In 2012, after many months of behind-the-scenes work with the City of Vancouver, Coastal Jazz unveiled a new location for the Jazz Festival’s free opening weekend. “Building on the success of the location during the 2010 Olympics, the free event – dubbed Downtown Jazz – will be held outside the Vancouver Art Gallery and at Robson Square.” (Globe and Mail)
The change meant less street party, more Festival. The grounds around the Gallery and Robson Square offers an “arts and music village” on the site with multiple performance stages, a family zone with activities for kids, a art installations, an artisan and food market, licensed patios, and much more. (Daily Hive) Nonetheless this move from Gastown to Downtown was a tipping point in many ways. The new location in the heart of the city increased the Festival’s visibility and provided ample room for big stages and large crowds to gather. Spoiler alert – that first opening weekend was hit with heavy rains, washing out much of the fun. In fact, floods across the British Columbia Interior caused hundreds of people to evacuate. (This is your friendly reminder to begin crossing those fingers now in expectation of great weather for this year’s Downtown Jazz weekend, June 21 & 22.)
The 27th annual Vancouver International Jazz Festival (June 22 – July 1, 2012) had indoor venues too, like the Centre for Performing Arts, which hosted the “larger-than-life” Janelle Monáe and the return of Trombone Shorty, who mesmerized audiences in 2011. The 26-year-old New Orleans singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist shared a double bill with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band—another treat from the French Quarter.
Ten-time Grammy winner George Benson also made a return to the Festival with a show at the Orpheum, which also hosted the “foot stomping, punkgrass” folk sound known as The Avett Brothers.
The Vogue featured legendary saxophonist Wayne Shorter, then widely acknowledged as jazz’s greatest living composer, possessed of a rare combination of technical mastery and boundless creative energy. Balkan Beat Box also took the Vogue stage with their blend of Arabic, Mediterranean and Balkan music mixed with the kinetic fervour of dancehall. Their latest album had been inspired by people’s protest movements such as the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street. (Maybe a perfect soundtrack for our current times, too. Making a note to add them to our Festival Flashback playlist on Spotify.) The critically-acclaimed alt-rock group Destroyer also played the Vogue.
The improvisational side of the Festival program included Gordon Grdina Trio (with Tommy Babin bass, Kenton Loewen drums) on a bill with Samuel Blaser. Norwegian trumpeter Mathias Eick performed as part of the Innovation Series at Ironworks as did the Hexen Trio featuring Paul Plimley, Barry Guy & Lucas Niggli.
Head to our Instagram or Facebook to view the entire 2012 Festival schedule.
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Mark your calendars for the 40th anniversary Vancouver International Jazz Festival this June 20 – July 1, 2025. Catch up on all our festival flashbacks here. Do you have a great festival memory? Share your story with us.
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