In June 2008, the global economy was teetering on the edge of its seat amid fears of a U.S. recession, fueled by the 2007 subprime mortgage crisis. But we’re still months away from September, when the Lehman Brothers’ largest bankruptcy filing in history shook the stock market, so let the music roll! The 2008 Vancouver International Jazz Festival embarked in its usual fervour with 1,800 artists scheduled to perform 400 shows in more than 40 venues.
A stellar lineup headlined four nights at the Orpheum Theatre. Herbie Hancock was hot off a Grammy win for River: The Joni Letters, an album featuring cover songs of music written by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, who was rumoured to make a surprise appearance. Fun fact: Herbie is the founder of International Jazz Day, celebrated every year on April 30th. Laila Biali Trio with special guest saxophonist and pianist Phil Dwyer opened for the 87-year-old Dave Brubeck with his Quartet. Pink Martini and the Lincoln Centre Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis rounded out the Orpheum nights.
Bill Frisell was booked on a double bill with the Cowboy Junkies at The Centre, but had to cancel at the last minute. (Don’t forget, you can catch Bill with his latest trio this June 24th at the Playhouse.) Apparently the Junkies generously stepped up to perform an additional set that night. The Centre also featured highly anticipated Flamenco guitarist Jesse Cook and the gospel band Dixie Hummingbirds. James Brown’s favourite R&B saxophonist, Maceo Parker, appeared with singer Ryan Shaw at the Commodore.
On the improvisational side, a “cornerstone of this year’s event” according to Ken Pickering was virtuoso bassist Barry Guy’s New Orchestra which played two nights of the Innovation Series at the Roundhouse. Wayne Horvitz’s Gravitas Quartet (featuring Peggy Lee) bridged the gap between “thoroughly composed chamber music and Wayne’s love of small-group improvisation. Tim Berne brought a “challenging program” with his band Bloodcount at Ironworks. Ken was also proud of bringing together two ensembles that had been successfully featured separately to join forces at the Festival – the multinational Atomic/School Days (Norway, Sweden, US). And Viviane Houle & Stefan Smulovitz added to their discography by recording the four-track album Live at Western Front: 2008 Vancouver International Jazz Festival.
Speaking of avant-garde jazz, the 2008 festival paid tribute to innovative Vancouver artist, Al Neil. The program guide cover featured one of Neil’s compelling mixed-media collages titled Assemblage with Bird Cage. Neil was also a groundbreaking jazz figure as one of the founding members of the Cellar (set. 1956), Vancouver’s original premiere jazz club. He was a self-taught bebop pianist, and later embraced a convention-shattering, avant-garde style. Al’s work was honoured in 2008 through a “multidisciplinary performance that brought together two generations of Vancouver improvisers for a striking sonic and visual exploration.”
Coastal Jazz used the Festival to launch JazzStreet Vancouver, a (now defunct) website that celebrated and documented the history of jazz in Vancouver from the early 1900s to the present. You can watch the video about the city’s early days of jazz created to launch JazzStreet Vancouver. In more recent years, Capilano University has taken over archiving the jazz history in Vancouver. In fact, we’ve given them quite a lot of materials for digital archiving, no small task! Contact us if you’d like to help fund this project.
Head to our Instagram or Facebook to view the entire 2008 Festival schedule.
—
Mark your calendars for the 40th anniversary Vancouver International Jazz Festival this June 20 – 29, 2025. Catch up on all our festival flashbacks here. Do you have a great festival memory? Share your story with us.
Made it this far? Consider supporting our 40th anniversary.
