Notes and tones: Jazz festivals offer exciting road-trip options
Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part column covering upcoming jazz festivals. Part two will cover additional festivals, including the parade of Labor Day Weekend events.
In his April 21 entry titled “These summer music festivals are a day's drive or less from Columbia,” Aarik Danielsen, my erstwhile editor here at the Tribune — who routinely manages to make me look as if I know what I’m talking about — mentioned eight larger-scale events set to take place, all within driving distance.
Most happen in bordering states such as Kentucky and Tennessee to the southeast, Illinois and Iowa to the north, Nebraska to the northwest and, of course, right here in Missouri’s two largest cities, Kansas City and St. Louis.
Unfortunately — but not surprisingly — with the exception of the free Mo Jazz Fest taking place Sept. 10 at Rose Music Hall, we “jazzers” have to travel farther to get our jazz festival fix.
The lingering pandemic — perhaps still on the increase — notwithstanding, the upcoming jazz festival “season” begins in earnest just a month from now and runs steadily through the summer and into fall. String them all together, and you have a composite of great music performed by a lot of great musicians all over the world.
Canada
We begin directly to the north, in Canada. Long established, the 2022 version of the Canadian jazz festivals opens June 14 in Winnipeg and runs close to nonstop through July 9 in Montreal.
TD, the financial trade and bank institution, serves as the current title sponsor for most of the festivals — which run simultaneously in some cases, have overlapping dates in others and dove-tailed dates in still other instances, making it possible for attendees and performers to move from place to place in a quasi-organized fashion.
All told, there are close to 10 Canadian jazz festivals that take place across the country. Sometimes the dates and locations don’t exactly cooperate; this leads people to hopscotch and double back in certain instances. For instance, the TD Winnipeg Jazz Festival runs from June 14-19, whereas Victoria Jazz Festival runs from June 24 to July 3. These two locales are approximately 1,500 miles apart.
However, closer to Victoria sits Vancouver, a much shorter — relatively speaking — 3 1/2 hour drive to the north. Then there’s the Calgary Jazz Festival that runs from June 29 to July 3, the exact time frame as the Edmonton International Jazz Festival.
Coordinating one’s Canadian festival-hopping can get confusing. For instance, traveling from Victoria to Montreal — 47 hours by car — might underscore Canada’s beautiful topography, but tackling such a voyage is certainly daunting, perhaps leading someone to ask themselves: “Why should I include the Montreal Jazz Festival in my Canada jazz fest list?
For starters, it’s the largest, most geographically expansive event held within a single municipality. The Montreal Jazz Festival is nothing short of intoxicating and overwhelming. But, if you can take it in, manage your time accordingly; you’ll realize after the fact what a massive project you just attended. Beyond that, to skip Montreal as part of your north-of-the-border jazz festival circuit is tantamount to blasphemy!
This year’s Festival international de Jazz de Montréal runs June 30-July 9. More than 350 concerts, two-thirds of those free, will take place during the 42nd edition of the festival. Similar to many of the largest jazz festivals, those who go can expect to encounter a genre potpourri; be advised, this event puts forth a large and varied sonic umbrella.
In Montreal, this year’s artist roster includes The Roots, Joey Bada$$, Lee Fields, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats and Tommy Emmanuel. All share the spotlight with the likes of Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, The Manhattan Transfer and Kamasi Washington. Montreal truly covers the aural waterfront with a multi-cultural, international cast of thousands.
To see the upcoming Canadian festival-by-festival dates and list of performers, visit http://www.jazzfestivalscanada.ca/festivals/.
Newport and Monterey
Back in the United States, there is no shortage of exceptional, expansive jazz festivals. Among them a pair of the longest-running affairs: Newport Jazz Festival, which the late impresario George Wein began in the Rhode Island shore town in 1954; and the Monterey Jazz Festival, which the late Jimmy Lyons began a year later.
Newport, considered the oldest jazz festival in the world, now has bassist Christian McBride taking the artistic director reins; this year’s edition takes place July 29-31. Closer to that of a “pure” jazz festival, artists appearing include Terence Blanchard, The Mingus Big Band, Esperanza Spalding, Maria Schneider Orchestra, Emmet Cohen, Antonio Sanchez and Cécile McLorin Salvant. The complete list of performers is at https://www.newportjazz.org/.
Meanwhile, the Monterey Jazz Festival takes place the third weekend in September, a schedule it has adhered to for most, if not all, of its 65 years. Like its East Coast cousin, MJF, running September 25-27, remains primarily an all-jazz endeavor.
It does get pulled in different directions occasionally; a number of years ago, Pete Seeger performed on the 5,500-capacity Lyons stage.
Among this year’s performers: Dee Dee Bridgewater, Kurt Elling, Gregory Porter and a reuniting of Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau, Brian Blade and McBride under the banner A Moodswing Reunion. Learn more at https://montereyjazzfestival.org/.
Both Newport Jazz Festival and Monterey Jazz Festival run as well-oiled machines at this point. They are held in spaces open to the public year-round — one in a state park, the other in the county fairgrounds — which gives each a laid-back and enjoyable vibe.
Jon W. Poses is executive director of the “We Always Swing” Jazz Series. Reach him at jazznbsbl@socket.net.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Notes and tones: Jazz festivals offer exciting road-trip options
