Banner photo of festival site by Victor Diaz Lamich.
Choices. There are easy ones and difficult ones in life. And when it comes to the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal, the choices always lean towards the difficult. There is just so much good music going on from mid-afternoon until after midnight at the eighteen different stages of the festival. Sometimes you can try to catch one half of one set and then make a beeline through the crowds to catch at least 15 minutes of another. But just as often, you find yourself halfway and pulled to catch some of an artist you hadn't even put on your list.
The music festival, its 44th edition, took place from June 27 to July 6, mostly around the Quartier des Spectacles in downtown Montreal. Many cities have entertainment districts, but few have so integrated the architecture of their cities to promote the arts as Montreal. This year saw over 350 shows crammed into those 10 days within the Quartier, with several other jazz clubs in the city serving as satellite venues. Of those 350 shows, two-thirds were free, with the remainder big-name ticketed shows.
This year featured an incredible mix of elder statesmen jazz artists, including Al di Meola, Stanley Clarke and Kenny Garrett, and modern jazz notables like Robert Glasper, Joshua Redman, Chief Adjuah (formerly Christian Scott), (former Rolling Stones backup singer) Lisa Fischer and Marcus Miller. There were the pop, hip-hop, blues and rock acts to round out the jazz including Kurt Vile, Norah Jones, Cedric Burnside and Killer Mike. This year's festival closing performance was provided by The Cinematic Orchestra, an interesting choice for sure.
As always, world music always takes a front seat in the programming of the festival, as Montreal is one of the most ethnically-diverse cities in North America, if not the world.
“In various areas of society, the notion of borders is fading away, and the same goes for our beloved jazz. Our incredible programming team has the duty and the pleasure of reflecting this healthy evolution,” noted festival programmer Maurin Auxéméry in a press release.
Montreal itself has a vital jazz music scene, represented this year first and foremost by a killer headlining performance by Haitian-Quebec singer Dominique Fils-Aimé. Also notable performances include pianists Marianne Trudel and Adres Viál (with a percussion ensemble featuring Burkina Faso-Quebec balafonist Mamadou Koita and Congolese-Quebec percussionist Elli Miller Maboungou), a 90th birthday tribute to the great local jazz legend Oliver Jones, saxophonist Alex Ambroise who won this year's Oliver Jones award and Ivory Coast-Quebec drummer Donald Dogbo, among others. One standout for us was certainly the Haitian-Quebec pianist Theo Abellard and his trio, including his accomplished bass player and wife, Marie-Ketely.
Abellard also took part in an emotionally-stirring project at the festival entitled “The Haitian Revolution Through the Jazz Tradition,” which also featured outstanding vocals from Haitian-American singer Melanie Charles. After the concert, one of the percussionists spoke during a q&a session about how, while he was born in Canada, the drum he was playing made the journey there from Haiti, and how every time he plays it he thinks of what that journey that eventually carried the drum to him was like.
There were so many highlights and amazing performances this year. To give a quick rundown of our absolute favorites – in no particular order – was an ecstatic set from Ugandan-British Alfa Mist with his mix of jazz and hip-hop; we melted into our chair listening to the voice of Angolan-Portuguese Fado diva Ana Moura (we will soon post an interview with Moura); Brooklyn jazz/soul/gospel keyboardist Cory Henry teleported the packed outdoor audience to his funky church; Caribbean-British musician Shabaka Hutchings put down his saxophone to play an entire set with various flutes from around the world, instruments he began learning to play during the pandemic, and that he described as “spiritual music” in the sense that when we think of someone “being spirited” they are full of energy, and so “spiritual music” should fill you with positive energy; La Lom (which stands for Los Angeles League of Musicians) grooved us with their Latino meets surf guitar sound; Nigerian-British singer Ego Ella May and Cameroonian-American singer Ekep Nkwelle both delighted us in very different ways (and we'll be featuring interviews with them shortly), the incredibly energetic Thai-Canadian drummer Salin who brings together traditional Northern Thai sounds and Afrobeat rhythms; Lakicia Benjamin from Brooklyn's Dominican neighborhood, who has performed with an impressive array of artists including Anita Baker to Stevie Wonder, delivered a knock-out set demonstrated that she definitely knows how to put the “show” in show business; and Mexican cumbia/punk band Son Rompa Pera who performed during a downpour which nevertheless kept the crowd dancing in the rain.
Other world music acts of note included Tuareg guitar band Etran de l'Air, the Django Festival Allstars, Os Mutantes from Brazil (only featuring one original member), and the Congolese group Kin'Gongolo Kiniata (who will also be performing at Nuits d'Afrique festival next week).
Also, special mention to two recent additions to the retro-soul label Daptone that performed on the big stage during the festival. Thee Sinners, a Los Angeles-based ensemble pays tribute to the lush SoCal Latino soul music of the 1960's. The band originally came together as a touring band for soul legend Brenton Wood ("The Oogum Boogum Song" and "Gimme Little Sign"). The other, another Southern California-based group, Thee Sacred Souls, offer soul-stirring vocals begging comparisons to Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield.
Finally, Vieux Farka Touré received the 2024 Antonio Carlos Jobim award for his contribution to global music. Touré was supposed to perform at the festival last year, but at the last minute was denied a visa to come. We had a few moments to speak with him before his performance at Club Soda, which we'll post soon.
All in all, it was a great event to remember and we look forward to discovering even more music at the festival next summer.
