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The Sunday Soul
Service gets into swing
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Event information
Nineteen eighty-eight saw the beginning of the Sunday Soul Service
at Santos on Commercial Drive but it was back in 1946 that Ross Barrett
and Kenny Lienweber met. They were two years old!
Ross was the son of a doctor; Kenny, the son of a boilermaker. They
lived cater-corner across Silica Street in the little Kootenay town
of Nelson. Both families had pianos and both sons played. At age 14,
Ross received a Christmas present of a Beucher alto sax from Kenny’s
father, Sam, and so, with Kenny on piano, the band began.
Forty-two years later, Ross and Kenny were out scouting for a gig.
They walked into Santos Tapas and discovered that there was no entertainment
on Sunday nights. They convinced Santos to give them a shot. The next
Sunday, it began: Kenny, Ross and Astrid Sars (Ross’s wife) opened,
arguably, the longest-standing gig in Vancouver. Within the first
year Kenny left Vancouver for Merritt and Ross asked his long-time
buddy, Jack Velker, to take the piano chair and officiate at the Santos
Sunday Soul Service. Jack and Ross kept the tradition alive for 14
years until the fire at Santos last November. Eugene, of Cottage Bistro
at 29th and Main Street, offered to take the group up from the ashes
of Santos and give them a new home.
The loosely-knit SSS orchestra has evolved from the basic duo of Ross and Jack to include: Shelly Kantrow on guitar (dating back to Lunatic Fringe and Waves Days); Tone Prosk on bass (of Jack’s home town, LA - that’s Lethbridge, Alberta); the Italian Stallion, Il Martino on drums (from Jack’s Mo-Jo Zydeco band); Joe Byjornson on bone (the veteran of the high "Cs"); the French connection, NorMan on trumpet; Tims Sars (Ross and Astrid’s son) on baritone sax; Jan Dudley on guitar and blues vocals; David Friedman on diatonic squeeze-box; Princess Margaret on violin; Lisa Shivie and Monica Lee on vocals; and Tom Gould on any sax he happens to grab.
Over the years this eclectic group has included poets, like Scott Edson, actors such as Lyndon, performance artists like Terry Larkin, impersonator vocalists, Bonnie Kilrow and comic jazz singer, Jas Maxwell.
The audience over the years has developed a continuity and camaraderie which has always given the Service a special nature. The lore of the Sunday Services has acted as a forum for the ISIS cult and the legendary teachings of Ernest Suzuki with Jack Velker administering ‘the light of enlightenment’ to the faithful. Santos and Fatima (Santos’ wife) have achieved master status in the cult and their son, Jason, journeyman status and many of the waitresses, Priestess status! The support of the Santos family has kept the spirit of celebration alive through the years. This sense of community is intrinsic to the Sunday Soul Service and gives the gig a living, breathing, artistic soul often documented by Fimbab, the videophile.
The Sunday Soul Service’s move has opened up a
new facet in the renaissance of Upper Main Street. The Cottage Bistro
at 4468 Main Street at 29th, offers a new revival for the ever-changing
Sunday Soul Service from 8:00 pm onwards.
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