Events Calendar

728 Granville St, Vancouver, BC V6Z 1E4

The Vancouver International Jazz Festival offers free workshops and lectures for jazz fans and musicians to learn firsthand from some of our local and international performers.

David Stackenäs – June 24, 1PM

Called “cunningly enigmatic” by Jazz Weekly, Swedish guitarist David Stackenäs brings an artfully disruptive spirit to solo work and collaborations with avant-garde heavyweights like Thurston Moore and Ken Vandermark.

His idiosyncratic approach to contemporary jazz and free improvisation includes prepared guitar, conventional techniques, and the electronic possibilities of a growing armada of pedals. As a soloist, he often focuses on the organic sound-possibilities and timbres inherent in acoustic guitars. Orkesterjournalen called his solo album, Bricks (Clean Feed) “one of the most brilliant albums I’ve heard in a long time, so personal that it’s hard to describe.”

Stackenäs has played on over 70 recordings and toured Europe, the US, Japan, and the Middle East as a soloist and with various groups. His collaborations are many, among them Evan Parker, Barry Guy, Lina Nyberg, Sofia Jernberg, Rhodri Davies, Fredrik Ljungkvist, Paul Lovens, Axel Dörner, Paal Nilssen-Love, Jim O’Rourke, and Tatsuya Nakatani.

Mary Ancheta – June 25, 1PM

Known for killing it alongside the likes of Khari Wendell McClelland, Kimmortal, and Amanda Sum, keyboardist Mary Ancheta has made a big jump into the spotlight over the past couple of years, channeling her organic, modern take on jazz and electro-funk through her ascendant Quartet. Inspired by the likes of Squarepusher, The Meters, John Schofield, and Prince, Ancheta knows what’s up when it comes to arresting melodies and gritty, irresistible grooves.

Ancheta is a Canadian Filipina born in Hamilton. While teaching at the Ontario Conservatory of Music, she received her B.A. of Music from McMaster University. Now a Vancouver-based composer, you can hear her work on Showtime, Netflix, HBO, National Geographic, Bravo, Hallmark, CTV, Fox, Crave, TNT, and more. Mary is a passionate collaborator whose fundamental aim is to help tell diverse, honest stories about the human condition through music. She’s worked with iskwē, Buckman Coe, Ashleigh Ball, Dutch Robinson, Francis Arevalo, Jill Barber, Tonye, Marlie Collins, Missy D, Cookie Cartel, and many other tuned-in creators.

Tyson Naylor – June 26, 1PM

Vancouver-born, Berlin-based keyboardist Tyson Naylor has performed internationally in very diverse musical settings, and he’s equally at home in free jazz, soul, indie rock, and chamber ensembles. He’s played with Destroyer, Frazey Ford, and Dan Mangan, avant-improvisers like Tristan Honsinger, Tobias Delius, Axel Dörner, Mats Äleklint and Lina Allemano, large ensembles like Warsaw Improvisers Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and Turning Point Ensemble, and groups best filed under “other”, like Dálava, Ron Samworth’s Dogs Do Dream, Tiny Pyramids, Sun Ra’s Star System, SICK BOSS, and Limbs of the Stars.

Signal to Noise praised his Trio’s debut album, Kosmonauten (Songlines), noting that Naylor “has an impish sense of humour that shows an affinity for the merrymakers of the ICP Orchestra. You can hear Misha Mengelberg’s spare, subtle intervals and dry-martini wit in his playing, though it’s Mengelberg filtered through Brad Mehldau.”

DJ O Show – June 27, 1PM

Coastal Jazz Artist in Residence Orene Askew, aka DJ O Show, brings energy and passion to everything she does. Winner of the 2022 International Indigenous Hip Hop Award for DJ of the Year, she’s a proudly Afro-Indigenous member of the Squamish Nation who embraces and embodies teachings from both of her cultural backgrounds.
With an outgoing personality and loads of charisma, O Show is not only one of the most positivity-emanating DJs around, she’s also a speaker and teacher who has traveled across the country to spark inspiration in folks of all generations; hosted/MC’d/DJ’d for the Canucks, Whitecaps, and Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week; and opened for Kevin Hart and Russell Peters. A former member of Squamish Nation Council, DJ O Show is the recipient of a 2015 BC Indigenous Business Award, the 2018 Stand Out Award from the Vancouver Pride Society, and the 2021 Alumni of Excellence Award from Capilano University.

DJ O Show remains true to her love of hip hop and R&B, laying down beats that pack dance floors from Vancouver to Toronto, Las Vegas to Texas, and anywhere else in need of some soulful shaking, while spreading the positive message that diversity makes beautiful music!

Presented in association with Talking Stick Festival.

Sam Wilson – June 28, 1PM

Canadian guitarist/composer Sam Wilson blends an early love of finger-style guitar with her love of jazz improvisation. Her practice as a performer-composer focuses on creating instrumental music for improvisers, and her current artistic muse is wild spaces and site-specific responses, as evidenced by her upcoming release Wintertides. Featuring drummer Jen Yakamovich and bassist Geordie Hart (Malleus Trio), it was written during the winter of 2022 on the East Coast (in Scotsburn, NS) and the West Coast (at Lena Residency, Galiano Island BC), inspired by contrasting landscapes and the collaboration of bi-coastal communities. Her albums Into a Heart Pt. II and New Doors (Jackson/Wilson Duo) both won Music Nova Scotia’s “Jazz Recording of the Year” in 2022 and 2023, respectively. In 2021 Sam won the Paul Cram Creation Award and composed “Recover-we”, her first piece for orchestra which was performed by Symphony Nova Scotia at the 2023 Open Waters Festival. “With a lyrical sensitivity to her instrumental compositions,” this rising talent on the national jazz scene “draws listeners in with subtlety and introspective levity.” – Pop Matters – Best Jazz of 2019

All events are free and open to all.

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