Thursday night (after my pretty good days) Pat and I went to see Jesse Cook at the local theatre…. A bit of background

Sometime in 2007 Mary Ellen gave us a recording of this Guitarist called Jesse Cook who she thought we would enjoy.  We loved it.  A combination of Flamingo and jazz

In 2009 we were driving and heard on the radio that Jesse was going to have a show at the community centre in Qualicum Beach.  Give you an idea, you had to buy the tickets at a variety of book stores and coffee shops up and down the valley.  We stopped in and bought 2 tickets on our way home.

We went to the show in a relatively small theatre (about 300) and when Jesse came on stage with his small 3 person group they seemed stunned by the cheers.  They had planned this as part of a rehearsal tour before they tried the big cities.  I remember walking up to the stage to chat with them at the interval (they stayed on stage) and noticed that their play list was on pieces of paper on the floor.  We loved that show and bought more CDs over the years.

Although they are a Toronto based group they now traditionally start their tour each second year on Vancouver Island.  Jesse now has 4 great musicians as backup and a big bus with trailer.  Their tour prep has 5 stops on the Island before they head on to the mainland and then down through the states. A much more polished show, but it still is centered on Jesse and his phenomenal guitar skills.  We have now seen them 4 times.

Last night after the opening number, Jesse walked to the front of the stage and quietly told the audience that just before coming on he was told that Leonard Cohen had died.  No one in the audience had heard, so there was a great sigh.  The group continued with their show to the intermission.  Everyone went off to the lobby for a glass of wine (good luck getting near the bar) or to chat.

When Jesse came on stage without his band after the intermission, he sat on a stool in the spotlight and told us that while we were chatting he practiced this.  He then did a classic guitar version of Hallelujah.  Dead quiet in the auditorium.  A class guy.

The second half of the show went well.  While most of his music is instrumental there are a few songs that he wrote.  For those songs many in the audience knew the words and sang along.

Another great evening in Paradise.  (I know it is sounding like a broken record)