Three free workshops during the 2011 festival, all part of the series named for Chris Driscoll. They were open to anyone, not just musicians, and sponsored by Mark's Work Wearhouse.
Thursday, August 18, 1pm
St. Paul's Anglican Church – Jack Semple. The Regina blues guitar virtuoso was making his first trip to PEI. The workshop doubled as a preview of his main stage set at Murphy's Community Centre that night.
Friday, August 19, 12:15pm
St. Paul's Anglican Church – Oliver Jones. Right after the Gold Cup parade. The festival called him "Canada's gift to the piano," which is not an exaggeration. Twenty albums, four Junos, the Order of Canada, a Governor General's Award for Lifetime Achievement. All of that in a room with some of the best acoustics in town, for free.
Saturday, August 20, 4pm
Casa Mia Cafe – Alex Dean. The tenor saxophonist and University of Toronto faculty member was joined by Charlottetown guitarist Ian Toms. A lively session with great music and a good cafe menu.
About Chris
Chris Driscoll was a drummer from Charlottetown. He came up through the local school band programs, played with City Stages, and went to McGill to study jazz performance. He was in his fourth year there when he died in a skiing accident in January 2005. He was 21.
At McGill he played in a quartet called Mobile Preid. The group was chosen by the International Association for Jazz Education to represent the university at the North Sea Jazz Festival in 2004, the first Canadian group to get that nod. His bandmates and teachers remembered him as someone with a lot of talent and a lot of warmth.
The workshops started the year after he died. The idea was simple. Bring working musicians in to talk about how they approach the music, keep it open to anyone who wants to listen, and do it in a room that feels welcoming. The series carried on for years after that, and the festival still holds space for it in the program when the schedule allows.
For the current festival, head to the schedule page or the main lineup page. This archive is kept for looking back.