I hate to choose favourite local bands, but the Groove Apostles are definitely near the top of the list. They played a packed Owl Acoustic Lounge for the official CD release party on Saturday, April 8.
this version of local jazz combo was built around Vaughn Henning‘s saxophone and Daniel Yaretz’s keyboards. drummer Mathew Hellawell was an affable host, making jokes and introducing a variety of oddly named originals which strongly featured Yaretz’s keyboard playing and some hot saxophone playing from Vaughan Henning. While Feifei Du often plays guitar with them, he wasn’t for this show.
An easy highlight was their own take on the cantina theme from Star Wars.
After a set of instrumentals, the always excellent Shelby Wilson joined them to sing a set of ’70s R and B, pop and disco hits plus an excellent version of Three Dog Night’s “Joy To The World.”
I missed an opening set from Blazed Gringo and the Man.
