A Charlie Brown Christmas and Mwansa Mwansa make a nice Christmas present

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Keyboardist TJ Waltho’s Charlie Brown Christmas Show has expanded since he started it last year. He has been playing it a lot more frequently this Christmas season.
 But I finally caught some of it at the Owl Acoustic Lounge, Dec. 21.


 As usual  for the Charlie Brown show, it was packed with TJ Waltho and friends play A Charlie Brown Christmas, Dec. 28. Photo by Richard AmeryChristmas revellers and people home for the holidays looking to catch up.
 Waltho, plus drummer Brad Brouwer and bassist Paul Holden had the groove down.


 As usual, while  ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ played in the background, the trio simultaneously provided the jazzy soundtrack.
They were winding things up  by  the time I arrived. They were a little fast so repeated  the well known theme for the closing  credits.


 There was a genuine unicorn show after that— a unicorn being a local performer who doesn’t perform live very often. In this case, beloved local singer and vocal instructor Mwansa Mwansa, backed by Waltho, Holden, Brouwer and lead guitarist James Oldenburg, crooned her way through a lovely set of R and B and pop music.


 She has been back in Lethbridge for a year, But I haven’t seen her perform. It ended up being her last show here fMwansa Mwansa returned to the OwlAcoustic Lounge, Dec. 28. Photo by Richard Ameryor a while as she is moving back to Toronto.
The quartet exuded joy and smiles as Mwansa Mwansa sang with tear jerking soul.
Some of the highlights included a beautiful cover of Tracy Chapan’s “ Fast Car,” and a Michael Jackson hit. She ended with her usual gorgeous version of  the Zutons/ Amy Winehouse’s “Valerie.”

—By Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 31 December 2019 14:19 )