Daniel Lapp Quartet: Homage to Chet Baker and Beyond, Kay Meek Cabaret Series, Tonight and Saturday, April 8 at 8 p.m. For more information visit kaymeekcentre.com.
Daniel Lapp can’t commit.
The Victoria-based fiddler, trumpet player, singer, performer and teacher has been at it for more than 30 years, but he’s still not ready to rest his laurels on a specific musical genre or instrument.
“I’m still unsettled on one particular genre,” Lapp says. “I’ve just never been able to commit to one thing…I’m just resigned to the fact that I will continue to explore everything that interests me.”
For decades Lapp has had a storied career in Canadian music, one where he has constantly dabbled in and merged together different musical forms from folk, electronic, jazz, world music and even rockabilly.
This weekend audiences can come see Lapp and his quartet stretch their jazz muscles during an intimate two-night set at the Kay Meek Centre in West Vancouver.
The set of shows, called ‘A Homage to Chet Baker and Beyond,’ are part of a longtime project of Lapp’s.
“I think it happened pretty naturally many years ago for me because I play the trumpet and sang. And he was just an artist that captured my interest early on in my career,” Lapp says. “It’s evolved over the years. There’s lots of other material in the repertoire now.”
While the shows are inspired by the spirit of ‘50s and ‘60s jazz music, Lapp says it’s not necessarily accurate to solely label the performances as jazz concerts.
The shows will feature Lapp and his quartet’s interpretation of many classics in the Chet Baker oeuvre. Beyond that, they will perform many compositions that could fit into the same melodic and ‘cool’ sensibility that Baker’s pieces evoke.
“We’ve added new songs to the repertoire over the years that aren’t Chet Baker songs and they’re not necessarily even jazz songs, but they still sort of evoke that mood,” Lapp says.
Think artists like Elvis Costello or Burt Bacharach – or, as Lapp refers to it, ‘popular music.’
“The quartet has handpicked popular songs from various decades. I sing nearly every song. It’s really not a jazz concert in that way,” Lapp says.
For a couple of numbers, expect to see Lapp bring out his fiddle as well.
Born and raised in Prince George, the fiddle and folk music have always been a big part of Lapp and his family’s life.
“My mom, even into her eighties, was playing like 30 times a month, which is pretty much every day. It was unbelievable. In Prince George. She’d go play old folks’ homes at lunch time, she’d go play with the fiddlers at night,” Lapp says.
Although none of them were professional musicians, he also had the pleasure of learning the joy of fiddle music from his grandfather and several uncles and aunts.
As a teenager he broadened his musical horizons by looking to jazz. “I don’t know if this is just the nature of teens or something, where you’re looking to discover something that you can own on your own. This was kind of mine and mine only. It’s your attempt to take a step outside of your family perimeters.”
While Lapp took a step outside those perimeters, he’s always kept both feet firmly entrenched in music.
He represented the West Coast region as one of six fiddlers from across Canada who performed at the 2010 Winter Olympics opening ceremonies in Vancouver.
He’s currently the artistic director at the School of Contemporary Music at the Victoria Conservatory of Music, and he says he teaches around 180 students every week in an ensemble setting.
He chuckles when asked how he finds time to keep teaching the trumpet and fiddle to students between his many performing, recording and other commitments. Because of the musical education he received by being around his family growing up, teaching music came naturally to him.
“I come from a long line of teachers,” Lapp says.
Audiences can come check out Daniel Lapp and his quartet – made up of Miles Black on piano, Joey Smith on bass, and Delby MacNayr on drums – pay homage to Chet Baker and beyond tonight (Friday, April 7) or tomorrow (Saturday, April 8) at the Kay Meek Centre. Tickets are $35 or $120 for a table of four. Show is at 8 p.m. Tickets can be purchased by visiting kaymeekcentre.com/services/box_office or calling the box office at 604-981-6335.
