IN CONCERT
What: Salute to the Saloon Singers
Where: Dave Dunnet Community Theatre
2121 Cadboro Bay Rd.
When: Thursday, 7:30 p.m., doors open at 6:30听p.m.
Tickets: $30 (advance); $35 at door
Reservations: rmts.bc.ca, Oak Bay High School
听
When Joe Coughlin鈥檚 brother came to Victoria from Ontario to see Coughlin鈥檚 Frank Sinatra 100th birthday celebration benefit concert two years ago, he couldn鈥檛 help but notice the predominant demographic.
鈥淗e said: 鈥楾his audience is getting older. You only have a certain window of opportunity here,鈥� 鈥� Coughlin said. 鈥淚n 10 years, people are going to say: 鈥榃ho the hell is Frank Sinatra?鈥� 鈥�
In an era when rappers and millennial-friendly pop stars have taken over from crooners on talk shows, there鈥檚 a kernel of truth to his joke.
鈥淭imes change and styles change,鈥� Coughlin acknowledged, although that has never dampened the award-winning jazz singer鈥檚 passion for paying tribute to legendary singers of decades gone by.
He will perform another such homage at Oak Bay High School鈥檚 Dave Dunnet Community Theatre on Thursday night, this time in a show titled Salute to the Saloon Singers.
Like his 2015 Sinatra tribute, his musical celebration of the music of Ol Blue Eyes, Tony Bennett, Sarah Vaughan, Mel Torme, Ella Fitzgerald, Carmen McRae and others is doubling as a fundraiser.
It鈥檚 in support of Oak Bay Rotary Foundation鈥檚 Sno鈥檜yutth Legacy Fund, a scholarship for Indigenous students graduating from Oak Bay High School.
鈥淸Event organizer] Joe Blake is a really persistent gentleman, and we need to raise another seven or eight thousand to put the scholarship fund to bed,鈥� the Windsor, Ont.-born musician said.
A saloon singer himself, Coughlin鈥檚 Salute to the Saloon Singers is as good a fit as the venue, which accommodates his motorized wheelchair.
鈥淚 picked eight singers who shaped how I was going to perform this kind of music, singers I listened to when I got interested in this kind of music,鈥� said Coughlin, whose show is a pared-down version of a full-blown Great American Songbook concert tribute he performed with the Windsor Symphony Orchestra at that city鈥檚 Cleary Auditorium, on the same stage where he made his debut as a jazz singer in 1981.
He鈥檒l be accompanied by pianist Miles Black, guitarist Bill Coon, acoustic bassist Ken Lister and drummer Hans Verhoeven.
Coughlin was pumped about his quartet, in part because it will mark the first time he has worked with Coon since 2009, when he was named male vocalist of the year for the second consecutive year at the National Jazz Awards.
One of the unique things about the show is its acknowledgment of musical greats such as Mabel Mercer, who influenced singers such as Bennett, Vaughan and Peggy Lee, he said.
鈥淪he was a great influence on Ella [Fitzgerald] and Billie Holiday, and Frank [Sinatra], too. She gave a more rhythmic approach.鈥�
He also mentions Mildred Bailey, the so-called 鈥渜ueen of swing,鈥� who was a major influence, yet not as well known for that despite her flourishing musical career in the 1930s.
The challenge, he said, is having to choose from such a wealth of material for a show that will feature about two dozen songs performed over two sets.
One of the highlights is The Right To Love, the Peggy Lee hit written by Lalo Schifrin that Coughlin recorded for his first album in 1981.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a great song that was popular around the civil-rights era of 1963,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was about interracial [romances], but it was adopted later by the LGTBQ [community]. We all have the right to love who we want to love.鈥�
Other highlights include South to a Warmer Place, Frank Sinatra鈥檚 1981 hit that Coughlin recorded in 1997; and Dreamsville, the ballad Henry Mancini wrote for the TV series Peter Gunn.
鈥淵eah, there will be some recognizable tunes in there,鈥� Coughlin said.
鈥淚 can guarantee there鈥檚 no stinkers in the bunch.鈥�