Festival News

Allen Toussaint is All Smiles at the Montreal Jazz Festival

Source: All About Jazz @ Spinner
July 5, 2010

A standing ovation is a pretty great way to start a concert--and with more than 50 years of songwriting and recording to his credit, Allen Toussaint deserves nothing less. The warm welcome came at 6PM in a church basement just outside of the Montreal Jazz Festival grounds, and from there the evening unfolded like the best-kept secret of the night, if not the entire fest. Toussaint was in a chatty mood and roped his songs together with anecdotes from his ...

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Philly jazz festival a state-funded extravagance

Source: Michael Ricci
July 4, 2010

In successfully seeking $1 million from Pennsylvania's taxpayers, the organizers of last month's West Oak Lane Jazz Festival said they expected a crowd that would rival Woodstock. “We anticipate in excess of 500,000 festival attendees from around the world," reads a portion of the grant application for the June 18-20 event, which was approved with the backing of the event's influential patron, State Rep. Dwight Evans (D., Phila.). That would be the equivalent of about a dozen sold-out Phillies games. ...

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Crowds throng Fillmore Jazz Festival

Source: Michael Ricci
July 4, 2010

By lunchtime, Stephanie Woodford had drawn an impressive crowd around her waist-high Casio keyboard, which she was playing with a serious, intense frown on her face, her eyes on her hands and her head bowed over the sheet music. She hit the last notes and the crowd whooped--and the frown disappeared. Stephanie grinned and bowed, and then she took a break and thought about going to check out some of the other acts at the Fillmore Jazz Festival. “So I ...

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A Spectacular Night - Marred by One Idiot

Source: Ken Franckling's Jazz Notes
July 4, 2010

Guitarist John Scofield was a great choice to open the New Orleans portion/final phase of the 2010 Montreal International Jazz Festival. His Piety Street Band released an exceptional funky New Orleans-gospel and blues-based CD under the Piety Street name earlier this year. The band was even better in person last night at the Theatre Maisonneuve. Pianist/B3 player/ vocalist Jon Cleary was a strong foil for Scofield, at one point echoing or extending Scofield's guitar lines on the centerpiece, “Walk With ...

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Manchester Jazz Festival Announces the Full 2010 Line Up

Source: The Ring Modulator by Adrian Stevenson
July 3, 2010

As some readers of this blog will know, I'm involved with the annual Manchester Jazz Festival that's coming up very soon now. Our lovely team have just put out a press release, so I thought it'd be handy to include it here. The fest is gonna be a goodun:Manchester Jazz Festival (mjf), celebrates its 15th anniversary with the biggest festival to date, Fri 23 - Sat 31 July 2010Over 80 bands will play across 8 city ...

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Musical Musings from Montreal

Source: Ken Franckling's Jazz Notes
July 3, 2010

Two and a half days into my Montreal International Jazz Festival stay, or even minutes into it for that matter, one thing is apparent. This is a jazz festival that never gets tired - and keeps evolving and improving year after year after year.

This 31st edition, which began June 25 and runs through July 6, is an artful swirl of more than 800 concerts, daily Mardi Gras-like parades, mimes and other street performers, dancers--and seemingly a talented street band ...

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Sonny Rollins in Montreal

Source: Voll-Damm Festival Internacional De Jazz De Barcelona
July 3, 2010

Sonny Rollins in Montreal. June 27, 2010.Set list:1. Patanjali2. My One and Only Love3. Global Warming4. They Say It's Wonderful5. Low Down Dirty ShameYes, Sonny sings the blues!Check out Russell's Malone impressions on playing with Sonny:“He's an encyclopedia of songs and melodies. This man has not lost his passion, his drive, or his enthusiam. It is an honor to be making music with him.“See you ...

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Montreal Jazz: A Conversation with Andre Menard

Source: Michael Ricci
July 2, 2010

The Montreal International Jazz Festival is enormous, and it grows a little bit every year. The 31st edition, with more than 700 concerts over 12 days, ends on Tuesday with a festival first: a Mardi Gras parade through the city, complete with floats from New Orleans and music by Trombone Shorty and Allen Toussaint.

The organization behind it keeps growing too. The festival is a nonprofit enterprise run by a for-profit media company, L'quipe Spectra, and two years ago, with ...

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