Sixteen years ago, jazz clubs in Montreal were folding, jazz audiences in the city were dwindling and jazz musicians were moving to more welcoming locales.
Who would have guessed then that a decade and a half later, Montreal would host the biggest and best jazz festival in North America?
Yet when the Montreal International Jazz Festival (also known as the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal) opens June 29 in the city’s picturesque downtown, there’s no doubt that it will tower over other such events staged each summer in cities across the United States and Canada.
With 400-plus concerts, 2,000-plus performers, a budget of $10 million (Canadian) and an anticipated 1.5 million visitors, the festival surely dwarfs its competitors, at least in numbers. More important, the Montreal fest presents a range of jazz idioms, styles and formats unmatched by any comparable event.
Not bad for a festival that started out as a three-day concert series in a city that didn’t seem particularly interested in a celebrated American cultural import, jazz.
“Why have we grown so much? Because we never ignored our core audience simply for the sake of getting bigger,” says Andre Menard, artistic director and co-founder of the event, with Alain Simard, his business partner.
“In other words, we always remained a jazz festival, we never became a pop music festival. And the crowds constantly multiplied because the festivals multiplied. We became many little festivals, instead of one enormous one.”
Indeed, the Montreal jazz soiree is actually a collection of several concert series that happen to run concurrently. Interested in jazz piano? Check out the daily offerings at the Theatre du Maurier Ltee, a small and intimate hall. Want to watch the stars? Drop in on pianist Oscar Peterson, singer Cassandra Wilson and vibist Milt Jackson, each playing in various venues around town.
Mainstream, avant-garde, traditional African, classic Big Band, rising stars–the whole jazz universe seems to turn out at the Montreal event, which this year runs from June 29 through July 8.
“Although we loved the idea of growing, we never wanted to do so by alienating the true jazz fan,” Menard adds. “So the Montreal Jazz Festival of today is much like the one of many years ago, in content. There’s simply more than before.”
Of course, there’s more to the Montreal success story than that. For starters, the event features concerts in 10 venues, each within easy walking distance of the others. Then there’s the pleasure of walking the boulevards of downtown Montreal, its every corner decorated with jazz festival posters, banners and the like.
“Even people who live in Montreal feel like tourists in their own town during the festival, which is another reason the event has become popular,” says Caroline Jamet, jazz festival vice president.
“For those who say that jazz is an elitist art form, I believe the Montreal festival proves otherwise. When you get over a million people to come to a festival, there’s nothing really elitist about that.”
Though this year’s edition is crammed with concert performances, film screenings, cabaret shows and jam sessions, a few deserve special attention.
Randy Weston, a pianist and bandleader who has devoted his life to exploring the deepest African origins of jazz, will be in residence during the last five days of the festival, appearing in several settings. He’ll be joined by tenor saxophonist David Murray on July 3, a 24-piece string orchestra on July 5, a blues band July 6, a band of musicians from Morocco on July 7 and an all-star septet July 8.
Murray, a dynamic tenor saxophonist who works with equal facility in mainstream and avant-garde idioms, also will have a five-day residency at the fest. He’ll perform with his octet June 29, with a series of jazz pianists June 30, with an ensemble of bass clarinets July 1, with the World Saxophone Quartet and African drums July 2, and with Weston July 3.
In addition, this year’s festival will include venerable jazz voices, such as piano virtuosos Oscar Peterson (June 29) and Billy Taylor (July 5), alto saxophone giants Lou Donaldson (June 30) and Benny Carter (July 2), tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson (June 29), singers Rosemary Clooney and Jimmy Scott (July 7) and harmonica greats Toots Thielemans and Larry Adler (July 1).
Among up-and-coming talents, the lineup will include alto saxophonist Wessell Anderson (June 29), tenor saxophonist Joshua Redman (July 1), pianists Stephen Scott (July 1) and Jacky Terrasson (July 3), singers Cassandra Wilson (July 1), Nnenna Freelon and Kurt Elling (July 5), and trumpeter Nicholas Payton, with bassist Christian McBride (July 3).
These performers, however, represent only a fraction of the offerings, which makes one wonder whether the Montreal Jazz Festival perhaps needn’t grow any more. Clearly, any single listener can catch only a portion of the lineup, and 1.5 million is a lot of people to jam into downtown Montreal, even over a nine-day period.
“Actually, I don’t think we can grow much more,” Menard says. “Even if only 1 million people turned out, that would be plenty for me.
“All we want to do for the future, really, is stay the same, remain the same festival that we have been until now.”
“Even with all the great jazz musicians who come to play the festival, we’ve really reached the point where the festival itself is the star, a bigger attraction than any single performer.
“And that’s fine with us.
For information on the Montreal International Jazz Festival, phone 514-871-1881. On the Internet, information is available, in French and English, by dialing: http://jazz-mtl.lanternette.com/festival.
– On a less grandiose scale, Chicago-based Southport Records will celebrate its 15th anniversary with a series of concerts beginning Thursday. The label, which has assiduously recorded several of Chicago’s finest jazz artists, will celebrate its roster with these performances:
Noon Thursday, Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St. Solo piano performances by Dave Flippo, Dave Gordon, Corky McClerkin, Bradley Parker-Sparrow, Willie Pickens and Marshall Vente.
8 p.m. Thursday, Bop Shop, 1807 W. Division St. Pianist Sparrow and bassist Tatsu Aoki in duets, guitarists Paulinho Garcia and Frank Portolese, pianist Flippo.
8 p.m. Friday, Bop Shop. Trumpeter Bobby Lewis, vocalist Joanie Pallatto, guitarist Dave Onderdonk.
8 p.m. Saturday, Bop Shop. Percussionist Damon Short, singer April Aloisio, guitarist George Freeman.
For more information, phone the Bop Shop at 312-235-3232 or Southport Records at 312-281-8510.
