June 18-July 1
Various venues
The days are growing longer, the nights warmer, the barbecues hotter, and the anonymous passersby on the street friendlier. With this summer feeling comes the onset of summer music festivals.
This year, the TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival has something for every music lover. From June 18 through July 1, Vancouver will host an intense two weeks of live jazz, roots, and improvised music. Venues range from local restaurants and small clubs, to the illustrious Orpheum Theatre, to the outdoor stages set up throughout the city. The headliners include Buddy Guy, Erykah Badu, Pink Martini, and The Roots, along with an incredible array of international and local acts.
These headlining acts hardly need introduction. Buddy Guy, the six-time Grammy winner and Chicago Blues icon, has influenced generations of guitarists including Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton. Erykah Badu is a neo-soul pioneer who has spent the better part of two decades winning fans over with her lush songs and thoroughly immersive and eccentric live shows. With Portland-based Pink Martini, you’ll hear a kaleidoscope of styles as they mix golden-era jazz with uplifting Afro-Cuban rhythms, smoky Parisian café tunes, and other nostalgia-infused genres. The Roots are hip-hop legends, named one of the best live bands by Rolling Stone, and are currently keeping their act as tight as possible as the house band on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.”
But perhaps the best way to experience a festival like the TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival is through some of the more intimate spaces with artists that will draw you into their world in a uniquely personal way.
Snarky Puppy has somehow managed to sustain touring with an eight-person band, bringing their electrifying brand of complex and infectious grooves to indie-jazz venues and audiences around the country. Their virtuosic soloing and band chemistry are always a sound to behold.
Trumpet mainstay Dave Douglas plays in two noteworthy bands at the festival. First, with his intriguing new project High Risk, featuring Jonathan Maron on bass, the ever-exciting Mark Guiliana on drums, and Detroit-based electronic musician Shigeto. Then, Douglas plays in a rare and enticingly exposed trio with legendary Dutch drummer Han Bennink and captivating cellist Peggy Lee.
If you’d like to get a taste of the vocal jazz tradition, Cyrille Aimée brings her vibrant and beautifully personal take on standards and original songs to the stage. French pianist Benoît Delbecq, whose music can be described as “at once other-worldly and organic” (The Georgia Straight), plays back-to-back nights at The Ironworks with two different bands. Both promise to be as inspired as they are varied.
The inimitable low-end rumble of Eric Revis’ bass can be heard in his trio with New York City heavy-hitters Kris Davis and Gerald Cleaver. Vancouver’s own Peregrine Falls represent their city with their brand of fierce, telepathic, and incendiary duo music for drums and electric guitar.
These highlights are just the tip of the iceberg of this festival. Many more local acts will be out in full force, as well as series dedicated to French jazz and several shows featuring South African artists. You would be hard pressed to find a line-up as rich and varied as this, well worth a trip across the border to check out the musical offerings of our neighbors up north.
For more information, including full schedule of events, visit coastaljazz.ca. Tickets available by phone at (855) 551-9747 (US) or (604) 569-1144 (local), or online at northerntickets.com.
– Levi Gillis