The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Thursday, March 9, 2017 • WATERLOO CHRONICLE • 21 The Grand River Jazz Soci- ety presents local tenor sax hero David Wiffen and his quartet to open this weekend, followed by charming jazz singer Beverly Taft on Satur- day at the Jazz Room. Wiffen is one of the Jazz Society's favourite play- ers in the local music scene, although his musical reach extends far beyond Waterloo Region. In addition to being on faculty at Wilfrid Laurier University's music school, he has toured with the Tommy Dorsey Big Band and the Peter Appleyard Orchestra, while also sharing the stage with Aretha Franklin and Nathalie Cole at various times. Wiffen can play any style -- jazz, rock, blues, and classical music and his muscular, soul- ful sound makes him the "go to" tenor man in the region. For this show, Wiffen, on tenor sax, will be joined by three great local players who have all lead their own bands at the Jazz Room. The band includes Robert Fekete on piano, Clark Johnston on bass and Dave O'Neill on drums. Although she loves the sweet melodies and hot rhythms of this music, Taft's main goal is to communicate the essence of the song and its story to audiences. She's always learning more about the music and lyrics of the jazz age, and what they have to teach us about life and love. Those ideas -- and 21st century life experience -- inform her own lyric writing, and her songwriting partner- ship with guitarist Nathan Hiltz. Described as "delightful" and "100 per cent pure beauti- ful jazz" by various arts jour- nalists, Taft has performed at a wide range of venues includ- ing: the Rex Jazz & Blues Bar, the Dominion on Queen, the Distillery Historic District, the Gladstone Hotel, Jazz Bistro and the TD Toronto Jazz Fes- tival. A dual citizen of the U.S. and Canada, Taft has per- formed in Los Angeles and San Francisco, Calif as well as Sarasota, Fla. and several cit- ies in Japan. In addition to Taft on vocals, she will be backed by a terrific trio, including Mark Kelso on drums, Neil Swainson on bass and Adrean Ferrugia on piano. The Grand River Jazz Soci- ety is an all volunteer organi- zation. Volunteers are always welcome to help greet patrons at the door and generally assist in managing the events. Shows start at 8:30 p.m. For more information and tickets, please visit kwjazzroom.com. Tenor sax man and singer play Jazz Room this week David Wiffen and his all-star quartet play the Jazz Room Friday night at the historic Huether Hotel. Singer Beverly Taft performs Saturday backed by a terrific trio. SuBmiTTeD pHoTo