www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, August 10, 2012 · 4 By Dominik Kurek OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Music legend Peter Appleyard at Jazz Festival The Oakville Jazz Festival attracts thousands of music lovers to the downtown area each year for a free three-day concert. This weekend (Aug. 10-12) brings one of the GTA's premier jazz festivals to town for its 20th year with a return of some top musicians. No stranger to the local festival is long-time vibraphonist Peter Appleyard who calls Oakville his hometown jazz festival. He lives in Brockwood. "I know a lot of people in the Oakville area. It's almost like being at home. That's the closest home festival I have from where I live," he said. The Officer of the Order of Canada will be performing on opening day of the festival at Towne Square Stage, one of the main stages at the event. He is scheduled to perform from 8-9:30 p.m. Appleyard, 83, has been a musician for a long time, even having performed for the troops of his native England during the Second World War as a teenager. In his many years as a performer, he has played at jazz festivals the world over. Just this year, he has performed in Edmonton, Saskatoon, Toronto and Montreal where he received the Oscar Peterson Lifetime Achievement Award. Possibly his greatest playing time came when he performed with legendary jazz musi- that could effectively handle the album. Thus, the Peter Appleyard and the Jazz Giants album was born. It was released this past March. In addition to the Jazz Giants, Appleyard released a Sophisticated Ladies album in June, featuring the voices of many talented jazz divas. Both albums have been successful on jazz charts. One of the singers on the Sophisticated Ladies album, Mississauga's Carol McCartney, will join PHOTO BY DON DIXON/ SPECIAL TO OAKVILLE BEAVER Appleyard and his band at the Oakville jazz festiALL THAT JAZZ AND THEN SOME: Peter Appleyard will be among the headliners at vals to do a selection of the songs on the album. At the festival, Appleyard will perform jazz this year's Jazz Festival starting today (Friday) and running to Sunday in downtown Oakville. standards as he did on the past two albums. "We're the last stalwarts of sort of the swing cian Benny Goodman for eight years. In those In 1974, when he played with Goodman, era," he said. years, he shared the stage with such jazz giants Appleyard had a chance to do a bit of a recording He intends to perform a Benny Goodmanas Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis and session with some stars of the era prior to their composed song called A Smooth One. Oscar Peterson. Carnegie Hall concert in New York City. "That was a tune that inspired me to play back So when a record label, True North Records, "Each one of them was a major star, Hank in England in 1943," he said. approached him recently to record a new Jones, Slam Stewart, Mel Lewis, Bobby Hackett, His music may bring back some memories for album, it just so happened he already had some- Zoot Sims and Urbie Green. It was the one time his listeners; however, he said the concert will be thing on the go, something from nearly 40 years that Benny Goodman had them all together. nothing like listening to a recording to any of the ago. Because they were so big internationally, he could timeless classics from the American Songbook. never get them and this night he had them," he "I always try to establish the melody so that said. the audiences know what they're listening to and That recording was shelved all these years then we'll improvise on the melody, on the haruntil now when Appleyard found a record label e See Linstead page 5 waste electronics unplugged Appliances and Electronics 100 pound Minimum, items must be outside. Collection of Unwanted Televisions, monitors, stereos, speakers, washers and dryers, fridges, freezers, computers & accessories and much more... 1-877-910-2929 recycle your unwanted electronics