Cole Schmidt talks about the upcoming 40th Vancouver International Jazz Festival presented by the Coastal Jazz and Blues Society, where he is the co-artistic director. Cole is a guitarist and composer who is an absolute mainstay of our scene and has been for many years now. To say that Cole has a full plate at any given time is a gross understatement. His project with Peggy Lee, Forever Stories Of: Moving Parties, came out in November 2024 to critical acclaim. More recently, the band KneeJerk with Brian Horswill, Karlis Silins, Kenton Loewen, and Cole released their album The Speed of Dark in May on the Infidels Jazz label.

Cole is working on future projects with his longtime band, Sick Boss; a new group called LETTR OPENR with Feven Kidane, Kevin Romain, and Nebyu Yohannes; a duo with Alvaro Rojas, and even a solo record. In short, the man is making music happen.

Next week, Cole is playing at the festival on June 25: 5:00 PM - Revue Stage, Forever Stories Of: Moving Parties (pay what you can).

Here are my gigs around jazzfest time!

• June 22: 2:00 PM - Hero's Welcome, Jazz Salvation Organ Trio with Mary Ancheta & Biboye Onanuga ($10 cover)
• June 23: 9:30 PM - Tyrant Studios, my quartet with John Nicholson, Conrad Good, & Todd Stewart + a jam (get tickets)
• June 26: 4:00 PM - Ocean Artworks, John Nicholson Quintet (pay what you can)
• June 28: 1:00 PM - North Vancouver Civic Plaza, Taras Luka (FREE)

Also check out Will's gig with the Madeleine Elkins Trio (joined by Kevin Romain) on June 29: 4:00 PM - Ocean Artworks (pay what you can)!

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Hosted by Chris Fraser. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music: "Lutin" by William Chernoff.