Heather Keizur and Steve Christofferson

At the Rumor Mill on Saturday – Heather Keizur and Steve Christofferson – Contributed photo

To celebrate her recently released CD, bilingual vocalist Heather Keizur makes a debut appearance at The Rumor Mill in Friday Harbor. Steve Christofferson joins Keizur to share their passion for beautiful music.

Keizur and Christofferson have performed together for over six years. According to Keizur, “Someone else was supposed to be playing with me on a gig in December 2008 when at the last minute, I got a call saying that he couldn’t make it. So that night Steve filled in. That’s when the magic began.” Keizur and Christofferson are of one mind when it comes to making music. The great Joe Williams once told Christofferson, “Sing like there’s no tomorrow.” When Keizur and Christofferson perform together, you feel as if they have been doing so all their lives.

Hollywood Orchestrator, Michael Elliot describes Keizur’s new CD as, “a sultry, expressive, soothing, and romantic album with classic ballads, jazz standards and some authentic French chansons.”

The CD includes songs such as “ ‘S Wonderful,” that will make you smile, and “Avec le temps” that will touch your heart to its core. Keizur said, “The idea was to go into the studio to make music, not a CD. Only the ones that sounded like magic made the cut.” The CD includes Christofferson on piano, melodica, and vocals, Dennis Caiazza on bass, and Ron Steen on drums.

Keizur’s performances showcase her “sensuous and mesmerizing voice that is soft and enormously thoughtful.” (Redd Williams, the Jazz Society of Oregon). Christofferson’s piano, melodica, and vocals add a powerful depth to the duo’s music. One observer said he had never seen a vocalist and pianist more in tune with one another. According to Oregon Music News, “Heather does sing some songs in French, but that is not all she does. She can also caress a ballad or belt out ‘Pigfoot and a Bottle of Beer’ with equal conviction. Her frequent collaborator Steve Christofferson is a master of the fine art of accompanying singers.”

About
Keizur, who grew up in BC, regularly performs in Portland, Oregon, a city she now calls home. In February 2015 she was a featured artist at the PDX Jazz Festival, and she has also gigged in The Bay Area with David K. Matthews (currently Santana’s pianist) and in Seattle with Milo Petersen (former guitarist and drummer with Eartha Kitt). Her 2010 CD, “J’ai Deux Amours,” features Mathews, Christofferson, Akira Tana, as well as other world class musicians.

Christofferson is a renowned pianist, composer, and arranger. In a career spanning more than three decades, he has performed in music festivals around the world, and toured with Nancy King and the Alan Jones Sextet. The Victoria Times-Colonist noted his “deft, lyrical touch and fevered imagination.”

Saturday, June 27 from 7:30 to 10:30 pm at The Rumor Mill

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