With the TD International Jazz Festival just a few days away, we’d like to share some of the press we’ve been getting recently.
Up first, check on the CTV interview with co-founder and media director John Orysik for the must-see shows this festival:
Like John, Rainbow Robert needs little introduction if you’ve been following the jazz festival. She’s celebrating her 20th year with Coastal Jazz and is the newly minted managing director for artistic programming. She talked with Alexander Varty at the Georgia Straight last week about her team:
“Robert will be assisted by a curatorial team that also includes Pugs and Crows guitarist Cole Schmidt, who’s been involved in booking a number of under-the-radar improv series in town, and saxophonist Cory Weeds, who runs the Cellar Live record label and books Frankie’s Jazz Club on a year-round basis.
“Each of us has an in-depth knowledge of and commitment to serving different facets of the music,” Robert says. “For example, Cole and I are interested in a lot of the more heretical forms, where the free jazz and the beautiful, irreverent work comes into play, and how that intersects with punk rock and metal.”
In contrast, Weeds “has this deep, incredible connection to the more classic forms of jazz—the continuum of jazz from the very beginning,” she says. “That’s what makes Cory live and breathe.…So while Cole and I are working on these other pieces of the program, he’s putting together a very focused body of work at Frankie’s and [festival venue] Pyatt Hall.”
So, we know that picking through a line up of 300 shows can be a little overwhelming. Here’s a few articles to shed some light on show highlights across genres and series:
Daily Hive
5 Drummers to check out
1. Dan Weiss: Hailed as one of the top five jazz drummers by The New York Times, Dan Weiss’s forward-thinking compositions and innovative playing have pushed musical limits for years.
2. Jerry Granelli: A dynamic force in jazz and improvisation for 60 years, Halifax-based drummer Jerry Granelliis a national treasure who’s played with Ornette Coleman, Sly Stone, and Vince Guaraldi.
3. Dave King: King is known as a “wonderfully aggressive, disruptive, driving drummer” who melds jazz percussion with his love of rock music.
Vancouver Is Awesome
Four artists you need to see:
“Vancouver International Jazz Festival is known for bringing the world’s best jazz musicians to Vancouver for ten days of musical bliss.
What you may not know is that the festival’s welcomes hundreds of acts that fall outside the confines of traditional “jazz”.
This year’s Vogue Series boasts an eclectic line-up of daring musicians ranging from indie darlings to no-holds-barred New York salsa. Taking place at one of Vancouver’s most historic and iconic venues, this year’s Vogue Series is an absolute must for anyone yearning to discover something bold, fresh and spectacular.”
Vancouver Sun
2018 Jazz Festival pays tribute to Jesse Zubot’s Drip Audio label
“Label artists Fond of Tigers, Peregrine Falls (featuring guitarist Gordon Grdina and drummer Kenton Loewen of Dan Mangan’s Blacksmith) and Sick Boss will all appear and Zubot opens the show with one of those one-of-a-kind festival collaborations — a duet with Chicago saxophone heavy and MacArthur Foundation genius grant recipient Ken Vandermark.”
12 Cool Concerts
“Eloquent, fierce, funky — and thrillingly out-there! Led by UK saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings, Sons of Kemet are getting down into some of that Kamasi Washington territory by looking back at the New Thing-era fusions of Afro-American music with global sounds to generate some spine-tingling funk action. Theon Cross’s tuba riffs are Bootsy-like in their awesomeness.”
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