New York City jazz guitarist is back in town
Ron Petrides is back in Charlottetown performing on Victoria Row. Petrides first came to PEI 14 years ago when the Always on Stage jazz festival was in its infancy.
Last night was only my second time on Victoria Row this summer. Between bad weather and a broken leg, it hasn’t been the best summer for people who enjoy life on Victoria Row.
Before we even got seated, Ron Petrides walked by with his guitar and warmly greeted us. It was a pleasure to see him and I knew we were in for some great jazz.
Ron is an institution as a guest artist for organizer Chris Budhan. Chris has other guest artists all summer long but Ron Petrides is my favourite.
Imagine, for the price of a few drinks and a meal you can listen to jazz all evening long.
I recorded this video of John Coltrane’s Blue Trane in August 2009. It’s a good example of his talent and style.
I’m a jazz traditionalist to modernist with tastes developed in the 50’s and 60’s. Petrides suits me fine. He is fast, has great tone on the semi-hollow body and he swings.
Petrides is from New York so he has that brash swagger associated with the Big Apple. The music is bold.
Take the evening off and go down to Victoria Row. Enjoy the food, sights and the music.
Always on Stage
Always on Stage is the longest and longest running music festival on PEI, for that matter anywhere we know in Canada. For the past 14 years, promoter Chris Budhan put on 7 days of music, 11 hours a day for 8 weeks in the summer.
This year organizer Chris Budhan had a devil of a time securing funding, probably because he doesn’t fit into any of the programed political slots for culture. Some last minute money from Aliant kept the show going past the middle of August.
The City of Charlottetown and the merchants and restaurants along Victoria Row keep the festival begging for money each year. For the life of me I can’t figure out why they don’t put a higher value and properly fund Always on Stage.
If they lose the festival, it will be a big hole in the culture and street life of Charlottetown. Kevin Murphy has been a booster of the festival but the fact it is shrinking this year means more needs to be done.
In the meantime there are millions of dollars to bring American country artists to PEI, along with other “big” events.
Stephen Pate
Ron’s last performance this year will be Tuesday August 23rd.