RENFREW COUNTY (Renfrew) — Stone Fence Theatre and Finnigan’s Roadhouse are teaming up to launch a Swing Jam in Renfrew on Sunday, January 26 following regular Sunday night Film Group showings down the block at the O’Brien Theatre. The foundation for the jam is Peter Brown, a jazz, blues and swing piano veteran who has often played all the Ottawa area’s most prominent jazz venues.
Peter has led various ensembles at the Ottawa International Jazz Festival more than a dozen times. He has toured with Canadian blues legend Dutch Mason and former Rolling Stone Mick Taylor. He has released three jazz CDs under his own name, Marie-Claude, in 2002, Franklin Street in 2008, and Beautiful Love in 2014, as well recording with many other artists. He has been working as a musician and occasional actor with Stone Fence Theatre since 2009.
The jam starts at 6:00 p.m., around the time the Film Group, which runs through the fall and winter months at the historic theatre, ends. “If it goes well, we hope it can become a regular thing,” says Stone Fence Theatre’s producer, Ish Theilheimer. “We’ve been needing something like this around here, and I’m really curious to see who comes out to jam.”
Peter Brown has led successful jams in Carleton Place and Perth, where as many as a dozen players have come out to jam with him and his groups. “Every town, large or small, has some good musicians,” he says. “We’re hoping to bring out some of these players and to provide a friendly and fun musical environment for listeners and players alike.”
