32nd Annual Montreal Jazz Festival

One of the musical highlights of 2011 was our visit to the 32nd Annual Montreal Jazz Festival in the beautiful and historical downtown Canadian city. The presentation is epic: During two weeks in every summer, numerous outdoor stages dot the urban city center, while intimate and acoustically perfect indoor venues (some sparkling new, and others antique) offer outstanding musical performances from international and local musicians. The music is eclectic, including traditional and avant-garde jazz, blues, pop, rock, and even cabaret. The burgeoning crowd swells like the St. Lawrence River, plunged into realms of musical excellence. Here are some of the treasured highlights: The Dave Holland Quintet featured Robin Eubanks on trombone, Steve Nelson on Vibes and the amazing Chris Potter on tenor and soprano saxophone. “Easy did it” featured a New Orleans-style funky arrangement, “What goes round” was majestic, rising to a crescendo when Potter unspooled a perfect solo, and “Lucky 7” was spontaneous combustion in all its musical glory. One of the most outstanding and challenging sets was offered by Rudresh Mahanthappa, featuring the legendary Bunky Green. This was saxophone nirvana, as the artist spun webs of notes mixed with Indian mysticism and post-bop madness. Quite exiting stuff! The stage, set in a gothic castle, only added to the mystique. Madeleine Peyroux’s intimate set featured slow-burning versions of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen tunes, highlighted by flourishes of Gary Versace’s accordion. Her band played many songs from her latest release, “Standing On The Rooftop”. The cabaret atmosphere on songs like” Don’t Wait To Long” and “Love or Money” was elegant, and her playful version of Lennon-McCartney’s quirky “Martha My Dear” hit its mark. Don Byron’s flowing clarinet and swinging tenor sax embellished the gospel compositions of Thomas A. Dorsey, featuring the magnificent E.K. Dyson (Who wore the best hat of the festival) on vocals. Byron’s band turned the concert hall into a cathedral, featuring gospel classics, “Traveling On The King’s Highway”, “Precious Memories”, and a sassy and brassy version of “Take My Hand, Precious Lord”. Hallelujah! One of the most innovative quartets was the Jacob Fred Odyssey, featuring a lap steel guitar and a piano player who attacked the keyboards like Cecil Taylor. An original composition, “Redwood Trees” creped in like an early morning fog only to explode moments later with a surf of thunderous feedback, snarling guitar, and thumping upright bass. They even combined classical and hip-hop on the adventurous original, “Dre-Thoven”. Grace Kelly played exquisitely featuring “The Man With The Hat”, Phil Woods, also on saxophone. Benny Carter’s classic, “People Time”, was strong and soothing. Kurt Rosenwinkel played a subdued solo set, tinkering with familiar arrangements of “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” and “Ruby My Dear”. He is a guitar virtuoso, but the moody arrangements did not appeal to everyone. Free-bop is not everyone’s cup of tea, but many audience members were attentive and appreciative of the technical wizardry on the strings. Jeremy Pelt featured his new release, “Wired”, which had Miles Davis-style nuances, and the influence of Freddie Hubbard fusion. His band members hit stratospheric notes throughout the set. Trio Pilc, featuring Jean Michael Pilc on piano, Ari Hoenig on drums and Francois Moutin on bass, reinterpreted standards such as “Stella by Starlight” and “Monk’s Mood”. The arrangements were crisp, simple and expressive. Holy Cole presented Tom Waits tunes – her performance had a quiet intensity, and brought eloquence to lyrics way left of center. You could close your eyes and imagine film noirish scenes set to the music. Regina Carter’s extraordinary band took you from Mali to Madagascar, with a side trip through the cotton fields of Mississippi…. Swells of accordion matched her fine violin playing throughout her “Reverse Thread” set, leaving an enchanted audience quite satisfied. The whole band played warm and efficiently, brushing broad strokes of color across the arrangements. Christian McBride combined humorous anecdotes with musical excellence with his “Inside Straight” band, highlighted by the vibraphonist, the young phenomenon, Warren Wolf. “Theme For Kareem”, “Where Are You”, and “Stick and Move” covered a lot of basses. Several legends put on strong sets: Billie Holiday’s classics were uncorked by the charismatic Dee Dee Bridgewater, Tony Bennett, 85 years young, sang with consistent verve and power, and Marianne Faithful filtered her unique interpretations through smoky and steamy sets. The old and familiar were tempered by the young and avant-garde, such as “Fly”, featuring Mark Turner on tenor and soprano sax, Larry Grenadier on bass, and Jeff Ballard on drums – they highlighted tunes from their latest release, “Festival Time”, and the arrangements went from breezy to greasy to haunting and flaunting. Turner’s saxophone, jutting skyward at the end of “Kingston” was a splendid finish to a tune that played like finely cut glass. For the younger crowd, the festival offered pop music ranging from the free spirit of the B-52’s to the folk songs of Don McLean to Peter Frampton coming alive (somewhat). Lots of local Canadian bands were featured, some very good, some needing a bit more practice. Of the non-star performances, two stood out as musically excellent and exciting – Southside Johnny’s Jersey shore R&B and legendary Rockabilly Queen, Wanda Jackson, were simply rollicking! Aside from the music, Montreal offers numerous cultural highlights, including European architecture and world-class museums. The culinary highlights are varied – but make sure you sample the bagels and the smoked meat. Side trips to Quebec City and New England are easy jumps from Montreal, and could be very entertaining and fulfilling in their scenic splendor. However, the jazz music is the core f the apple. Next June and July, check out the newest addition of one of the world’s premier festivals. Bon Temps Roulet!

Summer Concert Series

Overtown Rhythm & Arts Fest

Sergio Barroso

32nd Annual Montreal Jazz Festival