The Happiest Big Band on Earth had their first show on April 27, 2018, and was born through Matt Grinke’s love of jazz and Disney. Since then, the Happiest band has continued to morph and shift into many different sounds and sizes, anywhere from a trio to the full 17-piece big band, including this quintet! Matt has also shifted from just a Disney fan to pianist and music director for Disney Cruise Line, and is more than happy to arrange and perform Disney tunes even when he’s not on contract! The band’s hour-long set will be followed by a brief intermission, and then a chance to enjoy the grooviest of the studio’s 20th century animated classics, the original 1967 version of The Jungle Book, featuring songs like I Wanna Be Like You, The Bare Necessities and Trust In Me.
Tenor Sax – John Nicholson
Trumpet – Rory Hislop
Piano – Matt Grinke
Bass – Monica Sumulong Dumas
Drums – Trent Otter
VIFF Live Ticket Pack: See three VIFF Live events for $80! Buy Ticket Pack
Co-Presented with
Matt Grinke’s The Happiest Big Band on Earth
Aug 31
2:00pm
VIFF Centre, VIFF Cinema
Open to youth!
$25 youth tickets available
Book Tickets
Sunday August 31
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits
Screenwriter
Larry Clemmons, Ralph Wright, Ken Anderson, Vance Gerry
Editor
Tom Acosta, Norman Carlisle
Original Music
George Bruns
Also Playing
The Exterminating Angel: Live Scored by Magazinist
Using crystal singing glasses, resonant bowls, pepper grinders and other sound objects, experimental music duo Magazinist perform a unique live score alongside Luis Buñuel's surrealist masterpiece about a dinner party which becomes an inescapable prison.
Vancouver Mysteries Presents... Murder at the Movies
This summer, enter the world of film noir with a new immersive murder mystery blending elements of film with live performance and audience participation. This show turns the VIFF Centre into a crime scene and you, the audience, into detectives.
Bonnie Northgraves Quintet: To Louis with Love
Join us for To Louis with Love, a joyful celebration of the legendary Louis Armstrong by Bonnie Northgraves and her band, followed by Bert Stern's legendary concert film Jazz on a Summer's Day, featuring Monk, Gerry Mulligan, and of course Satchmo.
Oscar Peterson Centenary Tribute: Triology Plays Peterson
Celebrates Oscar Peterson's centenary with an evening of Canadian jazz and film. Triology — Jodi Proznick (bass), Bill Coon (guitar) and Miles Black (piano) — pays tribute to the legendary Oscar Peterson, followed by cult thriller The Silent Partner.
Women in Blues: LJ Mounteney
Canadian blues vocalist pays LJ Mounteney pays tribute to the pioneering women of the blues and R&B (including Tina Turner and Irma Thomas). After LJ's set, enjoy the Canadian premiere of a new doc on Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton.