TORONTO.-Juan Carlos Cordero (UNO International News Service). The TD Toronto Jazz Festival suffered on opening weekend last year because of the G20 summit mayhem, but not this year. Artistic director Josh Grossman said in an interview that ticket sales “should be more” this summer than the 2010 season, which generated $3.4 million.
Furthermore, he says, the festival "allows us to show off the outstanding jazz talent we have and allows the city to show off as a jazz town."
To attract fans, the festival will kicked off its 25th anniversary by returning to its roots at Roy Thomson Hall and offering a free concert Friday night at David Pecaut Square (formerly Metro Square) featuring the queen of soul, Aretha Franklin, who perform one hour and 15 minutes of some of her greatest hits and even a Simon & Garfunkel’s cover for “Bridge Over Troubled Waters”
The concert was made possible by a $365,000 grant from the provincial government's Celebrate Ontario funding program, and is expected to help attract not only local tourists but ones from as far away as Buffalo and Rochester, Grossman says.
The Aretha Franklin concert alone draw upwards more than 10,000 fans. Aretha Franklin even ended taking picture of the amazing feeling in the audience.
Grossman, who will be blogging daily about the festival here, says attendees will have a variety of music and performers to look forward to whether they’re into traditional jazz, improvisational music or bebop.
There will be something for everyone, he says.
This year’s festival will be welcoming its first comic Reggie Watts, its first opera singer Jessye Norman and a jazz first: the first-time legends, Branford Marsalis and Joey Calderazzo, will ever perform together on stage.
Each night, the main stage at David Pecaut Square -- the large public space bounded by Roy Thomson Hall, Metro Hall, King Street West and Wellington Street West -- will fill with music from some of the world’s most renowned performers, including soul and funk band, Average White Band (June 25), African soul singer Youssou N’Dour (June 26), American blues guitarist and singer Robert Cray (June 27), the Latin pop rock sensations Los Lonely Boys and Los Lobos (June 28).
Other main-stage performers will include U.S. jam band Bela Fleck and the Flecktones (June 30), hip hop group The Roots (July 1), funk bassist Bootsy Collins (July 2) and jazz singer Molly Johnson (June 29) who will also perform with the Legendary Count Basie Orchestra.
Toronto-native Johnson, who performed at the festival four years ago and often tours in Europe, loves to sing here.
“It’s always great to perform in my home town,” she told.
Her own guest list for the concert will be “outrageous,” she said, referring to the number of people attending.
She and her band, including members Mike Downes on bass, Robi Botos on piano, Ben Riley on drums and Colleen Allen on horns, will perform a mixture of songs Johnson has written, as well as jazz standards, including Lush Life.
For other musicians, such as Jessica Stuart, it’ll be their first time performing at the festival. The up-and-coming artist will be playing a free afternoon concert at the Shops at Don Mills with her band, the Jessica Stuart Few, on June 26.
Stuart, who has attended the festival every year since she moved to Toronto in 2007, said it was an honour to be selected by the festival’s artistic director to sing, and that it’ll be a chance for her to play her music for a bigger audience.
A native of Vancouver, Stuart said she will sing her own songs, including music from her first full-length album, Kid Dream.
The TD Toronto Jazz Festival runs until July 3. Visit www.torontojazz.com for tickets and information.You can follow the festival on Twitter using the hashtag, #torontojazzfest or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/torontojazzfest.
Some of the featured performances include:
Friday, June 24
-Aretha Franklin at David Pecaut Square, 8:30 p.m.
-The Dave Brubeck Quartet at the Royal Conservatory’s Koerner Hall, 8 p.m.
Saturday, June 25
-Average White Band plus Stax! featuring Steve Cropper, Duck Dunn & Eddie Floyd at David Pecaut Square, 8:30 p.m.
-Dave Holland Quintet at Harbourfront Centre’s Enwave Theatre, 7 p.m.
Sunday, June 26
-Youssou N'Dour (Dubmatix opening) at David Pecaut Square, 8:30 p.m.
-Randy Weston's African Rhythms at CBC’s Glenn Gould Studios, 6 p.m.
-Mose Allison Trio at Enwave Theatre, 7 p.m.
-Atomic at The Music Gallery, 8 p.m.
Monday, June 27
-Paco de Lucia at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, 8 p.m.
-The Robert Cray Band at David Pecaut Square, 8:30 p.m.
-Kurt Elling at Enwave Theatre, 7 p.m.
-Jacky Terrasson, Glenn Gould Studio, 6 p.m.
-Dee Dee Bridgewater & the Toronto Jazz Festival Orchestra at Koerner Hall, 8 p.m.
-Koptor at The Music Gallery, 8 p.m.
-Soulive at the Horseshoe Tavern, 9:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.
Tuesday, June 28
-Return to Forever IV, Sony Centre, 8 p.m.
-Los Lonely Boys/Los Lobos, David Pecaut Square, 8:30 p.m.
-Bad Plus, Enwave Theatre, 7 p.m.
-Vijay Iyer, Glenn Gould Studio, 6 p.m.
-Jessye Norman, Koerner Hall, 8 p.m.
-Gord Grdina Trio with Mats Gustafsson, Music Gallery 8 p.m.
Wednesday, June 29
-Molly Johnson/Legendary Count Basie Orchestra at David Pecaut Square, 8:30 p.m.
-Eliane Elias, Enwave Theatre, 7 p.m.
-Kenny Barron, Glenn Gould Studio, 6 p.m.
-Branford Marsalis & Joey Calderazzo, Koerner Hall, 8 p.m.
-Colin Stetson and Hat & Beard at The Music Gallery, 8 p.m.
-Reggie Watts, Yuk Yuk’s 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.
Thursday, June 30
-Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, David Pecaut Sqare, 8:30 p.m.
-Tigran Hamasyan with opening by Ugly Beauties, The Music Gallery, 8 p.m.
Friday, July 1
-The Roots, David Pecaut Square, 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 2
-Bootsy Collins, David Pecaut Square, 8:30 p.m.
-Marianne Trudel Septet, The Music Gallery, 8 p.m.
-Lee Fields & the Expressions, Horseshoe Tavern, 10 p.m.
Sunday, July 3
-Trio M at The Music Gallery, 8 p.m.
-Francois Bourassa Quartet at David Pecaut Square, 5:30 p.m.
Aretha Franklin / Opening - Jordan John & The Blues Angels
Venue: Toronto Star Stage at Metro Square
Mainstage Concerts presented by OLG, media sponsors Toronto Star, Citytv
Date: Fri Jun 24 8:30pm
Ticket Price: Free
Admission is free. Outdoor video screens at Metro Square will make the concert accessible for everyone. No tickets. No seating.
Wristband Policy for Access to the Marquee: A limited number of wristbands will be distributed at 4:00pm on Friday June 24th at the "Will Call" tent on the north side of Metro Square (near King Street)on a first come, first served basis.
Marquee doors opened at 7:00pm. Limit of 1 wristband per person.
Artist(s):
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin is the undisputed “Queen of Soul” and the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She is a singer of great passion and control whose finest recordings define the term soul music in all its deep, expressive glory. As Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun observed, “I don’t think there’s anybody I have known who possesses an instrument like hers and who has such a thorough background in gospel, the blues and the essential black-music idiom.…She is blessed with an extraordinary combination of remarkable urban sophistication and of the deep blues feeling that comes from the Delta. The result is maybe the greatest singer of our time.”
Franklin was born in Memphis and grew up in Detroit, where her father, Rev. C.L. Franklin, served as pastor at the New Bethel Baptist Church. One of the best-known religious orators of the day, Rev. Franklin was a friend and colleague of Martin Luther King. Aretha began singing church music at an early age, and recorded her first album, The Gospel Sound of Aretha Franklin, at fourteen. Her greatest influence was her aunt, Clara Ward, a renowned singer of sacred music. Beyond her family, Franklin drew from masters of the blues (Billie Holiday), jazz (Sarah Vaughn) and gospel (Mahalia Jackson), forging a contemporary synthesis that spoke to the younger generation in the new language of soul.
Jordan John & The Blues Angels
website: http://www.myspace.com/jordanpjohn
The Blues Angels are a polished and powerful trio from Toronto who reach across decades of age, experience and influence to create a reverent, yet fresh and groove-infused, take on the blues. Lead vocalist and guitarist Jordan John, at age 24, has already compiled a longer list of credits, and displays more assuredness and maturity, than many performers twice his age. Adept on guitar, drums, keyboards and bass, he’s shared stages with Jeff Healey, Prince, Wide Mouth Mason, Lucky Peterson and many others. Originally the drummer and now frontman for the Blues Angels, Jordan combines a warm, soulful and melodic voice with an astonishingly full range of guitar stylings, from precise, quick-pickin’ Memphis treble to searing, roaring Chicago slide. Drummer Al Cross's credits span virtually every genre of popular music. Bands he has anchored include Big Sugar, David Wilcox, Jane Siberry, Molly Johnson and Great Big Sea. Rock ‘n Roll Hall of fame bassist Prakash John needs no introduction, yet deserves the most. Performers he has recorded and toured with include George Clinton and Parliament/Funkadelic, Lou Reed and Alice Cooper, as well as his own brainchild, the Lincolns, Canada’s slickest and funkiest R&B band ever. As bassist on call for touring acts who need the support of the best, he’s shared stages with the Godfather of Soul, James Brown as well as blues legends Pinetop Perkins, Mike Bloomfield, The Blues Brothers and Junior Wells. It’s harder to describe the magic and force that come off the stage as soon as the Blues Angels launch into their opening number. Over the course of an evening, you’ll hear every influence, emotion and astonishing virtuosity from every member of the band. It’s a compelling and exuberant mix of influences, all honed and distilled into a traditional blues context. It’s a sound that draws in and delights both blues purists and casual listeners. It’s a potent combination of musical tradition and vitality that is uniquely the Blues Angels.
Laura Fernandez & Don Naduriak
Tags: World/Latin/African/Ethnic
I was born in Madrid, Spain and immigrated to Canada as a child not speaking English whatsoever. As a child my earliest memories were those relating to music and art. My father who was a fine art painter and an architect would sit me on his lap and play name that tune with many classical pieces of music! Watching him paint and listening to classical music and opera as well as many other types of music was what my childhood was rich with. Soon enough I was also drawing, painting and playing music. I was especially into poetry, lyrics and song writing having been exposed to this in early education by a teacher who was particularly fond of folk music. Simon and Garfunkel, Cohen, Dylan we studied these amazing writers in our English classes. I adored writing poetry and this inevitably led to song writing and learning my chosen instrument, the piano. I had a love affair with anything that included piano. I was influenced by the classical masters as well as early Elton John , Billy Joel, Beatles, all kinds of music . Motown was big in my influences also as well as classic and traditional Spanish music that my mom would sing around the house. I had a rich tapestry of influences to drawn on and learn from . My love affair with drawing and painting was also very strong eventually leading me to study art at The Alberta College of Art in Calgary. I became a very successful award winning illustrator working on many important campaigns over the years and illustrating with Rick Jacobson 17 childrens books and many book covers, three of these books ( the most recent) authored by us as well as illustrated. It wasnt until 6 years ago that the music career I had put aside rose to the surface with a vengeance and I began to once again write and perform all over Toronto. I recorded my first Cd The Other Side in 2003 and this led to an invitation to the New York International Independent Music Festival where my band was awarded best Soft Rock Band ( there were over 600 bands in the event). More performances in New York, performances in various festivals followed. I am deeply entrenched in my musical adventure, a lifelong dream! I am thrilled to have the opportunity to follow my deepest desires in this life .
Concerts
Laura Fernandez & Dan Naduriak
Fri Jul 1 9:00pm Club Series $10 Cover charge at the door Latinada Restaurant & Jazz Bar Laura Fernandez
Sun Jul 3 7:30pm Club Series $15 Lula Lounge Email this page to a friend.
Paco de Lucia
Tags: GuitarWorld/Latin/African/Ethnic
website: http://www.pacodelucia.com/
Paco de Lucia, world renowned flamenco guitarist, will set the Sony Centre alight on Monday, June 27 as he plays with unparalleled speed, precision and passion. Pat Metheny calls him, “the greatest in the world, period.”
Paco de Lucia, one of the greatest living guitarist in the world, was born Francisco Sanchez Gomez in Algeciras, a city in the province of Cadiz, in the Southernmost tip of Spain on December 21st, 1947. His stage name is an homage to his mother Lucia Gomez.
His father, Antonio Sanchez, a day laborer, played guitar at night as a way to supplement his income.
The training ground for a flamenco guitarist, de Lucia once said, "is the music around you, made by people you see, the people you make music with. You learn it from your family, from your friends, in la juerga (the party) drinking. And then you work on technique. Guitarists do not need to study. And, as it is with any music, the great ones will spend some time working with the young players who show special talent. You must understand that a Gypsy's life is a life of anarchy. That is a reason why the way of flamenco music is a way without discipline as you know it. We don't try to organize things with our minds, we don't go to school to find out. We just live........ music is everywhere in our lives."
Flamenco is, like the blues to which it is often compared, the music of a poor, disenfranchised minority. But it is also a complex art form that combines guitar playing, singing and dancing, setting off layers of powerful rhythms and emotions. Paco de Lucia was able to grasp these nuances at a very early age.
In 1958, at only age 11, de Lucia made his first public appearance and a year later he was awarded a special prize in the Jerez flamenco competition. At 14 he was touring with the flamenco troupe of dancer Jose Greco. He worked with Greco for three seasons.
It was while on tour with Greco in the United States that de Lucia met the great Sabicas, an influential guitarist whose name became synonymous with flamenco n the U.S., who encouraged him to pursue a more personal style. de Lucia would follow Sabicas' advice a few years later in his debut at Carnegie Hall in 1970.
"In flamenco, the guitarist first and foremost, must not get in his way of the singer," de Lucia once explained. "There is a dialogue going on. The cantaor (singer) sings the words. There are no songs per se in flamenco, just short lyrics, so the guitarist follows the call of the singer. Part of the tradition in flamenco is not playing too hard or too much. You need to support the singer, help him."
Back in Spain, he joined Festival Flamenco Gitano, an annual flamenco showcase tour that lasted for seven years, and recorded his first album in 1965, at the age of 18.
With La Fabulosa Guitarra de Paco de Lucia, released in 1967, de Lucia began to distance himself from the influence masters such as Ricardo and Mario Escudero and by Fantasia Flamenca, recorded in 1969, he had defined his own style. His superb technique was displayed in well structured pieces that departed from the flamenco tradition of theme and variations.
Concerts
Paco de Lucia / Opening - Edmar Castaneda
Mon Jun 27 8:00pm Mainstage Concerts media sponsors Toronto Star & The New Classical 96.3 FM
Buy Ticket: Ticketmaster
$45, $69, $79 Sony Centre Email this page to a friend.
Tags: Vocals
website: http://www.nikkionline.ca
“There is a richness and a maturity and heart and an effortlessness that divas twice her age would kill for”—Montreal Gazette
Montreal singer Nikki Yanofsky is on a roll! The diminutive teenager with the Olympic-sized voice wowed a worldwide audience with her jazzy rendition of O Canada at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games. That was Nikki too, singing the official Winter Olympics’ theme song I Believe—which eventually reached the No. 1 position on the Billboard Canada Top 100 and on the iTunes Canada Pop Chart. At the same time, Nikki’s debut album, Ella…Of Thee I Swing, scored No. 1 album on the iTunes Canada Jazz Chart. This cross-genre popularity is unprecedented in the history of iTunes. To date, Nikki has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and the National Arts Centre, and she has collaborated with the likes of Oliver Jones, Wyclef Jean, and Colin James. She was the youngest singer ever on a Verve Records release when she recorded Airmail Special for the Ella Fitzgerald tribute album We All Love Ella: Celebrating the First Lady of Song. She has also recorded the swing-era classic Stompin’ at the Savoy with Grammy Award-winning artists Herbie Hancock and Will.i.am (from the Black Eyed Peas) for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s audio book On the Shoulders of Giants. Her new album features a killer song that Feist wrote for her and six other songs co-written with Jesse Harris and Ron Sexsmith. Nikki’s Vancouver Jazz Festival debut last year was a jaw-dropping affair.
Concerts
Nikki Yanofsky / Opening - Robi Botos Trio
Sun Jul 3 8:30pm Mainstage Concerts Buy Ticket: Ticketmaster
$45 + tax & service charges Toronto Star Stage at Metro Square Email this page to a friend.