Fall to spring, afternoon concerts at a Surrey church promise “soulful jazz, quiet reflection, prayer and community.”

All are welcome at Jazz Vespers in the Valley, Sundays at Northwood United Church in Fleetwood every two to three weeks, 3:30 p.m. start.

Next in the series is Diane Lines Quartet on Nov. 8 followed by Aaron Hardie Quartet, Nov. 29.

The 2026-27 edition of Jazz Vespers, launched more than a decade ago, kicked off Oct. 4 with Brass Trax, a rock/horn band that includes the talents of Linda Szentes, a church musician, gigging singer/pianist and longtime resident of Surrey.

The concerts, Szentes says, are different than those at other venues.

“I’m a church person, I love church,” Szentes declared. “When I think about church, I see it as a safe place, so it’s like a hermitage, a place where listening occurs, deep listening. So, it’s not like a pub. That’s a different experience. People are drinking, they’re you know, whooping it up. And it’s not so much about listening as a visceral thing.

“But in church,” Szentes continued, “it’s about listening, really deep listening. So, that’s why it’s only an hour (at Jazz Vespers concerts) because deep listening takes focus, right? I don’t want it to sound like an intellectual exercise, but if you want to be heard as a musician, I would suggest going to somewhere where people are listening, and at Jazz Vespers, people listen.”

Music touches many aspects of Szentes’ life including her day job.

“I work at Surrey Hospice Society as a volunteer co-ordinator,” she noted. “We send volunteers into hospice after they’ve been trained, and when I get donations, of course I’m looking for opportunities to use music in a therapeutic way. Recently we got a sizeable donation and I hired a bunch of musicians to put music on the beautiful patio at Laurel Place. I’m always looking for opportunities to have live music around.”

At Northwood, Szentes is working to keep the Jazz Vespers series going following the departure of series co-ordinator Rev. Scott Turnbrook, replaced by Ryan Tristin Chapman as interim minister.

“We ask for a minimum donation of $10 (at the concerts), a steal of a deal when you consider the quality of the acts,” Szentes said. “On Oct. 18 we had Miles Black play, and he’s a genius — I want that on record, total genius.… On Nov. 8 we have B.C. Entertainment Hall of Famer Diane Lines, a fantastic virtuoso piano player with a nice voice, too. Aaron Hardie, he’s a fantastic and under-appreciated sax player. It’s incredible, the talent here.”

Future concerts shown on northwood-united.org/events are Dec. 13 (Glenda Rae & The Essentials), Jan. 17 (Tom Arntzen and the Aviators), Feb. 7 (Linda Szentes & Jazzlinks), Feb. 28 (Tatem & Lush), March 14 (Footnotes), April 4 (Benjamin MacRae & Friends), April 25 (Inlet Jazz Band featuring Linda Szentes), May 9 (Leora Cashe & Friends) and May 30 (Nancy Newman & Friends).