Entertainment
Jazz Festival
By Michael White published Jun 1, 2010
The TD Canada Trust Vancouver International Jazz Festival has always been more gleefully eclectic than its name. Having hosted hundreds of artists whose styles align closer to pop, R&B, electronica, and various permutations of world music, the fest is more an embodiment of the original purpose of jazz: to subvert, surprise, and continually move forward. Last year, in the absence of a headline act (a Diana Krall, say, or Norah Jones), the VIJF embraced that eclecticism more than ever. This summer’s edition—its 25th—does likewise.
Several luminaries are playing the Centre for Performing Arts: Chick Corea (a pianist who has performed with everyone from Miles Davis to Herbie Hancock); Stanley Clarke (the bassist whose group Return to Forever helped pioneer jazz-rock fusion in the 1970s); Montreal singer-songwriter Martha Wainwright performing a program of Edith Piaf songs; and Brazilian bossa nova treasure Joyce Moreno. Plus, an Urban Groove series at the Commodore Ballroom mixes hip-hop (Antipop Consortium), with turntable wizardry (Kid Koala), minimalist blues-rock (Vancouver’s own the Pack A.D.), and much more. And for those whose love of music is trumped by their lack of finance, this year’s VIJF offers more free shows than ever, with performances from local and international acts in Gastown, on Granville Island, and—for one week—wherever one turns around.
Coastaljazz.ca