The daily Astorian., March 05, 2020, Page 13, Image 13

Band
expands
Equinox welcomes new
member Francoeur
BY KATHERINE LACAZE
L
ocal jazz group Equinox, led by guitarist
David Drury, is a familiar source of enter-
tainment at Bridgewater Bistro, where they
perform monthly. Now, there is a new face
among the band’s familiar ones.
Equinox was typically rounded out by
Drury, flutist Shelley Loring Barker and bass-
ist Todd Pederson. After Pederson recently
decided to step away to focus attention on
other personal and professional commitments,
Drury sought out Justin Francoeur, of Oyster-
ville, Washington, to take Pederson’s place.
Francoeur and Drury met through North
Coast Big Band. They’ve since had several
rehearsals as a trio.
Feb. 27 marked the group’s first perfor-
mance. Thursday will be the group’s second
show before the group starts performing reg-
ularly on the first Thursday of each month at
Bridgewater Bistro.
Francoeur expressed anticipation about
working with the group.
“(Drury’s) got cool instrumentals,” he said.
Same name, new members
Equinox’s origin can be traced back to
the duo Basin Street Northwest, which was
originally comprised of Drury and pia-
nist Chuck Wilder. They turned into a trio
with the addition of Pederson, then transi-
tioned back into a duo when Wilder passed
away. Under the same name, Pederson and
Drury played frequently at the Bridgewa-
ter Bistro.
When Loring joined the duo for their reg-
ular gig at Bridgewater Bistro, “I came up
with Equinox,” Drury said, adding, “(Loring
Barker) was really an integral part.”
In addition to their regular appearance at
the bistro, Equinox has put on concerts and
performed with other shows around town at
venues like Clatsop Community College’s
Performing Arts Center, KALA, and the Lib-
erty Theatre. Their repertoire includes a mix-
ture of light jazz and classic jazz tunes, show
tunes, American standards, and some of Dru-
ry’s original songs.
14 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
Katherine Lacaze
David Drury, left, performs with Justin Francoeur at Bridgewater Bistro.
If You Go
Equinox
6 p.m. on the first Thursday each month
Bridgewater Bistro, 20 Basin St. Suite A,
Astoria
In addition to joining Equinox, Francoeur
will also fill in for Pederson as part of the duo.
“I like doing the guitar-bass duo for some
of the nights,” Drury said.
Drury said he is unsure if the group will
continue playing under the same name of
Basin Street Northwest.
A devotion to music
Both Drury and Francoeur have a back-
ground doing solo work, in addition to writing
music, producing, and teaching. Francoeur,
who is originally from Denver, Colorado, also
works the musical theater scene, flying back
to his hometown regularly to play in orches-
tras for theater shows. He has performed in
orchestras ranging from Broadway shows to
high school productions.
The son of a composer, Francoeur got
involved in music at a young age. He was
honored with his high school’s Louis Arm-
strong award for best jazz performance. He
continued his education at Berklee College
of Music in Boston and has since put out two
albums, “Moving Through Universes” in
2013 and “No Delicacy Required” in 2018.
While Francoeur is playing bass for Equi-
nox, he also plays guitar, mandolin and uku-
lele. When writing and performing music, he
covers a variety of genres, including fusion
jazz, metal, funk and pop. He also enjoys
experimenting with musical ideas and lyrical
themes.
“Songwriting is the art of telling really vast,
long stories in the shortest amount of space
possible,” he said. “It’s very impressionistic.”
Francoeur doesn’t have a formula for writ-
ing music. Sometimes it starts with a melody,
sometimes chords.
Occasionally, he said, “the whole thing just
fall in your lap.”
As for Drury, music is something he’s felt
comfortable doing all his life. More impor-
tantly, it’s something he feels he has to do for
the sake of his own sense of self.
“I would be totally lost without it,” he said.
“I’ll never stop playing and writing.”
Hailey Hoffman
Shelley Loring Barker plays flute in October.