Fifth of Jazz is a jazz quintet from London Ontario. Formed two years ago by guitarist Joe Piotrowski and drummer Fil Beorchia, the band now consists of pianist Ron Schroder, bassist Anne Pin, and wind player Ken McLagan.
Fifth of Jazz has a huge repertoire of 100′s of songs in many styles, including bop, swing, big band, blues, funk, Latin, Bossa Nova, free form, etc. Some of the artists covered include Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Duke Ellington, etc.
Though the band plays jazz standards, the sound and instrumentation isn’t always standard. Whether it’s Ron going from electric piano to Hammond B3, or Ken playing flute through a wah and distortion pedal, Fifth of Jazz definitely likes to add some different flavours to songs from time to time, without compromising the beauty of American jazz music!
- Bop
- Swing
- Big Band
- Blues
- Funk
- Latin
- Bossa Nova
- Free Form
MEET THE BAND
Anne Pin
Bass
Anne plays in many genres but jazz is a personal favourite. She’s been known to play with the London Promenade Orchestra, the Mocha Shrine Historic Concert Band, The Dixie Five and the Dick Philp Combo. More recently, she plays with First St. Andrew’s String Ensemble, Encore, Uptown Dixieland Jazz band and with our group, Fifth of Jazz. She is particularly fond of Fifth of Jazz as we play many of the great classic jazz songs that originally inspired her love of jazz and continues to inspire her creativity on the bass.
Joe Piotrowski
Guitar
As my music teacher once said, “If you can improvise in jazz, you can improvise in any kind of music!”. “Before long, I began to appreciate jazz as a musical endeavour instead of just a tool used for other music.” Joe currently plays lead guitar at Friday Night’s Alibi (classic rock), ASKHER (original contemporary), and Fifth of Jazz (jazz quintet).
Ken Brown
Drums, Percussion
Ken started playing as a youngster, through his school years, and then took a break of 35 years. He started back into it 7 or 8 years ago, with the New Horizons Band program at Western University, thinking of a hobby for retirement. From there he joined the London Concert Band, Encore, the Concert Band, the Windmillers Band, the Uptown Dixieland Jazz Band, and have filled in on occasion with other groups, like he’s doing now with the Fifth of Jazz…. And having a wonderful time!
Ken McLagan
Clarinet, Saxaphone, Flute
Ken is a graduate of the U.W.O. Faculty of Music (1981) and the U.W.O. Faculty of Education – Althouse College (1982). His impressive performance resume includes a long list of bands such as The Swingmasters (dance band combo), A Fifth of Jazz (quintet), the Uptown Dixieland Jazz Band, Jacob and The BLUESBUSTERS (R & B band) the Moonliters (big band jazz), the Windmillers (big band), and ENCORE…the Concert Band.
Ron Schroder
Keyboards
Ron Schroder was classically trained on piano before being drawn to the dark side of Popular Music, Blues, Ragtime and lately to jazz. Ron has been playing for years in London and North Bay. “Jazz is demanding, yet, wonderfully liberating!”