What the people are saying about Journeys to the Bandstand

“As the newest essential book on Vancouver jazz, Journeys to the Bandstand is inviting and personal. Chris Wong unlocks the decisions and emotions from the subjects’ lives from a well-researched vantage point, applying the same care to those tales from decades past as the ones from recent memory. Otherwise hidden personalities emerge as captivating stars on the scene alongside the more well-known names. You’ll learn a lot, whether you lived within these stories yourself or you’re discovering them for the first time … a book for the ages.”

—Will Chernoff, Rhythm Changes

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What the people are saying about Journeys to the Bandstand

“The first thing you notice holding a copy of Journeys to the Bandstand: Thirty Jazz Lives in Vancouver by author Chris Wong is the sheer heft of the text. Clocking in at over 600 pages, the book is proof that B.C.’s improvised music scene has a long and lively history. It’s testament to Wong’s skill that the book blazes by like a be-bop sax solo … Wong opens up the world of Vancouver jazz by bringing long lost names to life right up to events such as the Jazz at the ‘Bolt festival in 2023. Chapters focus on individuals while explaining their relevance to the greater scene. This means Journeys to the Bandstand avoids the curse of many music histories where the minutiae of dates, individuals and incidents are so complexly intertwined that the reader requires a flow chart to keep up. Instead, we are treated to stories such as the role that Vancouver played in the development of no less a titan of the genre than Ornette Coleman …”

—Stuart Derdeyn, Vancouver Sun and Province

Read Stuart’s article on Journeys to the Bandstand, based on an interview with Chris.