By Gabrielle McLeod and Aubree Field
Every Wednesday night, many King’s students take a well-deserved midweek break at The Local for the infamous gin and jazz night. From 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., the Gottingen St bar hosts live jazz music. To add to the jazz, Compass Gin is on special for $4.50 all night.
Victor Sypereck, owner of The Local, was also the original owner of the Economy Shoe Shop, where he hosted the first jazz night on May 17, 1995. The tradition has continued weekly ever since.
Sypereck says he used to frequent jazz nights hosted at The Maxwell’s Plum until the bar stopped hosting the music nights.
“I used to love going to their jazz things, so as soon as I opened I thought, ‘I’m going to start jazz.’”
Sypereck lost the Shoe when it went bankrupt during the construction of the Halifax Convention Centre. He opened The Local around 1998, initially as a venue for his son’s rock band, The Trews.
He changed jazz night from Monday nights to Wednesday nights at The Local because of an overlap. After the COVID-19 pandemic, to boost engagement, they added gin to the mix. Compass Distillers is just up the street from them on Agricola St.; they provide gin on Wednesday nights for happy hour prices.
What Sypereck likes most about jazz music is the contrast between its predictability and unpredictability.
“In some ways it’s [unpredictable] because it can go anywhere,” he said. “And also it’s [predictable] because a lot of the standards are songs we all know very well from the ‘20s, ‘30s, ‘40s. Even some very modern tunes that someone’s changed the time signature on and turned it into jazz, which not everyone likes. I don’t like it all the time, but it just makes it interesting.”
This history of jazz in Halifax started in Africville, the birthplace of many Canadian jazz pioneers, including drummer George Paris (1869-1947) and guitarist Nelson Simon (1933-2008). Africville was also a frequent visiting spot of jazz legend Duke Ellington (1899-1974). The community was said to have a piano or organ in every home, and it was the reason we have jazz music in Halifax today.
Jazz is a style of music combining European and American elements that originated in the 20th century. The earliest Canadian jazz musicians were of American origin; they appeared on vaudeville stages and cabarets in the 1910s. A travelling vaudevillian act from New Orleans called The Original Creole Orchestra inspired Halifax-born, Montreal-raised musician George Paris to perform at Vancouver’s Patricia Hotel in 1917. This was the same year Canada’s prohibition law, the Canadian Temperance Act, took effect. Without alcohol sales, many bars turned to cabaret shows to save their businesses. This allowed for Canadian jazz culture, mainly in Vancouver and Montreal, but nevertheless influenced all of Canada to flourish.
So, if you’re ever looking for something to do on a Wednesday night, go to The Local. Buy a gin and tonic, and let the jazz music fill your ears.
