All that jazz

It’s the fourth year Kent Sangster has been at the helm of the Edmonton International Jazz Festival and he’s feeling pretty good about it.

There’s a boogie-woogie feeling of anticipation and discovery in waiting for that incredible artistic mosaic to roll out its personality from June 24 to July 4 at numerous venues across Edmonton.

Festival founder Sangster knows it’s all about the talent presented. Last fall he received 400 hard copy submissions and hundreds of online applications. From those he chose about 70 and he’s featuring a combination of established stars with lower profile artists. Here is a sample of what Sangster has lined up.

There is a palatable excitement in the air for Thursday’s festival opener, Chick Corea on solo piano. The living legend is one of the most prolific composers of the second half of the 20th century. Corea has dived into an astonishing number of musical bases — avant-garde to bebop, children’s songs to straight-ahead jazz and hard-hitting fusion to classical.

The American pianist of Sicilian/Spanish extraction is one of the most influential musicians of the jazz catalogue, having recorded with countless luminaries such as Cab Calloway, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, BĂ©la Fleck and Chaka Khan. Since 1973, he’s recorded more than 15 albums and received 14 Grammy Awards. “He’s just phenomenal,” says Sangster.

In one of the strongest double bills of the festival, Toronto’s Terry Clark Trio opens for Corea. The hard bop trio, a “no-apologies eclectic” group, brings out a buoyant swing and quick, responsive accompaniment to their gigs.

Celebrated Montreal pop-jazz chanteuse Nikki Yanofsky, 15, returns after a sold out concert in 2009. This time around the young girl with the big voice pairs up with internationally renowned jazz vocalist John Pizzarelli on Tuesday, June 29, also at the Winspear.

Yanofsky’s style and effortless delivery made her the choice to sing the 2010 Vancouver Olympic’s anthem, I Believe, a tune that jumped to No. 1 on the Hot 100.

“What makes her different is that if you close your eyes, she sounds like Ella Fitzgerald and can sing traditional jazz. She’s an old soul and she truly likes what she does. She is a powerful message entity.”

Part of the festival is to promote good local jazz in a non-exclusionary way. Sangster founded the Edmonton Jazz Orchestra, an 18-piece band that also includes St. Albert bassist John Taylor. It debuted at the Yardbird Suite in 2006 and has developed a broad audience. Once again, the band releases its groove with a concert at the MacLab Theatre on Friday, June 25.

And jazz aficionados Tommy Banks, Rollanda Lee and Dave Bennett team up with Peter Appleyard of the All Star Swing Band for a Dixieland/swing Salute to Benny Goodman on Wednesday, June 30 at the MacLab. “You can’t get any better than that.”

Sangster predicts Sardinian Latin jazz singer Franca Masu will be the surprise hit at the festival. Although virtually unknown in the Edmonton area, she has a strong following in Europe. Slated to sing on Tuesday, June 29 at the Yardbird Suite, Masu is “very expressive. She has an incredible passion. She’s very romantic, almost sexual.”

Another artist to watch is Ola Onabule, a soul singer of R&B, jazz and funk. An African expatriate, he resides in England and is just making himself known across Canada. “There are few artists like him. He’s a fantastic singer and when he’s on stage he’s very magnetic. Imagine Seal but as soul, jazz and gospel singer.”

Onabule will sing at Jazz in the Park on Sunday, June 26 and later that night at the MacLab Theatre in a double bill with The Black Pioneer Heritage Singers. Former St. Albert resident Junetta Jamerson spearheaded this small Edmonton chorus to promote and preserve 100 years of Alberta’s black musical history.

Festival organizers are heavily promoting the free family-based Jazz in the Park from noon to 7 p.m. at Louise McKinney Park. First introduced last year, it attracted more than 5,000 jazz lovers of every age. “This is an event that allows a maximum amount of people to get a feel for it. And if they buy a ticket for a different event, that’s great,” Sangster says.

He acknowledges it’s different playing in an outdoor environment and it takes a special band to cut the distance between the stage and audience, overcome distractions and harness the crowd energy.

Kick-starting the festival at noon is drumming sensation Sandro Dominelli. Back in September 2009, the former St. Albert resident recorded his fourth contemporary jazz album, The Alvo Sessions, with the Indian-inspired guitar of Rez Abbasi and the electric bass of Chris Tarry. The trio is scheduled for a cross-Canada jazz festival tour and it’s launching at Jazz in the Park.

“It’s going to have a more festive feel than if you were indoors. Your clients are more diverse. It’s family oriented and you might play the tempo a little brighter and there might be more energy in the music,” Dominelli says.

Jazz lovers that prefer the intimacy of smaller clubs for late night jams have a choice of half a dozen venues including the Yardbird, Central Park Lounge, Blue Chair CafĂ© and Copper Pot. One venue, Jeffrey’s CafĂ©, affectionately dubbed “the divas’ den” is the exclusive domain of female singers.

And the bill is pretty solid starting with St. Albert’s own Lori Mohacsy performing on Tuesday, June 29 at 9 p.m. Mohacsy, whose voice is compared to the warm sound of Rosemary Clooney, plans to sing a series of jazz standards from the American songbook.

Mohacsy has nothing but high praise for the other five singers performing on different nights. “Rollanda Lee is the Peggy Lee of Edmonton. Shelley Jones can sing anything. She’s an amazing blues, R&B, jazz and pop singer. And Anna Beaumont can hit notes I don’t even dream of.”

For a complete festival line-up visit www.edmontonjazz.com.