What do you get when you combine an infamous roots artist with a rising jazz star, seasoned expertise and youthful exuberance, old school groove with Broadway chops?
You get Roots & Grooves—a multi-genre conversation across the generations spiced with improvisation, innovation and humour, courtesy of Rick Scott and Nico Rhodes. And you’ll get it at Char’s Landing in Port Alberni, an intimate venue with big sound.
At 27, Nico Rhodes is in constant demand as a musical director for long run stage shows when not touring with chanteuse Joelle Rabu.
“Nico Rhodes is astonishing, you have to hear and see him caress, cajole and at times almost punish the piano. Breathtakingly fresh sounds and style radiate from this young musician,” critics say.
Since pioneering rogue folk with iconic BC trio Pied Pumkin, Rick Scott has performed in nine countries and released 19 recordings honoured with three Juno nominations, WCMA and Canadian Folk Music Awards. “Rick Scott is an enchanter, an alchemist creating gold out of dross with music as his catalyst. He uses every fibre of his being to translate private experience into shared experience,” music critics have said of him.
Scott says: “Nico Rhodes is on fire. At his age I was touring far and wide with Pied Pumkin and this harkens back to that unfettered creativity. It’s thrilling to play some of my earliest tunes reinvigorated and reimagined by Nico’s originality and brilliance.”
Rhodes says: “My childhood playlist was Beethoven, Piaf, Oscar Peterson and Rick Scott. I wrote Rick a fan letter when I was eight and when I was 23 he hired me to orchestrate his music for Symphony. The guy oozes groove, we shake each other up and the audience gets to come along for the good times. Playing with Rick is the most fun I’ve ever had on stage and a childhood dream come true.”
Roots & Grooves was recorded live from the floor in a single day at Mountain View Studios in Nanaimo.
Hear Rhodes and Scott perform selections from their album live at Char’s.
Advance tickets are $15 ($20 at the door, seniors $15 ) and available at Char’s from 4 p.m. daily, charge by phone at 778-421-2427, or online at http://bpt.me/2905656
Char’s Landing is located at 4815 Argyle St. at the corner with Fifth Avenue in uptown Port Alberni.