He may be a Vancouver funk and jazz musician now, but not that long ago, Scott Verbeek was a teen rocker in Brackendale.
Then came a few years at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, a few years with Lovecoast, and work with Kutapira, Bazooka Picnic and Five Alarm Funk.
Now, he's stretching his music further in a new group, The Scott Verbeek Quintet.
"It's basically a Frankenstein group of various musicians that I gig with often in Vancouver," Verbeek says.
This is the first gig for the group.
"The rhythm section are some awesome guys I play with a lot. It's basically a smaller version of Bazooka Picnic," he says.
"A lot of the time, I will have a gig and just see who is available. We'll get a mix and see what we can come up with."
Along with Verbeek, the quintet is made up of Ian Weiss of Giraffe Aftermath on alto sax, Jay Smith and Tayo Branston of Five Alarm Funk (on bass and drums, respectively), and Sangito Bigelow from Kutapira on percussion.
They perform at the Brackendale Art Gallery (BAG) on Saturday, Jan. 14, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20 and available at XOCO and at the BAG.
Verbeek says his career is a mix between freelance musician-at-large and running his own group.
"But I do work full time in music and that is pretty beautiful, right now. During the day, I sit at my computer and write down ideas and practice," he says.
"I keep up my guitar skills, write for various groups and learn tunes for gigs. In December, I had 20 gigs. It's one of the busier months."
The BAG gig will fuse funk and jazz.
"Most of us play jazz, so we are bringing jazz improvisation with funk-style groves," Verbeek says.
"We will be playing original tunes from various guys in the group, and then we'll also play Kool and the Gang, Stevie Wonder, Freddie Hubbard, and a lot of old funk tunes.
"I think people will always want to dance and to groove. It will always exist."
Later this year there are a few tours around B.C. and elsewhere in Canada coming up for Verbeek, but it's the first time in a while he has come home to play.
"I've been keeping busy," he says.
"One of my groups, Kutapira, has just released an album called All Aboard. But it is the first time in a couple of years that I've played in Squamish. I'm really excited to be back."
For more information, visit www.brackendaleartgallery.com and scottverbeekmusic.wordpress.com.
