Jim Royle's Caribbean Jazz Connection Heats Up Bethel 7pm Wed Oct 15

Doors open at 6:00pm. Try to be seated by 6:30pm to have your dinner order taken. Showtime begins at 7:00pm when we transform the space into a theater.

Out of respect for the performers and other patrons, please keep talking to a whisper during the performance.

Very Limited Occupancy. Tables seating 2, 4, 5 guests, with tables for 6, 8, 12 available upon request. Single, general admission tickets are also available. See The Attached Seating Chart. Admission Is $15.00 - $25.00 Per Person, Ticket prices may be higher for special performances. Having problems with the ticketing system? Call 203-247-4273

Parking: Please park in LaZingara's lot or on Greenwood Ave. or School Street. Please avoid parking in P.T. Barnum Square.

Check out the band:

The Caribbean Jazz Connection is led by drummer Jim Royle who has been crossing genres of Jazz and Caribbean Latin styles for years. They delight audiences wherever they go in the Islands or on the mainland. Royle, the consummate educator and artist has brought so many young and old alike into the joys of percussion, especially with Steel pans and Caribbean Jazz. The band features Jim’s former student and steel pan player Bryan Garbe, now an internationally acclaimed percussionist based in NYC, who grew up in Fairfield!

His articulate playing is documented on several CDs, including Storm Before the Calm on the Sea Breeze Jazz label (2000), as well as the more recent Jazz By Coogan, showcasing Jim's small-group talents. Jim is the drummer for the prestigious New England Jazz Ensemble big band, which is the combined product of Walt Gwardyak (pianist of the famous Buddy Rich Band).

Jim was added to Western CT State University summer faculty in 2006 to present, were he was in residence to present a week long steel drum workshop. Jim Royle was also added to the prestigious faculty roster for KoSA Percussion Workshop 2007 to present in Vermont, and Montreal.

Bryan Garbe is a composer and multi-instrumentalist who specializes in drums, percussion, and steel pan. Over the past two decades, he has toured worldwide, recorded with Grammy Award-winning artists, and performed in some of the most notable venues in New York City, including Madison Square Garden and The Beacon Theater.

Most recently, Bryan recorded drums and percussion for HBO’s Wild Wild Space documentary, working as an additional composer under Gil Talmi. He was selected as a featured composer for the 2024 ASCAP Columbia University Film Scoring Workshop, winner of the 2023 BMI Pete Carpenter Fellowship, participant in the 2022 NYU Screen Scoring Summer Workshop and mentee in the 2020 Society of Composers and Lyricists Mentorship Program. He is an active composer for Film, TV and Advertising, working with music houses such as Warner Chappell, Crucial Music, and Vanacore Music.

Bryan’s project, CASTOFF, focuses on creative steel pan mixed with modern production. It has evolved into a continuous search for interesting sounds - a space for collaboration and creativity.

As an educator, Bryan has been teaching privately and as a clinician for over 20 years. He has given clinics and master classes on drum set, percussion, and steel pan at several universities and private schools in London, Italy, Trinidad, Ireland, China, and the US. For the past decade, he has also been teaching acoustic and electric guitar, ukulele, bass, and piano.

From 2011 to 2017, Bryan was the Vice President of the Connecticut Percussive Arts Society, an international group of drummers and percussionists focused on enhancing music education and connecting drummers and percussionists from around the world. He is the creator of the CT PAS Artist Spotlight Series, a monthly feature that aims to promote and connect Connecticut drummers, percussionists, and ensembles.

At eight years old, Bryan began taking drum lessons at the Jim Royle Drum Studio in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where he was introduced to the world of percussion. At the studio, he learned at a young age to read music and play a wide variety of percussion instruments. Bryan dedicated ten years to studying under Jim Royle before returning to the studio as an instructor for the following five years.

In 2011, he toured across Trinidad and Tobago as the Assistant Director of the Jim Royle Drum Studio Steel Band, accompanied by steel pan virtuoso and close friend, Tracy Thornton. His time in the country where the steel pan was born brought his passion and admiration for the instrument to a whole new level.

Bryan is currently playing drums for NYC based indie rock band, London Plane, while maintaining a busy schedule as a session drummer and film composer.

Dave Childs - Piano Dave performs full-time in the tri-state region and has shared the stage with jazz greats Jimmy Heath, Eddie Bert, James Moody, Lionel Hampton, Larry Ridley, Roswell Rudd, Dick Oatts, Bill Watrous, and the Nelson Riddle Orchestra, to name a few.Dave’s performances span a variety of venues including New Haven Jazz Festival, Jazz on the Green, Long Wharf Theatre, Quick Center for the Performing Arts, Silvermine Tavern, Stamford Forum, Le Cirque, the Glass House NYC, Le Chateau, St. Peter’s Church NYC, Branford House on Avery Point, Bartlett Arboretum, Pequot Library, the Graduate Club, and many others.Over the years, Dave has been featured on a variety of recordings including three of his own full-length CDs. His most recent CD is a jazz trio with sax and bass recorded in 2013.Dave’s interest in a variety of musical genres has led him to various positions as a church musician, including at Hastings on the Hudson Lutheran and Rowayton Methodist Churches. For over 6 years, Dave has been the pianist for the Unitarian Universalist Church of Greater Bridgeport where he combines jazz, classical, pop, folk, and world music for services and other events. In addition to performing, Dave teaches piano at Fairfield University and the Cider Mill Conservatory in Wilton, Connecticut.

John Mobilio - Double Bass John Mobilio is a multi-talented musician who, as bassist, educator, musical director and performer brings his joy of jazz and music to audiences throughout Connecticut and the tri-state

John has been a member of the Chris Coogan jazz group for over 25 years. He is a founding member of The Jazz Trio, with pianist Jim Santucci and drummer Jack Varanelli. John has performed as bassist in concert with Lewis Nash, Jimmy Cobb, Mike Manieri, Mike Clark, the Nelson Riddle Orchestra and others. He performs regularly as bassist with Chris Coogan, Jim Clark, Doug Schlink, guitarist Mike Coppolla, vocalists Nicole Pasternak, Cookie Thomas, The Harold Zinno jazz group, and performs with the Jim Royle Roylety Caribbean Steelpan Band and with the bluegrass and country band Goldrush.

John balances out his professional life as an online instructor for music production and computer applications through wyzant.com.

We're sorry, there are no refunds after tickets have been purchased. In the event of a pandemic, rain, snow, or other forms of weather which prohibit a performance, the performance date will be postponed and rescheduled for another date within a reasonable amount of time. If the new date is postponed, a future alternate date will be picked at the discretion of Bethel Jazz and the musical artist. The ticket holder will be notified of postponements, cancelations, and rescheduled dates via email. Tickets are non-refundable and may be transferred to another person in the event a purchaser can not make the rescheduled date. In the event, an artist cancels a date, and Bethel Jazz is unable to reschedule the artist, Bethel Jazz reserves the right to provide a substitute performer of equal quality without notice to the ticket purchaser. If a date is canceled and not rescheduled, Bethel Jazz will provide a refund (in some cases minus the Eventbrite fee) or credit for another performance at the choice of the ticket holder. Bethel Jazz will always do its best to accommodate for changes in seating, table sizes, or changes to tickets.

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