Two Performances
Friday, January 15 & Saturday, January 16

If you have heard live music in Penticton over the last three decades, there is a good chance Justin Glibbery had a hand in it: at the piano, down in the pit for Jesus Christ Superstar or Mamma Mia!, or at the front of the band room through a long tenure directing music at Penticton Secondary. His quintet is where you hear him on his own terms.

He brings good company. Summerland’s Stefan Bienz is on bass, Michael Treadway is on drums, and Stan Sabourin and Craig Thomson put two saxophones on the front line. Joining them is Yanti, a Naramata singer with a rich contralto and a feel for a torch song.

Expect range. The sets move between Justin’s own compositions, jazz standards, and his arrangements of a few pop songs, with a soft spot for funk grooves. His influences run from Duke Ellington and Count Basie to Keith Jarrett and Bruce Hornsby, and that spread tells you how wide the evening can travel.

The quintet has history in this building, including a sold-out night when the room was still The Dream Cafe. Six musicians in a seated room of about 125 puts you close enough to catch the nod that passes between players just before a solo changes hands.