Rooster Davis group a can't miss Lethbridge Jazz Festival show

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I didn’t get to many Lethbridge Jazz Festival shows last week. But one I did not want to miss was the return of Edmonton based, piano driven New Orleans style jazz musician Rooster Davis. They played a wild set of New Orleans jazz at the Owl Acoustic Lounge, June 17.Rooster Davis, Peter Hendrickson and Audrey Ochoa at the owl Acoustic Lounge, playing for The lethbridge Jazz and Blues festival, June 17. Photo by Richard Amery


Rooster Davis is a wild piano player and showed substantial chops. His voice was alternately jazzy, bluesy with just a touch of adult contemporary pop similar to Ben Folds.


 Keyboardist/percussionist Ann Vriend sang angelically while adding some piano and percussion she added a more straight ahead pop and R and B  sensibility with a few songs from her new EP, but still held spine tingling, loud, long, high notes.
 They had a new trombonist in  Audrey Ochoa who blew beautiful, jaw dropping experimental lines as drummer Peter Hendrickson held down a rock solid backbeat.Ann Vriend singing with the Rooster Davis Group. Photo by Richard Amery


 In addition to Rooster Davis’s more contemporary New Orleans Jazz and originals and Ann Vriend’s more pop and R and B, they also delved deep into their blues roots with great versions of classics like “St. James Infirmary.”


Colin James and his band stopped by for a beer after their show at the Enmax Centre. A lot of us were hoping they’d get up and play, but it was not meant to be. Rooster Davis and his band would have been a tough act to follow. Even for Colin James.

—By Richard Amery, L.a. Beat Editor
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