More on the TD Canada Trust Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival

This year's festival is the most diversified in the history of the event. The range of music is as wide as the definition of the word jazz has become.

The festival is proud to present such great names as Sonny Rollins, perhaps the greatest living tenor saxophone legend, as well as established veterans like Kenny Barron, Paquito D`Rivera, Slide Hampton, Howard Johnson, James Moody, and Ed Thigpen. More contemporary names include Stanley Clarke, Kenny Garrett, Roy Hargrove, Joshua Redman and Arturo Sandoval. The reigning queen of song, Diana Krall, the artistry of Sheila Jordan, the fresh creativity of Roberta Gambarini, the sparkle of Yve Evans, Madeleine Peyroux and a whole evening of Divas are just some of the strong female vocalists present at the festival. Over the course of ten days choose amongst the piano skills of Benny Green, Eddie Higgins, Dick Hyman and Oliver Jones or Hammond B3 players such as Tony Monaco, Doug Riley and Dr. Lonnie Smith.

There is, again, a strong international content to the celebration; among the regions represented are Africa, Britain, Cuba, France, Holland, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Scandinavia and, of course the U.S.A. The broad range of music that comes under the umbrella of jazz today is represented by artists like Antibalas, RJD2 and Rachid Taha, while the Next Wave is back at the National Film Board with a strong Canadian emphasis.

Groove and Graffiti returns, while the Youth Stage has moved over to Oscar Peterson Place. A World Music theme will also be introduced on the BenQ World Stage at Nathan Phillips Square, where a truly international flavour is reflected in the work of artists such as Kiran Ahluwalia and Gangbe Brass Band. New this year will be daily workshops and talkback sessions, which will take place on the Square between mainstage performances making for non-stop activity at the hub of the Festival.

The Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel is host once again to the Festival and will feature jazz in the classic tradition every night in Traders Lounge.

The Canadian contingent in the Festival is as strong as ever with performances from Peter Appleyard, Jane Bunnett, Rick Lazar, Rob McConnell Tentet, Mike Murley, N.O.J.O., Tim Posgate, and on and on. There is once more a huge amount of club activity throughout the city and two late-night spots - The Rex and Sage to keep the music swingin’ into the wee hours.

The TD Canada Trust Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival will once again be the highlight of summer in the city, this year running from June 24 to July 3, 2005. Bringing cool music to hot summer days and nights, the festival will present more than 350 concerts over ten days on more than 30 different stages.

These are only some of the highlights in this year's big bash. For full listings, please visit: www.torontojazz.com.