In the midst of 2003’s major news headlines like SARS, the US-led, post-9/11 invasion of Iraq, and the first same-sex marriage in Canada, the Vancouver Jazz Festival began with its own breaking news. On the eve of the festival, the Coastal Jazz offices were broken into and the phone lines cut just as 1,700 artists were on deck for 400 shows. Yikes! These were the days of flip phones with limited texting capability. (All these years later, we wouldn’t be surprised if some staffers still suffered post-traumatic stress from that.)
But the show must go on – and go on it did. The 18th annual Jazz Fest broke all attendance records, drawing 440,000 to free and ticketed shows, selling out 20 venues and packing David Lam Park with the biggest crowd ever.
Once again the vast number of shows were organized by series – mainstream acts, well established names, emerging artists, international improvisers, blues, world and so on – and by venue. As Downbeat noted, “Mixing and matching avant-gardists in various ad hoc groups is a specialty,” of the Vancouver festival. Since its inception, the Festival created multiple-artist bills and fusing local musicians with artists from different parts of the world.
The Orpheum hosted Festival headliners – Cabo Veridian “barefoot diva” Cesaria Evora and Holly Cole and Denzel Sinclaire. The “tired” Vogue was replaced by the Centre for the Performing Arts where you could see the likes of jazz icon Wayne Shorter Quartet with a bona fide supergroup of players, Joshua Redman’s Elastic Band, Patricia Barber, John Scofield, and Medeski Martin & Wood.
The New Groove Series at the Commodore featured Little Feat, Cinematic Orchestra, k-Os, art pop trio Blonde Redhead and a bouncy Senegalese dance band called Orchestra Baobab.
Improvisers like Dylan van der Schyff’s International Project and NOW Orchestra featuring trombonist George Lewis found their home at the Cultch. The Festival’s highly regarded European program returned with artists from Scandinavia, France and Holland. Two acts were among the most talked about – Swedish jazz piano trio E.S.T. received standing ovation at their Cultch show while Norwegian quartet Beady Belle enjoyed a sold out show.
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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 memorable festival memory? Share your story with us to win a 2025 Jazz Fest experience.
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