Music in the Park Continues For Another Year

The Kamloops perennial favourite series Music in the Park takes place at the bandshell in Riverside Park at 7:00-8:30 PM. It is underway for the months of July and August. While the temperatures have been excessive some evenings, it is usually easy to find a spot in the shade and take in the performances. The closeness of the river cools the evening down a bit, also.

I caught the July 4 appearance by Winnipeg’s Apollo Suns. They play a mix of rock, jazz and wild television and movie theme-like music. The band consists of a lively bunch of horn players with guitar, bass, keyboards and drums added.

You may get a Jimi Hendrix song or one that sounds like the theme to television’s Peter Gunn. Many of the tracks were from their growing catalogue of music. The musicians march around the stage and sometimes all sit down except for the soloist. They certainly seem to enjoy themselves.

The Apollo Suns put on a great performance and survived a hot evening. A fairly large audience applauded with gusto and enjoyed the show.

On July 8th Music in the Park provided the Sean Bray Quartet, which included the world-class sax player Campbell Ryga, who now lives in Kamloops.

Some of the tunes played by the quartet were Pyramid by the Modern Jazz Quartet, Equinox by John Coltrane, Secret Love from the musical Calamity Jane, Song For My Father from the Horace Silver catalogue and originals from both Ryga and Bray.

Their format included every musician soloing in every song and also plenty of interplay. The excessive heat may have kept some away but those in attendance were quite knowledgeable and clapped after each solo. In spite of the heat, it was a beautiful night of jazz.