My Memories of the Joint

By Gavin Walker

Hugh Fraser Kate Hammett Vaughan, Colleen Savage, Bonnie Ferguson Albert St Albert and Blaine Wikjord

I first became aware of the Joint in the early 1970's. I had just returned from a period of study and travel and found myself involved with the Jazz scene in Vancouver very quickly. I had scored a steady gig with a Jazz-Rock band (in the style of Blood Sweat and Tears and Cold Blood) and was looking for a Jazz scene where I could play some pure stuff. I found it at the Riverqueen on Davie owned by singer Ron Small and his then wife Shirley. I rehooked with pianist/organist Mike Taylor and met and rehooked with many others like saxophonists Ian Berry, Wayne Kozak, Pete Thompson, Dick Smith and met a cat who I only knew by reputation, Nick McGowan. Around this time Nick joined the Jazz-Rock band I was in and we developed a musical relationship.......we both were Jazz players and wanted to play more. The band had a couple of weeks off and Nick called me up and said there was a place in Gastown that had a Jazz    night and was called The Classical Joint at 231 Carrall Street. We went down and found a quartet of players led by the late Al Clooten...I can't remember the other guys but Nick and I sat in for a half dozen tunes and I checked out this little smoky, funky place where people listened quietly and played chess and drink coffee. I met the new owner, Andreas Nothiger, a Swiss-German who said he just bought the place from two guys Joseph and Joel. Joel, I knew but I had just met Joseph only once. I was told by Andreas that the place was really an outlet for folk singers, poetry reading and the like but he liked Jazz as well and classical music. Joel, who was there the night Nick and I played suggested that we come back and play there often. I thought no more of it and got busy with other things. I soon found another coffee house at Powell and Columbia called "Le Chat Noir" after a short talk with the owner named Charles Bodet, I began a Sunday Jazz Night there. It was perfect as Sunday was my day off with the Jazz/Rock group. The Sunday policy was quite successful and many excellent players came to add to the music.ne Sunday, Charles came up to me and said rather worriedly that The Classical Joint was starting Sunday Jazz as well. He saw the Joint as a rival. I said "cool Charles, the more the merrier"....he wasn't sure. Both places did quite well with the Sunday Jazz. However big turning point for me was when bassist Wyatt Ruther asked me to join his quartet at the Joint one Sunday.

In that band was Wyatt, Linton Garner and drummer Liston Pickering...no way I was going to turn down that gig! I subbed out my Sunday at Le Chat and Charles was not too happy. The Joint was packed and because it was smaller than the Chat, the atmosphere was more immediate and electric. It was a great evening and I became aware of the "darks" that night. Not everybody was aware of the "darks" but because the Joint was a coffee house, no alcohol was served......................right!!!!!! However if you asked for a "dark" or "dark coffee" you would get a great Irish coffee with Jameson Irish whiskey, coffee, whipped cream (real) and a touch of sugar. and if you wanted to you could ask for a "double dark"!!!!!! Not long after that Mike Taylor asked me to do a Sunday with him. I became hooked on the unique atmosphere of the Joint. The Chat Noir was coming to a close as Charles was running into problems with his girlfriend and his landlord and he had some big plans to expand and renovate Le Chat but didn't have the money to see those plans through. He was also homesick for France and never really got used to our lifestyle here. Charles shut the doors and split unannounced for France. The Joint prevailed.



Gavin Walker, Steve Johnston, Micheal Guild


I began frequenting the Joint more often after the Chat closed and got to know Andreas better and asked him if he would be interested in having another night of Jazz besides Sunday. He agreed and Thursday night became "The Gavin Walker Quartet Night" in mid-1974 until the Joint closed in 1991. Through the Quartet passed some of this city's finest, Neil Swainson, Lincoln Goines, Rene Worst, Paul Blaney, Wyatt Ruther are some of the bass players. Drummers like Jim Chivers, Al Weirtz, Audie Wong, John Sumner, John Nolan, Blaine Wikjord. Guitarists like Michael Guild and Ihor Kukurudza. Pianists like Mike Taylor, Linton Garner, Eric Vaughan, Ross Taggart and Alan Matheson. These are just a very few of the people that made the Quartet fun and creative as well. There were some really special editions of the Quartet that were my favourites but I'll keep that a secret. We had some thrilling guests over the years such as my great friend and mentor John Handy who joined me a number of times on the bandstand. However the biggest thrill for me was when he came and spent the whole evening just digging the band and listening....it was also one of my favourite editions of the Quartet. Dave Liebman and Bob Berg came by to play as did Abdullah Ibrahim who said "good band man......can I play a bit?" Just a few highlights and memories.


The Joint had a very special atmosphere that was conducive to creativity and one was never pressured to to anything else other than what you wished to achieve on the bandstand. Hugh Fraser (who for a few weeks played drums in the Quartet) said famously that "The Joint was the best place to play and nothing has ever really equaled the atmosphere that that place had....I miss it man!" Andreas Nothiger was a great force in keeping the Joint running and he basically did it on his own. A trained architect and a brilliant man, Andreas had to deal with many of the Gastown characters, the landlord, staff, suppliers and so many other things that he had little time for himself and sometimes he lost it, blew up and woe to anyone near him during those times but Andreas was only human and the next night all would be fine again. I do remember though, on fateful Sunday when Mike Taylor and I arrived to set up and play only to find the place locked up and a scrawled sign taped to the window with these words: "The Joint is closed for tonight due to a complete freakout by the owner....sorry for any inconvenience". The next night it was open as usual. We, the musicians and Andreas also dealt with the Musician's Union and set up a plan that was legal and above board and eased the Union's concerns about playing there. There are many stories and anecdotes about the Joint's long history and I'm sure many people will share their thoughts and feelings about this place that is so much a part of Vancouver's true musical history. I'm glad and thankful to have been part of that history.