Bass”

Although we did not pursue a “jam session” Alison Gorman, Saul Bergson, Gerard Burrows and on vocals William Taylor were always welcome additions to the stage.

Cheers
Ian Shaw

[JJoon077]

It shames me to confess that I made the trip up Cambie to hear this band only once, three of four years ago. They knocked me out. Not to take away from Ian or others in the group I have to say that Ross Bliss is a monster guitar player, woefully under-recognized. Well, other than the Djangoesque "Gypsy Trio" he co-founded, he doesn't appear to try for more gigs. I get the feeling jazz is more of a hobby than a career for him. Too bad for us.

Ian, keep us posted on anything that comes up for you guys.