The resurgence of jazz music in the 2000’s resulted in a new breed of headlining acts for jazz festivals at large. Sure, there were still plenty of living legends around, like the 76-year old Sonny Rollins who kicked off the 2007 Vancouver International Jazz Festival at the Orpheum Theatre. Downbeat called him the “greatest saxophone player since Charlie Parker’s explosion on the scene in the 40’s.” Cesaria Evora, then in her late 60’s, made a special pre-festival appearance.
But jazz music’s up and comers were coming in hot. Trumpeter Chris Botti, already considered one of the hottest young musicians by 2007, made his debut appearance at the festival that year, as did the wildly successful Norah Jones.
It wasn’t just audiences that were into the music. Corporate brands wanted in on the action too. Three out of four of the above artists were presented by big brands like Bose and Cathay Pacific. These corporate sponsorships would have provided essential funding to pay for artist fees, venue rental and production costs, an important lifeline for any music presenter, but particularly a non-profit.
Once again, the festival took over the city for ten days in June with more than 1,800 musicians performing 400 concerts at venues large and small, indoor and outdoor. The Festival continued to create new series to house different musical tastes and genres.
The Classic Sounds Series included Holly Cole at The Centre with a young Michael Kaeshammer. It’s a funny coincidence that Kaeshammer and Botti were both booked at the 2007 festival; they would later appear on the same bill at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre as headliners of the 2023 Festival. Nat King Cole’s little brother also appeared that year as the Freddy Cole Quartet, not to mention the Oliver Jones Trio, “Canada’s undisputed heavyweight champion of jazz piano” (Montreal Gazette), Brazilian singer/songwriter Bebel Gilberto and Joshua Redman Trio with The Bad Plus.
The Innovation Series at the Cultch featured the Brad Turner Quartet, Vijay Iyer (dubbed one of “today’s most important pianists” by The New Yorker) with his quartet, François Houle Tentet, and the nine-piece New Jungle Orchestra led by Danish guitarist Pierre Derge, among others. Fun fact? Vijay Iyer would also appear the 2023 festival for a project with Arooj Aftab and Shahzad Ismaily, the same year as Botti and Kaeshammer. What goes around comes around, and after 40 years, could still come around again!
The Songs Etc. Series packed Performance Works nightly with unexpected delights from around the globe, or as The Vancouver Sun noted, “has been eclectic and accessible, and not exclusively what some still call “world music.”
The European contingent included the “New Dutch Swing” (borrowed from writer Kevin Whitehead), known for top-notch improvisers and composers, with familiar names like Hans Bennink, Tony Wilson, Dylan van der Schyff, François Houle, Mary Oliver, Torsten Muller. Finland’s UMO Jazz Orchestra – ranked among the world’s top big bands and conducted by Kimmo Lintinen – appeared at The Cultch. Swedish saxophonist/clarinetist Fredrik Ljungkvist, best known as a member of the Nordic jazz group Atomic, appeared with an all-star ensemble at jazz fest Yun Kan 5. Another hotly anticipated performance was Norway’s Jazzland Community, an all-star celebration of Oslo’s ten-year old Jazzland label.
Internally, 2007 was the first year of major change to the Coastal Jazz team since the festival was born. Robert Kerr, one of festivals three co-founders and Executive Director of Coastal Jazz since its inception in 1985, had left to join the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) in preparation for the 2010 Olympic Games and Paralympic Winter Games. The 2007 Festival happened to include three members of Coastal’s current staff. Jeremy Page (Co-Artistic Director) and Stephen Lyons (Artist Coordinator and bio writer extraordinaire) both performed with their respective bands. Eduardo Ottoni had been a Coastal Jazz production manager for years, and is the Director of Operations today.
Correction: In last week’s flashback post we failed to attribute the founding of the Vancouver Creative Music Initiative (VCMI) in 2005 to the correct individual. While many people were instrumental in getting the VCMI off the ground, Coastal’s then-Director of Education, Dr. Julie Dawn Smith, deserves full credit for leading the creation of the program and ushering it into existence with the VCC. Dr. Julie Smith took over the role of Executive Director from Robert Kerr in 2007.
Head to our Instagram or Facebook to view the entire 2007 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.
