This is the 10th year in a row the Vancouver Courier has offered its best bets for the TD Canada Trust Vancouver International Jazz Festival. Despite being at it for a decade, we've never explained how the recommendations are arrived at, so here goes.
They're based on the following equation: listening to the musicians' tunes on CD, their MySpace site or other websites + past experience of hearing them live + reading their bios in the festival program guide + intuition about who will shine = best bets. With that in mind, here are some tips for who to check out at the tremendous 2008 edition of the festival, running June 20 to 29.
Charlie Haden's Quartet West
The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts, June 21
The great bass player's Quartet West excels in evoking the lush mood of a certain place and time: Los Angeles of the 1940s and '50s. Haden has played in many styles, but this is pure and beautiful straight-ahead jazz.
Michael Blake: Blake Tartare/Amor De Cosmos
Roundhouse Performance Centre, June 22
Blake, the ex-Vancouverite New York saxophonist, never disappoints when he plays here. I've heard him perform with Blake Tartare, including Danish musicians; and Amor De Cosmos, with Vancouver players, and they both create memorable modern jazz.
They're based on the following equation: listening to the musicians' tunes on CD, their MySpace site or other websites + past experience of hearing them live + reading their bios in the festival program guide + intuition about who will shine = best bets. With that in mind, here are some tips for who to check out at the tremendous 2008 edition of the festival, running June 20 to 29.
Charlie Haden's Quartet West
The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts, June 21
The great bass player's Quartet West excels in evoking the lush mood of a certain place and time: Los Angeles of the 1940s and '50s. Haden has played in many styles, but this is pure and beautiful straight-ahead jazz.
Michael Blake: Blake Tartare/Amor De Cosmos
Roundhouse Performance Centre, June 22
Blake, the ex-Vancouverite New York saxophonist, never disappoints when he plays here. I've heard him perform with Blake Tartare, including Danish musicians; and Amor De Cosmos, with Vancouver players, and they both create memorable modern jazz.
For more information contact All About Jazz.
