Roger Kellaway at Jazz Bistro

Back in the early 70s I met a couple of great musicians who had just moved to Toronto, Chuck Aarons and Jim Ackley, known as Aarons and Ackley. I was crashing at a hippie commune at 127 Hazleton and they lived at 119 Hazleton. They were signed to Capitol Records and were on the fast track to the big time. I remember Jim Ackley talking about a piano player in his hometown, LA, that he was totally hooked on. He had a couple of his albums and played them for anyone that came to 119. That piano player was Roger Kellaway, who had an impressive resume even back then and has worked with everyone from Ellington to Elvis, Dizzy Gillespie to Yo-Yo Ma and Joni Mitchell to Mancini.

Well when my friend Peter invited me to the Bistro tonight I recognized the name right away and sure enough was not disappointed. He is no doubt a jazz giant, even though in his long career he has ventured far beyond straight-ahead jazz but here he is playing with a couple of local "jazz giants," Neil Swainson and Terry Clarke. As they say, it doesn't get any better.