Porgy and Bess is coming to the Crofton Hotel stage on Sunday, Oct. 4 starting at 2 p.m.
The Jazz at Crofton series is bringing Nanaimo’s 10-piece NOLA Nighthawks, directed by pianist and arranger Andrew Homzy, for a special afternoon of music by George Gershwin.
The group will perform a concert suite of 10 selections from Gershwin’s ground-breaking 1934 opera, including Summertime, I Got Plenty O’ Nuttin’, It Ain’t Necessarily So and I Loves You, Porgy.
This suite, which was arranged by Bob Haggart in 1958 and edited and re-scored by Homzy this year is subtitled As Gershwin Would Have Liked It.
The second set of the afternoon will draw from the band’s rich repertoire of traditional and contemporary jazz in the New Orleans style.
Homzy figured in the Montreal jazz scene for more than 40 years and was nominated for a Grammy for his research into the music of the legendary Charles Mingus.
The band is comprised of trumpeters Dean Boland and Greg Bush, trombonists Darren Nilsson and Craig Burnett, clarinetist Claudio Fantinato, baritone saxophonist Larry Miller, guitarist Jesse Marshall, bassist Rob Uffen and drummer James McRae, with Homzy directing and playing piano.
The show runs till 5 p.m. with other musicians invited to jam during the last hour.
Admission is $15 at the door.