Endless Summers

didn’t get your fix at last week’s JazzYYC Summer Jazz Festival? Are your ivories still in need of tickling? Craving a carefree croon? Calgary composer, vocalist and trumpeter Johnny Summers has just the thing to top you up. On Saturday, June 27, Summers— also the founder of the Calgary Jazz Orchestra and a staple of the local scene for over a decade— will be releasing the second instalment of his Piano Sessions CD series. Volume one featured Chris Andrews on keys, supporting Summers through a selection of standards and a few tracks out of left field, including an unexpected take on Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues.” This time around, Summers has recruited local jazz legend, television personality and former senator Tommy Banks to help him through another set of offerings

culled from the great American songbook— plus a few unexpected treats along the way. The duo will also be joined by some surprise guests throughout the night, and while they haven’t been announced, it’s a safe bet that few folks on Calgary’s jazz scene would pass on the chance to work with Banks. Summers himself is clearly thrilled to be collaborating with one of his heroes, a man whose career highlights include musical direction for the ’ 88 Olympics in Calgary and performances for presidents and royalty. The audience at the release for the appropriately titled Piano Sessions Volume 2 won’t be nearly so highfalutin, but Summers has always channelled a bit of the effortless elegance of idols like Harry Connick Jr. and Chet Baker, so you likely won’t feel out of place if you dress in your finest.