McGill Alumni Portal

Submitted to Alumni Live 365 by Linda Massie, MBA ’03

Thursday, May 27th marked the McGill Alumni Association of Vancouver’s 9th annual Jazz Night, which was again held at the majestic Hycroft mansion. The board extends its thanks to Dawn Longshaw, BSc’81, former President of the McGill Alumni Association of Vancouver, who made Hycroft available for the event again this year.

In keeping with the jazz mood, a balmy spring evening hailed the much-anticipated return of bassist Jodi Proznick, BMus’98, pianist Tilden Webb, BMus’92, MMus ’97, and vocalist Melody Diachun, BMus’94. Jodi was named Bassist of the Year, and her quartet, of which Tilden is a member, won the Acoustic Group of the Year at the 2008 National Jazz Awards. As well, Juno-nominated Melody was also nominated at the 2009 National Jazz Awards in the Female Vocalist of the Year category.

60 people turned out to listen to and enjoy the soulful and transporting music. The trio played two sets during the evening, and included something for everyone. The first set featured mostly standards and classics, such as You Make Me Feel So Young and I Get a Kick out of You. This set also included a ‘new classic,’ Saint Catherine, written by Melody and taking inspiration from St Catherine’s Street in downtown Montreal.

The second set was more of a mix of old and contemporary songs, and included modern favourites such as Paul Simon’s Still Crazy after All These Years and Joni Mitchell’s Both Sides Now. Readers may also be interested to note that Joni Mitchell was awarded an honorary doctorate degree by McGill’s Faculty of Music in 2004.

Jodi, Tilden and Melody are truly remarkable artists, and we invite the larger McGill community to listen to their music and visit their websites: www.jodiproznick.com and www.MelodyDiachun.com. Lower mainland BC alumni will have the opportunity to attend their performances during the TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival which runs from June 25 to July 4. Details about their upcoming concerts can be found at www.coastaljazz.ca.

The Silent Auction
Another highlight of the Jazz Night was the inaugural Silent Auction which raised $935.00! The proceeds of the auction will go towards a bursary handed out at the annual Student Send-Off in August. The Bursary is given to the student who writes the best essay on “Why they chose McGill”. A special thanks to those who contributed items towards the silent auction:

Daniel Hospitality Group – Gift certificate for The Mill Marine Bistro

Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver – One night’s stay at the hotel

Hillside Estate Winery – Four bottles of wine

John Fluevog Boots & Shoes Ltd – One pair of shoes

Marsha Clark, RMT- Deep tissue massage

McGill University- “The Babcock” tie

Pilar Fit- Three fitness packages (three auction items)

Gee! Jewelry- Two necklaces (two auction items)

Rain Boutique and Salon- Sam Baxter hair cut

Vancouver 2010 Olympic Store – Vancouver 2010 First Nations Art

Overall, it was a marvelous evening and we are already looking forward to next year!