It’s fitting that the cover of the 1990 jazz festival guidebook featured an image of artists playing instruments atop a cityscape background. In just five years, the annual music fest had exploded to new heights. The previous year’s event drew about 100,000 people – a 30 percent jump over 1988 – and the team at Coastal Jazz anticipated a similar increase in attendance over 1989. From June 22 to July 2, jazz took over the city. The whole city.
Once again the calendar featured an abundant mix of concerts, club shows and free programming, with a whopping 500 artists featured at 20 venues across Vancouver. You could find Milton Nascimento or Fraser MacPherson with the Concord All-Stars at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre and Vancouver Playhouse. Former Miles Davis sidemen Bob Berg and Mike Stern Band at the Commodore. Jazz Passengers and Ray Anderson Quartet at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre. John Scofield, Holly Cole and Shirley Horn Trio hitting the club scene. Or enjoy free music throughout the ten days at Pacific Centre, Oakridge Centre and Granville Island. The jazz fest had fully arrived in Vancouver.
“The whole city is our stage.”
That year was the first time Coastal Jazz offered free programming with a new Gastown Jazz series. Billed as a party on Water Street, it showcased artists from across Canada, US, Scotland and Brazil.
“Dancing in the streets is an integral part of jazz festival programming in New Orleans, Montreal, Montreux, and other international centres. But it had never been tried in Vancouver until this year, when the organizers of the du Maurier International Jazz Festival and the Gastown Merchants Association teamed up to present Gastown Jazz, two afternoons worth of live music on the streets in the popular tourist district.” (Georgia Straight)
“Vancouver’s jazz festival, though still in its infancy, is already the subject of wide critical acclaim among the international jazz community for its intelligent planning and selection of performers.” (Where Vancouver) As always the programmers emphasized a certain level of musical risk in an attempt to broaden the idea of what jazz is and destroy a few stereotypes along the way. Artists ran the gamut from traditional to free jazz, blues, electronic and world music.
“Vancouver always has been a haven for urban naturalists, and in recent years it has also become a cosmopolitan rival to San Francisco as a showpiece for the emerging culture of the Pacific Rim. But during its annual jazz festival, the booming Canadian city offers a sophisticated summer adventure that can’t be duplicated on the west coast.” (The Oregonian)
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