Grammy winner to perform at jazz festival
For millennia and for people around the world, drums have been a part of life’s drama. Long before keyboards, reed instruments or trombones, people were singing and dancing to the sound of some kind of a drum.
So it’s not hard to understand while children enjoy banging away, or why serious musicians get together to form groups like Lethbridge’s own Global Drums.
Of course drums are a part of the jazz scene as well, and this year Lethbridge Jazz and Blues Festival organizers are offering an evening “showcase” event as part of their June 7-15 lineup.
Grammy Award-winning musician, composer, producer and educator
Larnell Lewis will be featured on June 14, starting at 7:30 p.m. in the Sterndale Bennett Theatre.
Toronto-born Lewis has been part of Snarky Puppy for many years, he’s led groups of his own, and he’s performed with such luminaries as Pat Metheny and Etienne Charles.
Tickets for the evening — and for
other performances during the week — are available online from
lethbridgejazz.com.
And don’t forget the festival’s no-charge events, starting with the “Young Lions” event on June 7, featuring local high school jazz bands, from 12:45 p.m. at The Gate.
Jazz at the Park will follow on June 8, noon to 5 p.m. in Galt Gardens, offering jazz, blues and a “jazz market” as well as food vendors and a beer garden.
• • • Another sign of optimism: The Allied Arts Council is celebrating the summer season today with a “kiosk kickoff barbecue,” starting at 11 a.m. on Rotary Square on the east side of Casa.
Live performances and art activities will be part of the free, family-friendly event, running until 3 p.m.
• • • By the way, the Rotary Centennial Fountain is back in operation in Galt Gardens, weather permitting, along with the Gyro Spray-ground next to the Nicholas Sheran Leisure Centre on the westside. The Henderson Lake pool is scheduled to reopen in June.
• • • For its season finale, the Lethbridge Community Band Society will be showcasing both its Silver and Gold Bands groups next Saturday, along with Joe Porter and his youthful Young Artists Music Academy percussion ensemble.
Promising “a world of adventure,” the concert will begin at 7 p.m. in College Drive Community Church, with tickets available at Casa, online at lcbs.ca or possibly at the door.
• • • With summer in the offing, a number of Lethbridge groups are preparing for a full season of events in Galt Gardens. Here are some of the highlights:
The jazz and blues festival starts things off on June 8, as noted above. Performances that afternoon will begin at noon with Rondell Roberts, followed by Montuno West and then Velle
Weitman and Kootenay Soul. The closing act, from about 4 p.m., will be the Dirty Catfish Brass Band.
• • • Fathers’ Day festivities are planned for June 16 at the park, offering interactive games and entertainment for all. Organizers of the no-charge event are planning to offer root beer floats, popcorn and freezies — as long as supplies last.
• • • A wide-ranging list of entertainers is being lined up for Lethbridge PrideFest, taking to the Galt Gardens stage on June 22. Check for details in this year’s “Pride Guide” being distributed soon in your Lethbridge Herald.
• • • Shakespeare in the Park is scheduled to start July 4, with a dozen more performances running until Aug. 9. This year’s offering is “Macbeth,” a.k.a. “the Scottish play.” While there’s no charge to attend, donations are welcomed.
• • • Remember your last “hootenanny?” Or you’re too young to know about those goings-on? There’s a new type of hootenanny planned for July 9 to 27, offering 25-minute presentations at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays in Galt Gardens.
• • • Later in the summer, members of the city’s Caribbean community are planning another CariBridge Festival for Aug. 3. The Lethbridge Electronic Music Festival will follow on Aug. 17.
And all those events are in addition to the dragon boat races and Canada Day festivities in Henderson Park, and the Wide Skies Music and Arts Festival at the end of July on 11 Street South alongside Southminster United Church.
• • • Not so many last-minute reminders: Today rings down the curtain on New West Theatre’s production of “Girls Like That,” with a matinee at 1 p.m. and the final show at 7:30 in the Sterndale Bennett Theatre. Check either Ticket Centre for seat availability.
It’s southern Alberta’s turn to take in the annual MCC Sale, in support of the Western Canadian organization’s good works in Canada and abroad. The sale, held in different locations from year to year, will open at 5 p.m. on Friday in the Coaldale Sportsplex with a dinner and sale events, and again Saturday with a pancake breakfast starting at 7 a.m.
And as outlined in Thursday’s edition of The Herald, Hatrix Theatre has moved to the McNally Community Centre for its latest offering, the Neil Simon farce “Rumours.” It will run May 29 to June 1, showtime 7:30 p.m., with tickets available at the unique Conybeare Mercantile at 6 Avenue and 5 Street South.