John MacArthur

John MacArthur

Victoria’s own, John MacArthur is an accomplished guitarist with an extensive and eclectic background and plays a variety of jazz classics, swing, Latin and Gypsy jazz music.

Despite being a member of Victoria’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame , John is most often seen around town and the island either as a soloist or in a variety of combos with the city’s top jazz musicians.

At 13 he joined The Esquires, one of Victoria’s first Rock and Roll bands winning the” Vancouver Island Battle of the Bands”, a notable event in the sixties.

By 16 he played in David Foster’s first Rock band,” The Teen Beats”.

Throughout that era he played in a succession of groups including R & R Hall of Famers “The Motifs , ”Amor de Cosmos”, and ” Velvet Brass”.

John has done an extensive cruise ship tour of the South Pacific Islands with “Party of Four”.

He has played gypsy jazz with” Twango” and” Karmel Sutra” and vintage rock with” Hot Rod Lincoln”, “Davey’s Gang” and” The Weeds”.


Recently John returned from Costa Rica , where he and Melinda Whitaker perform their annual winter gig.