Festival News

The 2008 Hamilton Jazz and Blues Festival

Source: All About Jazz
September 6, 2008

THE Hamilton Jazz and Blues Festival kicked off yesterday (Friday). And top of the bill will be saxophonist Tommy Smith and the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra who will play at Hamilton Town House to mark the opening of the three-day event. The concert will feature the music of Joe Williams and the incredible Ray Charles, while talented pianist Brian Kellock and Tam White, one of Scotland’s leading blues singers, will bring some added class to the proceedings While the SNJO's ...

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Iconic Queenstown Jazz Festival Celebrates 30th Anniversary

Source: All About Jazz
September 6, 2008

An iconic Queenstown jazz festival is celebrating its 30th anniversary with an exhilarating ten-day programme of live music and a star-studded line up of performers. From 18 to 27 October more than 50 bands and 200 performers will inspire and entertain at the ASB JazzFest Queenstown with a programme of 80 free events and ticketed headline concerts in 'God's Amphitheatre'. Haunting blues, big band swing, vibrant Latin sounds, Dixie bands, and jazz-influenced dance music are just a few of the ...

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Albany Riverfront Jazz Festival Promises Musical, Actual Fireworks

Source: All About Jazz
September 5, 2008

The free seven-hour Albany Riverfront Jazz Festival brings a high-quality parade of performers on Saturday to either the Riverfront Amphitheatre or the Palace Theatre (19 Clinton Ave., at N. Pearl St., Albany), depending on another parade — of tropical storms or hurricanes. Visit albanyevents.org for an update on Saturday morning. For now, check out the lineup, which is a bit more compact than at the Tanglewood Jazz Festival last weekend or the Lake George Jazz Weekend next, but pretty strong, ...

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Guelph Jazz Festival 2008

Source: All About Jazz
September 5, 2008

The Guelph Jazz Festival, which focuses on innovative and creative improvisation, runs in Guelph, Ont., from Sept. 3 to 7, with concerts, workshops and symposiums. Here are some of this year's highlights. Sept. 3: DJ Spooky and Vijay Iyer. A collaboration between one of New York's most adventurous turntablists and one of jazz's most promising young pianists and composers. 8 p.m. at the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre. Sept. 4: Rene Lussier and Kevin Breit. Free-flowing interplay between two of Canada's ...

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Popular Sydney Band Entertain at the 21st Newcastle Jazz Festival 2008

Source: All About Jazz
September 5, 2008

The Newcastle Jazz Festival was held at the Town Hall at Newcastle NSW on the 30th, 31st August and 1st September. The line up of bands and artists were:

Lee Gunness, Paul Griffith Orchestra and Quintet, Cary Bennett and Swingout, Hendo’s Early Roots, Dan & Howler Strictly Swingin’, Trevor Furner Unsafe Sax, Daryl Aberhart Trio, Ben Jones Quartet, Sally Street Trio, Geoff Bull’s Olympia Jazz Band, Al Davey’s Monstars, Dr.Don’s, Double Dose, Boots’n’ all Jazz Band, Diannia Heather Tribute to ...

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The 6th Annual Festival of New Trumpet Music in September

Source: Jason Byrne, Red Cat Publicity
September 2, 2008

Dave Douglas (director, curator), with Taylor Ho Bynum + John McNeil + Jeremy Pelt (curators), Announce The 6th Annual Festival Of New Trumpet Music September 13-28, 2008 In 2005, “this gathering (a.k.a. FONT Music), co-curated by Dave Douglas, Roy Campbell, Jr., and Jon Nelson, has grown from a few nights at Tonic into a month long multi-venue event encompassing the worlds of jazz, new music, classical, rock, and hip-hop. An international lineup of trumpeters strides into town, bringing specially commissioned ...

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Jazz Fest Full of Talent, Creative Programming

Source: All About Jazz
September 2, 2008

The best evidence that the Detroit International Jazz Festival has dramatically upped the quality of its programming is that aficionados had scheduling conflicts all weekend long. The chance that you had to mortgage one can't-miss act for another was perhaps the highest in the festival's 29 years. The trend toward tough choices actually began with last year's festival. But this year the conflicts got worse -- or better, if you get my drift. Throughout the annual Labor Day festival, which ...

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Ornette Coleman Borrows from the Classics at Jazz Festival

Source: All About Jazz
September 1, 2008

One of the most successful Chicago Jazz Festivals on record (both for attendance and quality of programming) ended with a bang Sunday night, and that wasn't just the sound of fireworks over the lake co-mingling with Denardo Coleman's bass drum beats during the closing set. The Petrillo Music Shell had hosted cut-above local tenorist Ron Dewar and his quintet with peppy alto sax sideman Willie Garcia, the wonderful ICP Orchestra from Amsterdam, in sparkling form, followed by Eight Bold Souls, ...

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