Dan Rowswell

Dan Rowswell’s idea of Island Jazz began in 2013 with a string of shows at what was then called Globe World Flavours. It wasn’t until January 2016 when this Charlottetown live music staple really rooted itself and began to grow. 

Island Jazz has consistently performed at Baba’s Lounge, every Thursday night, for nine years. Unless they are sidelined by bad weather or by a significant holiday falling on a Thursday, you will find them on stage giving Charlottetown a heavy dose of jazz music. On August 7, Island Jazz will celebrate this remarkable run with its 400th show.

Dan Rowswell and his family moved from Toronto to PEI in 1998. Dan joked that when he was a new dad, he played his saxophone for his young child and it was not so well received, and that led to him putting his sax on the shelf. In reality, it was just life that unintentionally got in the way. He never intended to put his musical endeavors on hold for 16 years, but despite encouragement from his friends and family, that is what happened.

After a performance at a family wedding and his son’s heart to heart nudge for him to start playing music again, Dan began easing his way back in. During this period, he was musically adrift. He hadn’t conceived of Island Jazz and he was playing sporadically around town, to varying self-critical reviews. 

In 2010, his friend Kim Dunn was coming to Charlottetown for the East Coast Music Awards and asked Dan to sit in with him for his show at The Haviland Club, and Dan obliged. Between the invite from Kim, the nudge from his son, and that wedding performance, he suddenly found himself wanting to play again and he started dreaming of what that could look like. 

In 2015, while Dan was working at Home Depot, Ryan Abdallah came in to buy countertops. After business had been conducted, Ryan asked Dan, “You’re a jazz guy, right?” Ryan had been looking for someone to lead a jazz night at Baba’s and this chance encounter proved to be the thing that Dan was searching for and he quickly began planning and rounding up musicians to get a jazz series going at Baba’s. 

At its core, Island Jazz strives to showcase the value of improvisation. Organically driven, musical confluence and the ability to listen to your stage mates and improvise are very important components to the spirit of jazz and this crew is passionate in their pursuit of it. Their definition of jazz is a very wide, almost genreless one. To some, jazz can be a scary word, but Island Jazz’s approach softens it and opens the door to anyone. Their sprawling definition creates a warm and welcoming environment where alongside standards, you will be treated to jazz driven interpretations of songs by James Taylor, The Beatles, Radiohead, Gordon Lightfoot, or Motown. Each week is a revolving door of local, national or international talent, bringing you a unique and limitless performance, rooted in spontaneity and flow. 

Island Jazz has become a brand and it has branched out over recent years to include presenting and promoting international touring jazz acts in various venues around the Island, as well as its new series called Island Jazz at the Movies, in conjunction with Roving Picture Shows. In this exciting and interesting concept, they provide an original, improvised, live soundtrack to silent films in small halls or alternative venues around Prince Edward Island. 

If you’d like to see one of Island Jazz’s unique performances, you can always do so on any Thursday night of the year at 8 pm at Baba’s Lounge. For further details you can follow them on Facebook at IslandJazzPEI.