Concourse Attracts Peddlers; No _ of Carnies By Mariéve MacGREGOR

Last Sept. 18-19, two fellows by the names of Chris Williams and J.P. LeBlanc meandered into our New Student Centre concourse and set up their display of goods. Sterling silver body jewellery from Thailand, Necklaces from the Philippines and China, tapestries from India, sarongs from Indonesia. But who were these strangers, and where did they come from? Well, their company name is Varsity Crew, and they are based out of Moncton.

LeBlanc, the owner, started up the company four years ago, and he has three crews which manoeuver from place to place between PEI and Alberta. They especially like to hit uni- versities, since their merchandise is well-suited and priced for students.

_ "We tried to come to UPEI before, but were told that because of fire regulations, we couldn't," said LeBlanc. "We've had a lot of trouble with the smaller universities, especially those in the Maritimes, because there was no space for us to set up. The breezeway (of Robertson) wasn't — for [us to use as a] venue, I guess."

The fact that Varsity Crew has long since been trying to set up at UPEI suggests that perhaps other entrepreneurial gigs may have been attempting to set up here as well. The New Student Centre may soon enough

niversity to: soon pater Minor in ped

be bombarded with peddlers of all trades. Whether this is meant to be a

~ welcome change or a curse remains to

be seen. Varsity Crew will be return- ing, however, come mid October.

ling, sell- ing wares, and disembodied heads.

Steel Recital Hall Plays Host to Hot Sextet By Josh UNDERHAY

SOLD OUT - the Dr. Steel Recital Hall was filled to capacity Sunday evening (Sept 15) for the David Braid Sextet. Although tickets were available at the door, the limited supply quickly dwindled. The crowd was entertained with some great jazz from funky grooves to ballads and blues. After the second set, the audi- ence demanded an.encore, after which . the sextet received a standing ovation:

The sets included such tunes. - as a ballad dedicated.to astronomer Dr. Stephen Hawking, a groovy: number called "Say a Silent Prayer" based on a hymn tune, anda bass-feature tribute to Charles Mangus. Throughout the entire evening folks were tapping feet, nodding heads to the beat, and general- ly feeling the groove.

All of the group had a chance tq showcase their individual talents in

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every tune— and there were many out- standing improvised solos. The bass- feature tribute, called "Fishers of Men", had a especially groovy solo from bassist Steve Wallace. Another song was written by David Braid espe- cially for trombonist Gene Smith — titled "Blue Gene" (get it?) featuring Smith in another dazzling solo.

It should be noted that ALL of the repertoire performed Sunday evening was ee bye David Braid

’ for the group.

‘This Canadian jazz group. boasts some big names. On drums is Terry Clark, who has played with Oscar Peterson,'Ed Bickert, The Sth Dimension, John Handy, and Roger Kellaway. The bassist is Toronto's Steve Wallace, who has also performed with Oscar Peterson, as well as Edddie Lockjaw Davis, Clark Terry, Tormé,

Woody Herman and Sweets Edison. On fugelhorn/cornet was John MacLeod - currently a teacher at Toronto's Humber College - who has previously recorded with Ray Charles, Nancy Wilson, and Linda Ronstadt. The sax was wielded by Juno-winning

Mike Murley of Nova Scotia, who has

performed with Randy Brecker, Dr. John, John Abercrombie, and Kenny Wheeler. On trombone was Gene - Smith, the current chair of the St. . Francis Xavier University Music ©

Department, and one-time member of... . the Woody. Herman Orchestra. And of»

course, on piano, was: David Braid himself — Honours graduate of » -

University of Toronto, recipient of the .. W.O.Forsyth Piano Award, and semi-~ >

finalist in the Parisian "Concours Internationaux de Piano Jazz". Durning the intermission CDs

were made available at $10 each (the author even decided to splurge and grab one).

You can find out more at www.davidbraid.com.

Showing at _ City. tee

“this week

“Unfaithful | cre and Fubar

3 Times and reais at www.citycinema.net 368-3669