After a decade of living abroad, Troy Lucas has returned home to share the music he has created through his global experiences. Featuring an assortment of original material, he has assembled some of the best musicians on the island to perform 鈥淐olours of the Island.鈥�

The concert will take place Thursday, July 27 at Gardens at Anderton at 5 p.m.

Deeply inspired by the folk music of Indigenous peoples across the planet, he has returned to the medium of jazz as a collective language to express the continuum of humanity.

鈥淚 was drawn to the facsimiles between the cultures,鈥� says Lucas, who went on to describe some of his observations over the course of his teaching and studying for his master鈥檚 degree. 鈥淩hythm is king, and every culture has its own distinct drums made of animal skins. What astounded me were the use of the five notes鈥� the same notes that theorists of western classical music refer to as the pentatonic scale, form the basis of so many immortal folk melodies. The Chinese use it and its variations. The Northwest Coast Indigenous Peoples use it. And of course, it also comes from Africa, forming the basis of what we know as the blues.鈥�

Music is a shared global language, a cultural experience. Troy has penned these pieces to share his perspective, for your listening pleasure.

This concert series features musicians Claudio Fantinato, Cayleigh Borsboom, Dan Craven, Ron Gaucher and Bri MacCrimmon on saxophone; Greg Bush, David Bamford, Dave Stewart and Susie Craven on trumpet; Paul Nuez, Darren Nilsson, Mathew McDermand and Mateo Jaekel on trombone; piano will feature Jordy Marchtaler. And the rhythm section will feature Jesse Marshall on guitar, Steve Wallace on bass and Nivedan Kaushal on drums.

Oceanside Big Band is grateful for the support of sponsors Comox Valley Youth Music Centre and Georgia Straight Jazz Society. Tickets ($20) on sale now at or at the door.