Live music is back in Kamloops! A number of bars and wineries have had musicians perform in their establishments. The first inside show in the Kami Inn, since everything was closed due to the pandemic, occurred on July 21. The Kris Ruston Trio played two sets of jazz music before a fairly large crowd. The trio consists of Kris Ruston on guitar, Alex Ward on his gorgeous, aged bass and Jared Wilman on drums.

They borrowed from the playbooks of Sonny Rollins, Lee Morgan, Wes Montgomery and others. The mostly uptempo evening of music was greatly appreciated by the Kamloops audience. A number of local musicians were spotted in the audience enjoying the show.

It was a fine evening of instrumental music covering mostly standards that the audience often recognized. The Sonny Rollins pair of St. Thomas and Oleo, along with Wes Montgomery’s West Coast Blues and Lee Morgan’s Sidewinder were personal favourites. It was wonderful to see a happy audience and musicians enjoying themselves once again and hopefully live shows will continue in Kamloops.