Saxophonist Cory Weeds Quartet

Weeds was the founder and owner of Cory Weeds’ Cellar Jazz Club in Vancouver, which he successfully ran for more than 13 years. CORY WEEDS built the Cellar to become a beloved venue DownBeat Magazine acknowledged as one of North America’s best Jazz clubs, where masters such as George Coleman, Louis Hayes, Sheila Jordan, David “Fathead” Newman, Dr. Lonnie Smith, and leading jazz musicians from Vancouver, across Canada, and the U.S. performed before the last choruses were played there in February 2014.

But he wasn’t just the club owner. As a saxophonist who studied at the University of North Texas and Capilano University, Weeds spent many nights on the hallowed Cellar bandstand as a leader and sideman. He swung hard and held his own when performing with icons like Joey DeFrancesco, Christian McBride, and Harold Mabern. Weeds has recorded more than 20 albums as a leader, including his latest release Home Cookin’. His recordings have received numerous accolades worldwide, including reaching #1 on the JazzWeek charts and receiving excellent reviews from jazz journalists.

While the Cellar is now a sweet memory, the Cellar Live record label Weeds established in 2001 is alive and very well. Rebranded in 2018 as the Cellar Music Group — which includes the Cellar Live (recorded live), Cellar Music (recorded in studio), and Reel to Real Recordings (archival) imprints — has released more than 350 recordings. Many of the releases have spent extensive time on the JazzWeek charts, been reviewed in acclaimed print publications, and been featured on NPR’s Fresh Air. Weeds has also served as producer on more than 200 recordings. In 2017 Weeds celebrated a win at the Juno Awards when Metalwood won for Jazz Album Of The Year: Group for Twenty, released on Cellar Live. 

2023 was a watershed year for Weeds and the Cellar Music Group. In March of that year, Weeds and the label were awarded a Grammy Award for the eponymous Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra release in the Best Large Ensemble Jazz category. DownBeat Magazine also recognized Weeds as the #2 Rising Star Producer and Cellar Music was #8 in Record Label Of The Year.

On the presentation front, Weeds has booked Frankie’s Jazz Club in downtown Vancouver since 2016. Weeds has continued to build Frankie’s reputation for being one of Canada’s finest jazz clubs, presenting great American players like Roy McCurdy, Bill Charlap and David Hazeltine and Vancouver stalwarts such as Brad Turner and Jodi Proznick. Then there’s Jazz at the Bolt. In 2024, Weeds presented a strong lineup for the fourth annual two-day festival at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts. In addition to Frankie’s and Jazz at the Bolt, Weeds presents music all over British Columbia, Canada, and the U.S.

Weeds has an enduring affinity with New York City. He’s brought so many of the jazz mecca’s top players to Vancouver, and has performed, toured, and recorded with many of them. Tapping into his insider knowledge of the NYC scene, Weeds has led the annual New York With Weeds tour 11 times and counting. Every year, he leads 20–30 jazz lovers to clubs off the beaten track, private recording sessions at sacred places like the Van Gelder Studio, and to many more exclusive happenings. During the 2024 tour, one of the featured events was a duo performance with Bill Charlap and Weeds.

Weeds has worked extensively as an educator, leading the BC Music Educators Association’s Honour Ensemble, giving clinics on saxophone as well as the business of music, and teaching privately. He currently serves as the president of the Fraser MacPherson Jazz Fund. In 2024, Cellar Music published its first book: Fraser MacPherson: I Don’t Have to Go Anywhere – I’m Already Here, by Fraser’s son, the late Guy MacPherson.
In 2024, Weeds was the subject of a long two-part chapter in another book, Journeys to the Bandstand: Thirty Jazz Lives in Vancouver. Author Chris Wong wrote about Weeds: “Someone like Weeds, who has made a significant difference in the lives of Vancouver jazz musicians and jazz artists further afield, doesn’t come along often … Weeds has evolved from being a cocky kid who winged it to becoming an expressive saxophonist, passionate club owner and impresario, astute record label owner, and producer with musically satisfying instincts. There have been massive challenges along the way … Weeds has met those challenges and realized ambitious jazz dreams, through his talent, sheer will, and daring.”

Some things in life are just meant to be. The first time CHRIS HAZELTON experienced a real Hammond B-3 organ, he knew instantly that it was the instrument he was destined to play.  At the request of his college professor, the then-underage aspiring musician snuck into a dark Kansas City jazz club called Bobby’s Hangout to hear the man behind the console, jazz organ master Everette DeVan.  After several weeks of coaxing, Mr. DeVan agreed to take Chris on a student, showing him the ins and outs of the complex machine. With a background in string bass and piano, Chris’ transfer to organ was a natural one.

From 2007 to 2009, Chris called the Big Apple home.  New York City provided an education that can only be found by living there.  The rhythm of the city and the constant presence of jazz royalty helped sharpen his playing into a potent combination of groove and artistry.  During his time there, Chris regularly performed at legendary Harlem jazz clubs such as Minton’s Playhouse, the Lenox Lounge, and Showman’s Jazz Lounge.  In 2009, Chris had the honor of studying with the world’s foremost authority in the jazz organ world, Dr. Lonnie Smith!

Upon returning to his native Kansas City, Chris has made a name for himself as one of the premier jazz organists in the midwest and recently made an appearance with the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.

His flagship ensemble, Chris Hazelton’s Boogaloo 7, was assembled in 2013 and held a impressive seven-year Friday night residency at Kansas City’s Green Lady Lounge.  This seven piece unit focuses on funky, rhythmic soul-jazz that harkens back to the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, a time when Lou Donaldson, Jimmy McGriff, Charles Earland, Grant Green, Lonnie Smith, and a host of others packed dance floors and venues along the “Chitlin Circuit”.  The Boogaloo 7 has released two 45rpm 7-inch vinyl singles and two full-length LPs on Sunflower Soul Records, a label established by Hazelton in 2014 that produces soulful recordings with unashamedly old-school, analog vibe.

For nearly 10 years, Chris served as the organist at “The Historic” Centennial United Methodist Church in the 18th & Vine Jazz District of Kansas City, MO – a church that was once home to Count Basie and Charlie Parker.  He plays bass guitar with the popular soul ensemble The Freedom Affair.  He is happily married to the love of his life, Erica, and together have a daughter named Evelyn and a son named Jaxon.

RUDY PETSCHAUER was born in Vancouver B.C. in 1958 and started accordion at age 7 switched to drums at age 14.  He attended Eric Hamber Secondary School and became involved in the music program there and also as a percussionist in the Vancouver Youth Orchestra where he met Renee Rosnes who was a violinist at that time.
Upon graduation Rudy moved to Portland Oregon and was a music major at Mount Hood College.  In 1979 Rudy returned to Vancouver and became a member of saxophonist Fraser MacPherson’s quartet where he was mentored by guitarist Oliver Gannon. They had a 6 night a week steady engagement for 3 years which also included live broadcasts on CJAZ and CBC engagements. When the engagement with Fraser ended in 1983 Rudy became a member of the Renee Rosnes Trio and played a year and a half steady engagement with her at the Hyatt Hotel in Vancouver. 
At this same time Rudy and Renee worked every week with saxophonist Roy Reynolds and every weekend at Afterhours jazz club Basin Street which Rudy also booked for 4 years. From 1979 to 1985 Rudy was arguably the busiest jazz drummer in Vancouver and also backed up people like Lew Tabackin, Herb Ellis, Tal Farlow, Lenny Breau, John Handy and Joe Pass when they came to town.
In spring of 1985 Rudy moved to New York at the same time as Renee Rosnes as they had both received Canada Council Grants to live there.  Since that time Rudy has spent most of his time in New York or on the road. He started a decade long association with Organist Jack McDuff as his drummer and made 5 records with him on the Concord label. He has also appeared at most of the Jazz Clubs and Festivals in the world.

Over the years Rudy has worked with many of the people active on the NYC jazz scene such as Renee Rosnes, David Fathead Newman, Lou Donaldson, James Moody, Slide Hampton and Jimmy Heath, Jerry Weldon and Joe Magnarelli. Rudy is also a part of the resurgent Soul/Funk movement in Brooklyn and as such has recorded on the Daptone Record Label with The Sugarman 3 and toured with Sharon Jones and Lee Fields.


His Big Band experience includes touring the world from 1993-1995 with the Glenn Miller Orchestra and a 15 year engagement with The Howard Williams Orchestra in Greenwich Village. For the last 11 years Rudy has been a member of the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and has recently done tours of Australia and New Zealand with that group as well as numerous Big Band Cruises, Concerts and Festivals.

Although not in Canada as much as he would like to be Rudy still retains strong ties to Vancouver and has played either the Jazz Festival there or the Cellar Jazz Club many times with people like John Hart, Diana Krall, Renee Rosnes, PJ Perry. Currently Rudy divides his time between Brooklyn and Pennsylvania where his 5 children reside.

DAVID ROURKE is a jazz guitarist, composer, and producer celebrated for his expressive playing and storytelling through music. A Montreal native, David began his musical journey at the age of five, studying classical piano before transitioning to guitar at ten. His early passion for jazz blossomed in high school, where he studied under the legendary Tony Romandini and performed in the Big Band at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal.

David earned a Bachelor’s degree in Jazz Performance from McGill University, where he honed his craft and developed his distinctive sound. His dedication to his art earned him first place at the prestigious International Jarek Smietana Jazz Guitar Competition in Kraków, Poland, in 2019, judged by renowned guitarists Mike Stern and Peter Bernstein.

As a member of Tony DeSare’s group, David has performed with many symphony orchestras, including the Edmonton Symphony, Minnesota Symphony, and the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall. These collaborations highlight his ability to seamlessly bridge the worlds of jazz, pop, and classical music.

In addition to his work as a guitarist, David is an accomplished producer and mixing engineer, having mixed numerous albums and projects across genres (see Producing page). His technical expertise and creative vision bring a polished, dynamic quality to every recording he touches.
David’s debut album, An Evening of Fiction, released in 2022, blends jazz, pop, and rock, showcasing his innovative approach to composition and improvisation. Since then, he has released numerous singles that expand on his signature style. His anticipated second full-length album Apple Hill is set to release in April 2025.

Currently based in New York City, David performs regularly and is an active presence in the city’s vibrant music scene. His work reflects a deep respect for the jazz tradition, combined with a modern sensibility and a penchant for storytelling that continues to captivate audiences and inspire listeners.