ARTIST
Wikjord, Blaine
"My first love is playing music."INSTRUMENT Drums
VENUES Black Spot, the | Flat Five, the
Vancouver-born Blaine Wikjord, one of the city's most versatile drummers, began playing professional gigs when he was only fifteen or sixteen years old. A student at King Edward High School on Oak and 12th Avenue, Wikjord remembers playing lots of different music from swing to latin to cha-chas, polkas, and waltzes. When it came to parties in the late fifties, "Everybody had live bands or trios or at least something," says Wikjord. Along with his peers Terry Clarke, Jim Chivers, and Al Wiertz who hung out regularly at the Black Spot, Wikjord was a pupil of Jim Blackley, whom he declares was "just a fantastic teacher."
"I kept it secret that I could play jazz... I don't know why," says Wikjord, explaining that he was able to get more work that way because older musicians had a tendency to look down on those known as jazz players. "It was that kind of a thing. I'm not sure if it was just my imagination or not," says Wikjord, who remembers playing his first few jazz gigs at the Black Spot on Dunbar Street and then at the club's reincarnation on Broadway near Alma Street, the Flat Five. Wikjord remembers playing his first radio show in a big band led by Dal Richards, whom Wikjord worked with extensively over the years. That particular radio show was his "first major gig" and Wikjord remembers, "I was really nervous, nervous as hell... It was mind-blowing for me." Wikjord also played at the Cellar once in a while including a night where he sat in with legendary pianist Phineas Newborn. He also played with other musicians who were an integral part of the Cellar scene including bassist Don Thompson, pianist Al Neil, and saxophonist Glenn MacDonald. "In '61, there was no such thing as going out to play a restaurant jazz gig. The only jazz place was the Cellar, and that was it. So you had to strive to get to play in the Cellar," says Wikjord.
Blaine Wikjord moved to Montreal for a few years in the sixties where he worked steadily as a professional musician playing jazz, rock, and commercial music. Working also in Toronto and Calgary before returning to Vancouver in 1975, "I smelled this tidal change and then bam, I just had to get back to the West Coast," Wikjord says. "It felt really strange to be back here. I was playing jazz six nights a week [in Montreal], and we were all quite serious about playing jazz. " In comparison to "fantastic" Montreal, the Vancouver scene had changed and Wikjord found that "everyone seemed to be on drugs" or "a little spaced out" in the seventies.
It was a personal "rebirth" in 1984 when Wikjord got a gig with Hugh Fraser and started to let music re-enter his life. "Hugh Fraser is just great. The harder you play, the better he liked it. There was no restriction," says Wikjord, who played in the Hugh Fraser quintet with saxophonists Campbell Ryga and Phil Dwyer, bassist Chris Nelson, and pianist/trombonist Hugh Fraser. "That was a hot quintet," says Wikjord, who also did a lot of work in Lance Harrison's Dixieland jazz band in the 1980s. "The last twenty years have been the best part of my career."
"I kept it secret that I could play jazz... I don't know why," says Wikjord, explaining that he was able to get more work that way because older musicians had a tendency to look down on those known as jazz players. "It was that kind of a thing. I'm not sure if it was just my imagination or not," says Wikjord, who remembers playing his first few jazz gigs at the Black Spot on Dunbar Street and then at the club's reincarnation on Broadway near Alma Street, the Flat Five. Wikjord remembers playing his first radio show in a big band led by Dal Richards, whom Wikjord worked with extensively over the years. That particular radio show was his "first major gig" and Wikjord remembers, "I was really nervous, nervous as hell... It was mind-blowing for me." Wikjord also played at the Cellar once in a while including a night where he sat in with legendary pianist Phineas Newborn. He also played with other musicians who were an integral part of the Cellar scene including bassist Don Thompson, pianist Al Neil, and saxophonist Glenn MacDonald. "In '61, there was no such thing as going out to play a restaurant jazz gig. The only jazz place was the Cellar, and that was it. So you had to strive to get to play in the Cellar," says Wikjord.
Blaine Wikjord moved to Montreal for a few years in the sixties where he worked steadily as a professional musician playing jazz, rock, and commercial music. Working also in Toronto and Calgary before returning to Vancouver in 1975, "I smelled this tidal change and then bam, I just had to get back to the West Coast," Wikjord says. "It felt really strange to be back here. I was playing jazz six nights a week [in Montreal], and we were all quite serious about playing jazz. " In comparison to "fantastic" Montreal, the Vancouver scene had changed and Wikjord found that "everyone seemed to be on drugs" or "a little spaced out" in the seventies.
It was a personal "rebirth" in 1984 when Wikjord got a gig with Hugh Fraser and started to let music re-enter his life. "Hugh Fraser is just great. The harder you play, the better he liked it. There was no restriction," says Wikjord, who played in the Hugh Fraser quintet with saxophonists Campbell Ryga and Phil Dwyer, bassist Chris Nelson, and pianist/trombonist Hugh Fraser. "That was a hot quintet," says Wikjord, who also did a lot of work in Lance Harrison's Dixieland jazz band in the 1980s. "The last twenty years have been the best part of my career."
PHOTO GALLERY
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
JazzStreet Vancouver Interview
Wikjord, Blaine. Personal interview with Alan Matheson. Vancouver, BC. 9 Nov. 2005.
