June has been busy - yeah

June is turning out to be a busy month, helpful since the Vancouver tv and movie industry has ground to a significant dead stop since May.

Adam @ Prophouse Cafe

Earlier this month [June 9th] I got on my bike and caught two great performances on Commercial Drive. The first visit being Adam Farnsworth-Lautsch's CD release party at the Prophouse Cafe; Adam is a crazy kat, a sort of mash-up between Frank Zappa and Cab Calloway in his stage presence. He sings about the crazy stuff that happens to him, such as a case mistaken identity in his song "Marathon Life". His new CD is "Semitone Off" and you can download it here.

Baby Harry @ Falconetti's

My second stop was a few blocks away at Falconetti's. Now for the record I have to say I'm not big fan of venues that generally don't pay their live acts, I've been boycotting the Libra Room for some time now. However, my mate Baby Harry was playing and he convinced me it was in best interest to see him play there. Baby Harry was on form, but I'm not keen on the venue at all. I realise it is tough to be a venue at the best of times, especially on Main St and Commercial Drive, but I just get the feeling this kind of venue is contributing to the demise of live music in East Vancouver in some way by not paying it's performers. The debate rages on nonetheless....

Live from the Drive

June 17th saw East Van Soul Club take to the streets and play its first ever live show at the Commercial Drive Car Free Day. We were first on the bill at the Tribal Harmonix Stage, the rain stayed away and we were able to broadcast live via wi-fi supplied by Bump and Grind Coffee. My thanks to Tim and Garth for making it happen and to Tim Wisdom for inviting me down in the first place.

June 21st saw my two piece band "AI Vertigo" play at the Make Music Festival in Gastown. Last year my soul band Mr M & The All Nighters played the inaugural event. This year had 150 acts and they managed to close off Water St from 6pm onwards. Luckily we got down early enough to find out our stage 17 didn't exist and we ended up being moved to another stage and bumped ahead in the schedule;  we also ended playing in front of a punk band with volume issues. This ended up being the main complaint from the performers, too many stages in a small area, however at least 30,000 people attended the event making it considerably larger than 2011. AI Vertigo play the Richmond Night Market on July 1 at 945pm.

Make Music Festival in Gastown

June 23rd saw East Van Soul Club out in Coquitlam at the Roo Pub for a night of soul tunes and burlesque. Sadly, this was also an UFC night and the combination did not really work [duh]. The audience was a bit mystified by the site of nearly naked women in their local boozarama; its a common sight in Vancouver but folks in the 'burbs are just getting 'lectric light and 'tinternet, so there is a bit of an education curve involved. Dear Suburbia - it is ok to cheer and applaud at burlesque !

On a final note East Van Soul Club Radio is now available for podcast here.

And on a final, final note here's a great video from East Vancouver's High Society

High Society - One Day from Cinemanifesto on Vimeo.

Or go to this web site to see it if you cannot see it above.

Help us raise some funds

Say Hello to Coco Jafro and some live dates

Been a while since I posted something, not that I have been lazy elsewhere, things seem to be coming together in many respects.

I've been following local singer Karina Morin since her days with Richard Coleman's "Soul Assembly". I even made it out to a few of their gigs at The Fairview and Lulu's Lounge in Richmond. Karina Morin is Canada's answer to Alice Russell and she is an import from Montreal, but that didn't stop me from bumping in to her on the set of "The Selection" a few months back, then spending some time updating me on her musical pursuits.


Turns out Karina is in a new band "Coco Jafro", she sent me a few songs and I was immediately impressed with the tunes particularly "Voodoo" and "The Dude" . The band is nice n' tight as it blends elements of latin, funk, soul and jazz - having Karina's vocal enhances the mix greatly, however the band holds its own on instrumentals equally. A feature of the band is the dual melody/harmony playing between sax/guitar or hammond, this lends itself to more of jazzy feel, you can hear it on "Jam Killer" and a few of the other tracks. 

Coco Jafro play the Victoria Jazz Festival June 30 at 330pm and the up to Crofton for a night at the Crofton Hotel July 7. Coco Jafro will be in Vancouver very soon - June 22 at the The Railway don't miss out when they do.


In other news - June 17th see's East Van Soul Club Radio making a live appearance at the Car Free on Commercial Drive event. Yours truly will be dj'ing from noon til 1pm from the stage at Venebles and Commercial - just outside the Bump n Grind Coffee shop. If all goes to plan we will broadcasting live for the hour, so that EVSC Radio listeners outside of Vancouver can join in the fun.

East Van Soul Club has been bus[t]y of late, 'er so to speak ! Back in April we tried a night of Burlesque and classic soul tunes at the Great Bare Pub on Kingsway in Burnaby. Owner Damian was impressed enough he booked us back June 1 and July 6. He also booked us in to his other venue in Coquitlam June 23rd. This is the first time either of these venues have had Burlesque dancers, so well done to Damian for giving it a shot. 


East Van Soul Club Radio had its first interviewee a few weeks back, I think it will now be a regular feature on the show. Thanks to Taryn LaRonge for coming in and having a chat. If you are interested in being a guest on the show please contact Ian directly.


My own band AI Vertigo play the Make Music Festival June 21 in Gastown


Overall it should be a busy summer for all concerned.

You can hear East Van Soul Club Radio Podcasts here