New York's award-winning Brownman Electryc Trio's West Coast tour was on the verge of collapse when the bassist hired to perform the shows suddenly disappeared.
"He just wrote, 'I can not do the tour' in a WhatsApp message and then stopped communicating entirely," said Brownman Ali, the modern jazz trumpet player who leads the electric-jazz powerhouse. "Didn't answer his phone, texts, email, WhatsApp – nothing. He just ghosted."
The Brooklyn-based Ali and his team quickly contacted 75 bassists in an attempt to find someone qualified to join the tour, to no avail. "No one's available for a 20-day tour with two days' notice," he said.
That's when Christina Morrison, the new owner of Victoria's The Coda, stepped in. She passed the name of Brayden Dwight, a 22-year-old Victoria bassist who impressed her after hearing him recently at her club.
"I called him up and spent two hours on the phone vetting him – asking him questions about his (sheet music) reading skills, his knowledge of NY electric-jazz, his availability, his faith in his abilities to get the music ready in under 48 hours and then made him play some things on bass for me over the phone. I mean, these are tall orders to ask of anyone."
Dwight jumped at the chance to play with a New York-calibre artist like Ali – taking time off from work, packing his bag and heading to the mainland to meet Ali and prep for their lone rehearsal.
"Putting together an entire tour – 26 tunes worth of material – in 24 hours is almost impossible, but this kid is determined, and I think he'll do it," said Ali. "He sounded solid over the phone, and seemed ready to do the work. And, more to the point, he'll be absolutely saving the tour."
Dwight will take the stage with the Brownman Electryc Trio when they perform at The Coda Wednesday night (May 7).
