Media Rel ease
Apri l 27, 1989

THE 1989 CALGARY INTERNATIONAL JAZZ
FESTIVAL INTRODUCES THE FIVE/THIRTY
SPECIAL
For the first time in its ten-year history, the Calgary International Jazz Festival
will present a series of five one-hour, late-afternoon concerts featuring music that
is outside the mainstream. Energetic musicians and original composers from Japan
and across Canada will perform daily at 5:30 p.m. from June 19 to 23 at the
Plaza Theatre, 1133 Kensington Road N.W. Admission is $5.30 and advance tickets
are available from BASS.
Both the time of day the concerts will take place and the type of music presented
are new to Calgary's jazz festival. As such, the Five/Thirty Special provides the
final component the jazz festival has needed to fully round out its program.
The Five/Thirty Special offers jazz unavailable in Calgary at any other time. Two
of the groups, Graeme Kirkland and the Wolves and the Underhill/Walsh Duo, are
semi-finalists in the Alcon Jazz Competition presented by CBC Radio which is
currently underway across Canada.
Lunar Adventures (June 19) from Vancouver has a contemporary sound that
penetrates the melody of free jazz and the blues; Underhill/Walsh (June 20) from
Toronto present an enthralling display of new wave jazz tossed with the rhythm of
fast-paced tradition; Takashi Koko (June 21) is a Japanese-based performer who
has developed a unique, lyrical blend of European classical piano, modern bebop
and jazz at its freshest; Graeme Kirkland and the Wolves (June 22) blend theatrics
and chants with free jazz; and the Pierre Cartier Ensemble (June 23) have a
Quebecois-bred sound of classical bass entwined with a tribal beat.
The evening of jazz continues when, at 7 p.m., the Plaza Theatre presents a jazz
movie: A Night In Havana (June 19, 21 & 23), Round Midnight (June 20)
and Bird (June 22). Admission: $5 adults, $3 Plaza Theatre and Jazz Calgary
members, $1.50 seniors and children under 12.
For more information, contact Sheila Thistlethwaite, Publicist, 1989 Calgary
International Jazz Festival, (403) 233-2628.