Keyboardist TJ Waltho’s Charlie Brown Christmas Show has expanded since he started it last year. He has been playing it a lot more frequently this Christmas season.
But I finally caught some of it at the Owl Acoustic Lounge, Dec. 21.
As usual for the Charlie Brown show, it was packed with Christmas revellers and people home for the holidays looking to catch up.
Waltho, plus drummer Brad Brouwer and bassist Paul Holden had the groove down.
As usual, while ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ played in the background, the trio simultaneously provided the jazzy soundtrack.
They were winding things up by the time I arrived. They were a little fast so repeated the well known theme for the closing credits.
There was a genuine unicorn show after that— a unicorn being a local performer who doesn’t perform live very often. In this case, beloved local singer and vocal instructor Mwansa Mwansa, backed by Waltho, Holden, Brouwer and lead guitarist James Oldenburg, crooned her way through a lovely set of R and B and pop music.
She has been back in Lethbridge for a year, But I haven’t seen her perform. It ended up being her last show here for a while as she is moving back to Toronto.
The quartet exuded joy and smiles as Mwansa Mwansa sang with tear jerking soul.
Some of the highlights included a beautiful cover of Tracy Chapan’s “ Fast Car,” and a Michael Jackson hit. She ended with her usual gorgeous version of the Zutons/ Amy Winehouse’s “Valerie.”