PREVIEW
What: An 80th Birthday Party For Al Pease featuring the Avram McCagherty Quintet
When: Saturday, 8 p.m.
Where: Hermann’s Jazz Club
Tickets: $20 (call 250-388-9166 for reservations)
When Al Pease retired in 1987 after 27 years with the Royal Canadian Air Force Band, the musician looked forward to having some time away from the stage.
He never saw a second of respite. “When I got out, I worked every day,” Pease said with a laugh. “I can remember having four jobs in one day. I actually managed to squeeze them all in, but I had to step wisely.”
Pease was in demand for good reason. With years of experience in a range of styles — from classical, blues and rock to jazz, bluegrass and big band — the Victoria performer is known as the go-to guy on saxophone and clarinet. A Victoria guitarist who has organized an 80th birthday party for Pease calls him one of the city’s finest musicians.
“There are two or three people in Victoria that I think are revered above everyone else,” guitarist and bandleader Avram McCagherty said.
“Every horn player in this city — and I’m talking about top-shelf guys like Patrick Boyle, Nick La Riviere, Tom Ackerman — all of them look up to Al. Nobody sounds like him. Nobody has skill like him. Nobody has experience like him.”
Pease will be feted on his birthday Saturday at Hermann’s Jazz Club, an event that will see him join the Avram McCagherty Quintet for a night of inspired jazz — a group that also includes Pease’s son, Matt, on drums, Brooke Maxwell on piano, Don Cox on tuba/bass and Sara Marreiros on vocals.
Pease said gigs with musicians who are decades younger keep him young at heart and have led him to embrace a mentorship role. “I always tell people to listen to as much music and as many styles as you can. Try to play as many different styles as you can, because there’s no bad music if it’s played well. If you learn to play more than one style of music, you’re going to get more work.”
McCagherty, who has played twice a month with Pease, in various groups, for the better part of 15 years, sees him as a teacher as much as a friend and collaborator.
“He’s a real mentor to me. He has compiled these books of music and I’d always constantly be trying to research so I could keep up.”
Pease, who was a professional musician in his teens, moved to Victoria in 1970 following service postings in Edmonton and Winnipeg.
He arrived with a resumé of unique talents, one of the benefits of always being busy, Pease said.
He kept several side projects going during his time with the air force band, which provided him with some of the best on-the-job-training he ever received.
“You played all kinds of music, which meant you could do just about any kind of a job,” Pease said. “It prepared you for anything you would encounter in your playing career.”
That included several musical dates with a young Barbra Streisand, who sat in with one of Pease’s jazz combos in Winnipeg during the mid-1960s. “For two years, I worked six nights a week in a club called the Town and Country, which was the hot club in Winnipeg. We had a four-piece that backed up some fairly well-known people. The guy that owned the place had a connection with some agent in New York and he used to bring these singers in for a two-week stint. Barbra Streisand was one of them.”
Streisand was either fired or quit before her contract was up, Pease said, following an argument with the manager. At the time, he thought little of it. “My wife [Fay], who was my girlfriend at the time, thought she was a good singer, but never thought she’d make it big.
“I think she’s wrong on that one.”
Pease’s list of accomplishments in Victoria is no less interesting. He has had recurring gigs and residencies everywhere from restaurants (Pagliacci’s, the former Chantecler) to pubs (Swan’s, Spinnakers) and clubs (Hermann’s). In addition to dozens of other acts, he was a longtime member of both the Dixieland Express and the CanUS Hot Jazz Band.
He also played for years at Butchart Gardens, both with his own group and as a member of the band that backed longtime featured entertainer Woody Woodland.
“When you’re a musician, you’re conditioned to never turn anything down. There’s good times and there’s bad times, so when there’s good times, you take everything.”
Fans don’t have to travel far to see Pease these days. He plays three times a month at Pagliacci’s and subs on occasion with groups such as the Capital City Syncopators. He also plays at Norway House and the Heron Rock Bistro.
It’s a fun way to make a living, Pease said.
“It’s a little bit of this and a little bit of that, about 10 days a month. I’m just glad it’s not like the old days.”