Gloria Song is a music writer for Apartment613. She also has her own band, Scary Bear Soundtrack.
The TD Ottawa International Jazz Festival announced its lineup for the 2012 season yesterday at the National Arts Centre’s Fourth stage. Claiming to have “the most ambitious programming schedule ever”, the schedule features 900 musicians playing 120 concerts over eleven days at more than half a dozen venues scattered across the city (including Kanata). A number of music giants such as Allen Toussaint, Daryl Hall (of Hall & Oates), Robert Cray, and Branford Marsalis will be playing in the nation’s capital from June 21 to July 1.
This year features a number of firsts for the 32nd year old festival. In collaboration with the French Embassy, the festival will include a Spotlight on French Jazz. Also, the Brookstreet Hotel has been added as a new venue, which is great news to commuters from Kanata like yours truly.
For me, this year’s highlights are the jazz bassists, especially Dave Holland, who is the festival’s very first artist-in-residence. Dave Holland’s show with Anouar Brahem and John Surman on June 23 at the beautiful First Baptist Church (another new venue this year) looks like a particularly special performance. There’s also the Mingus Big Band carrying on the spirit of the great jazz bass legend Charles Mingus, on June 28, and Canadian jazz bassist Chris Tarry on June 30.
I’m also looking forward to seeing jazz bassist Esperanza Spalding, who unexpectedly stole the 2011 Grammy Award for “Best New Artist” from Drake and Justin Bieber. Also a brilliant vocalist, Spalding is famous for beginning her career playing clubs in Portland at age fifteen knowing only one line on the bass. Obviously she’s learned more since, and has been dazzling audiences around the world.
I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Trombone Shorty perform before, who is undoubtedly the craziest trombone player I have ever seen, to the point where sometimes I worry that he is actually having a seizure. His act on Monday June 25 at Confederation Park, part of the New Orleans themed night, definitely will be worth catching.
On the less classical jazz, more popular pop side, Montreal’s Barr Brother will be doing the OLG Late Night Series on June 21 and Vancouver’s dreamy Destroyer will be playing on June 22. Also, have I mentioned that Steve Martin will be at the Jazz Festival? That’s right, you can catch the Father of the Bride and his banjo with the Steep Canyon Rangers at Confederation Park on Tuesday, June 26.
