In February, when his Cellar Jazz Club in Vancouver closed after 13 years, Cory Weeds thought the B3 Kings would die right alongside, too.
B3 Kings - a play on words of the B3 Hammond organ model and We Three Kings - became a holiday tradition in 2002 following a club benefit called Save the Cellar.
At that time, Weeds, a tenor saxophonist, had asked his vocalist friend Denzal Sinclaire to perform at the inaugural show and "I made the assumption it was going to be with his quintet," he said.
Instead, Sinclaire invited Hammond B3 organist Chris Gestrin and Weeds to play with him as well. The event was a surprise hit - and a watershed moment for Weeds.
"There was some kind of connection there that I can't explain," he said.
Together, they performed at a festive show at the Cellar that year and, in 2003, B3 Kings signed up for two nights as it grew in popularity. "We had packed rooms and so the tradition was born."
Since then, B3 Kings, which also includes guitarist Bill Coon, has released two recordings and toured regularly. And this month, the jazz quartet has six dates in Metro Vancouver, including a stop at Coquitlam's Evergreen Cultural Centre on Friday.
"It's all the Christmas classics like you've never heard before," said the record label owner and Juno-nominated musician. "We take the boringness out of the holiday music that you hear every year and make it fun. It's really a good time."
Tickets for B3 Kings Christmas show on Dec. 12 at 8 p.m. are $35/$30/$15 by calling the Evergreen Cultural Centre box office (1205 Pinetree Way, Coquitlam) at 604-927-6555 or visiting evergreenculturalcentre.ca.
@jwarrenTC
