PREVIEW
Edmonton International Jazz Festival
June 22 to July 1
Winspear, Triffo Theatre, Varscona Theatre, Starlite Room, Capital Plaza at Alberta Legislature Grounds, Bellamy’s Lounge, Yardbird Suite, Blue Chair Café, Café Blackbird
Tickets: Prices vary from free to $49 plus service charges. Visit www.edmontonjazz.com
There’s only one thing that Kent Sangster loves more than talking about jazz, and that’s playing his saxophone with edgy, like-minded musicians.
Not only is he one of Canada’s top-tier jazz musicians, he’s also the primary driver for the Edmonton International Jazz Festival playing June 22 to July 1 at 10 different venues.
Part of the festival’s ongoing success is its ability to harness the voracious and diverse musical appetite of fans with an eclectic mix of music.
This year Sangster’s broad lineup of musicians from across North America and Europe will captivate jazz purists, world music fans, fusion lovers, soul nostalgics, funk freaks and Latin aficionados.
The first marquee band announcement of Snarky Puppy set the buzz pumping and drew appreciative support from fans eager to see them perform at the Winspear on Monday, June 25.
Snarky Puppy, the three-time Grammy Award winning jazz and funk collective, tours with anywhere from nine to 12 members. At its core, the band unites black and white American music into a defining cultural sound that resonates with a wide spectrum. The funk band is contemporary, but still accessible.
“Snarky Puppy has quite a following on YouTube. They’re not a revolutionary jazz band, but because of a successful online element, they’ve utilized it to their benefit and brought in spectacular guests. Anyone 25 to 35 knows who they are. They’re trendy, but they have substance and they’re positive and upbeat,” said Sangster.
A second feature super group is Spanish Harlem Orchestra, a two-time Grammy winning Salsa and Latin jazz band that has long set the bar for authentic New York style hard-core salsa.
This 13-musician jazz salsa powerhouse has recorded four albums and received as many Grammy nominations. Loud and proud they deliver a full-force performance whether it’s a majestic concert hall or an alfresco outdoor stage.
“They’re a traditional salsa Latin band. It combines different style – Spanish, Cuban, and African. It’s very melodic and this is a concert you could take your mother to,” Sangster said.
Back by popular request is the Manchester-based piano trio GoGo Penguin with pianist Chris Illingworth, bassist Nick Blacka and drummer Rob Turner.
“Their music is described as acoustic-electronica or jazztronica. They have elements of new jazz and electronica with digital elements. It’s also very popular among youth.”
Another big highlight is Ghost-Note, spearheaded by multi-Grammy award-winning artists Robert "Sput" Searight and Nate Werth. Sangster first spotted the ensemble about four years ago after dropping by Hermann’s Jazz Club in Victoria.
“The bassist, Mono Neon, he looks like Snoop Dog and he’s an unbelievable bass player. He played eight measures of music. It was very new. It was very fresh, but it was still rooted in jazz. It was like Prince meets Sonny Rollins. This group is crazy and it’s very exciting to get a chance to show them.”
One act with an incredible story is Johnny O’Neal, an American Neo-bop jazz pianist and vocalist whose range extends from the technically virtuosic to tender ballads.
“Oscar Peterson recommended he play Art Tatum (jazz elder) in a movie. Oscar believed he was the greatest living pianist at the time. Johnny plays piano better than Tommy Banks, but he had AIDS and vanished for 20 years. He’s brilliant. He’s quirky and self-taught. He’s a real street musician. It’s neat to support a musician in his mid to late sixties. It’s a tip of the hat to old veterans.”
For straight-ahead jazz purists, Al Muirhead is the Tommy Banks of Calgary. Celebrated as a western Canadian icon, the Juno-nominated trumpeter has 26 albums to his credit.
“It’s inspiring to see a guy his age still going strong. It’s really important to reach new heights, but to sustain it this long is another matter.”
Award winning jazz songstress, vocalist and songwriter Laila Biali is on tour with her new self-titled album. This album has more of a pop flavour with a series of musical interludes popularized by Regina Specktor, Rachael Yamagata and Sara Bareilles.
Allison Au Quartet is going up against the same time slot as Snarky Puppy, however Sangster is confident the award-winning saxophonist can draw the crowds.
“Allison is a great example of younger ladies playing great music. I want to support the ladies as we should, but Allison is not in the festival because she’s a lady. But because she’s a good musician and role model.”
Local musicians
Similar to Laila Biali, St. Albert’s own Chandelle Rimmer and her musical partner Tom Van Seters released the 11-track Stillness Falls in April 2018. The contemporary album looks at the vocalist in multiple roles, not just using text but scatting as well.“We look beyond the melody lines. In some of the songs, I’m singing a line with no lyrics. Instead I’m using scat to deliver a melody,” says Rimmer.
The songs deliver a free-flowing sound easy on the ears. But the content varies dramatically from Night Wind, an ode to the therapeutic, rejuvenating quality of breezes to Cowboy Jazz, a simple poetic story about a lone cowboy on the prairies to the title track Stillness Falls with its dark, ominous mood.
The duo performs at Bellamy Lounge on Saturday, June 23 at 5 p.m.
Former Sturgeon County trombonist Remi Noel and his sophisticated sextet appear as part of the free performances given daily at Capital Plaza on the Legislature Grounds. Noel and the sextet debut Wednesday, June 27 from noon to 2 p.m.
Accompanying him are St. Albert bassist John Taylor, drummer Jamie Cooper, pianist Chris Andrew, tenor saxophonist Jeremiah McDade, trumpeter Joel Gray and guitarist Brett Hanson.
Within the last few months, Noel recorded an acoustic album, Canola Bloom Yellow, due for release in Nov. 2018.
“My concept for the music was trying to think of visual experiences to describe different places I’d been to. I have the visual experience of living in rural Alberta and I spent six months in London, England where you have a more energetic, more electric sound.”
His instrumental Day Moon was inspired by how Alberta skies occasionally reflect moons during daylight hours. Contrasting that, the chart London Underground reflects the noisy vibrancy of the London Tube.
Sangster encourages the jazz community to attend A Musical Tribute for Rollanda Lee at the Yardbird Suite on July 1.
Raised in Legal’s Hebert family, the local chanteuse went on to become a lyric soprano and one of Edmonton’s most popular Klondike Kates. She travelled across North America, Japan and parts of Europe and sang in seven languages.
Although her travels took her far and away, she always returned home. Over the years, Lee took over as president of the Edmonton Dixieland Jazz Society and was a regular feature at the jazz festival.
Sangster notes the festival has a price point for every pocket and encourages fans to explore and experiment in the discovery of new music.
“It’s not about who you know. It’s about who you don’t know. It’s about discovering the next Justin Bieber of the jazz world."
