INUVIK - Brian Terry knows he'll never be a great saxophonist but that makes no difference to him.

Brian Terry poses with his beloved saxophone at the ski hut Monday evening, his favourite practice venue. - Andrew Rankin/NNSL photo

Instead he's more concerned about constantly improving.

"I enjoy getting better," he said. "I'm happy to see that I'm improving and with my rate of improvement."

A member of the community jazz band for the last four years, Terry purchased his first tenor saxophone in 1985 while living in Nelson, B.C. At the time he fully embraced the instrument, registering for lessons, and joining the local jazz band. Then his music development took a backseat in his life for a couple of years after he became a father. But he always returned to his saxophone, in part because it offers him an outlet not found in his other hobbies such as skiing and cycling.

"Running or cycling are sort of meditative where your mind wonders, but music is sort of 100 per cent engaging," he said. "Maybe your mind wanders a bit but you've got to keep time. There's always something going on."

Once again the community jazz band has resurrected with a few new members: two guitarists and a keyboardist, bringing the total to six musicians. They're hoping to make a few public performances in the near future, including the community Christmas concert. Terry said he likes the sense of camaraderie he feels playing with the community jazz band each Tuesday and during their public performances, which he admits aren't always perfect.

"Everybody makes mistakes and the agenda is not too ambitious. Afterwards we're all friends and we go for a beer.

"It's wonderful those times when we seem to rise to the occasion but some of them have been kind of a hoot and everybody's almost rolling in the aisles," he said with a laugh.

Terry says he never tires of the spontaneity he finds in the many forms of jazz music, and the genre is a reflection of the way he sees life.

"It's unusual and it expresses to me the absurdities that I see in life all around me," he said.

He favours the saxophone because he says more than any other instrument it has the ability to take on a life of its own.

"It has a vocal quality and it's very expressive. You can make it live."

Walk by the ski hut on any given night and you'll likely hear him practising. He said he has a decent ear for music but his major weakness lies with following along to sheet music, especially when it comes to keeping time.

"There's a million ways to play it wrong and one way to play it right," he said with a laugh.

Terry promises to keep chugging along.

"My breakthrough won't come anytime soon," he said with a laugh. "I still have a lot to learn.

But you've got to have frustration in order to have elation."

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.