South Vancouver music lovers find a new spot for a blend of coffee and jazz

By ZOE LI

A neighbourhood outside Vancouver’s music scene is home to a new jazz venue that supports its community in more ways than one.

Josh Kim, the owner of the coffee shop East Café on Hastings, opened a second location in Marpole four months ago and has been organizing jazz nights in the basement of the cafe, called The Pocket.

Despite South Vancouver not being considered part of the city’s live music core, he said he had “a first love at first sight” with the Marpole location, at West 70th Avenue and Cartier Street, and saw the potential to create a community there.

More than just entertainment

Shortly after opening its first location on Hastings two and a half years ago, East Café served free meals to the homeless as a part of its program, City Smiles. According to Kim, the initiative has served over 4,500 meals.

As donations to the charity have never fully covered the cost of meals served, Kim started to organize ticketed jazz nights to fund the charity and musicians.

At East Café, Kim organizes free community events including jazz jams with like-minded artists. He said he wanted people to stay as long as they want and connect with others. Kim said he did not expect the community response when tickets sold out until March 21. He said it was “quite insane.”

Since opening, East Café has become an essential gathering spot to its Marpole patrons.

Tetiana Voitseshchuk, a former Marpole resident, said East Café was welcoming and less formal compared to jazz events she has attended in other countries.

“I personally find it beautiful,” Voitseshchuk said.

She said East Café is not just a business, but a community that offers a space for musicians to grow and express themselves.

“Loneliness is skyrocketing,” Voitseshchuk said. “Such events, they have a tremendous meaning.”

Intimate performances

Saxophonist Alfred Abrenica, who performed at the cafe, said he was happy that the venue brings together many live music lovers in the community. Unlike other venues where Abrenica usually deals with a middleman, he said he could directly work with Kim at East Café. “I’d love to get my own band together and perform here,” Abrenica said.

Julian Jayme, another performer at East Café, said the experience was intimate and that it “feels more interactive with the audience.”

Knowing that many local artists struggle to perform because they are not generating profit for the venues, Kim created The Pocket as a gesture of gratitude to the jazz artists he worked with to gather and practise.

Being a jazz fan, Kim said “jazz has been more of a bond that brought everybody together.”

Just as East Café marks a new inroad for jazz in South Vancouver, the rest of the city is experiencing a rise in jazz interest.

Jim Hopson, the director of UBC Jazz Ensemble and the president of the Vancouver Musicians’ Association, said public interest in jazz surged to unprecedented levels after the pandemic.

“I would say the jazz scene really is thriving in many ways,” he said.

Vancouver has seen the establishment of new venues and comprehensive jazz education with skilled veteran musicians and young talents, Hopson said. He said the city now has more diverse engagement in the genre.

Professional drummer Arvind Ramdas said while more performance opportunities are available to young musicians, it is a challenge to maintain the performance standards long upheld by veteran players.

“Venues are using younger people, which is good, but they’re also using a lot of young people who are not ready to be on the bandstand yet,” he said.

Tim Reinert, the owner of a music event company Infidels Jazz, said small independent venues are crucial for musicians to improve their craft and develop an audience.

“It’s the lifeblood of the scene. It is the heart of the scene,” Reinert said.

One of his priorities is to extend Vancouver’s momentum into surrounding regions and other parts of the Lower Mainland and make jazz more accessible to the public.

“I don’t think they need to understand jazz,” Reinert said. “I think they need to enjoy jazz.”

VIDEO: Josh Kim talks about his experience opening a new East Café location in Marpole.