PREVIEW
JAZZ FESTIVAL CALGARY
June 18 to 28
Check listings
As I enter the Marriott Hotel’s Olde Scotch Room for Jazz Festival Calgary’s press conference and lineup announcement, pleasant memories flood over me. Touring acts such as Siedro’s Armada and Toronto jump blues band Shox Johnson and the Jive Bombers used to play this room in the ’70s and ’80s, and there were innumerable local jazz gigs on Thursday afternoons during happy hour.
Jazz Festival Calgary (JFC) is about to revive a long-lost live music tradition in this city with a series of concerts in the Olde Scotch, including two by New York piano sensation Jason Moran (June 18 and 19).
That’s just one highlight in a festival that also includes big-name artists – Holly Cole will play the Jubilee Auditorium (June 24), perennial festival favourite Joshua Redman brings his saxophone to the Max Bell Theatre (June 25) and fabulous singer and pianist Patricia Barber plays the Gateway at SAIT (June 22). MacEwan Hall at the University of Calgary will host Little Feat (June 18), Medeski, Martin and Wood (June 21), Preservation Hall Jazz Band (June 22) and ¡Cubanismo! (June 28). Other highlights include the return of Afrobeat proponents Antibalas at the Warehouse (June 24), and stellar guitarist Mike Stern at the Gateway (June 26).
In 1998, JFC producer Marc Vasey was set to take over Calgary’s annual event and produce it in conjunction with Edmonton’s Jazz City Festival (a fact that still rankles some in Calgary’s jazz scene). Back then, Vasey said he hoped to give the Calgary festival five years to get on its feet. That long-range planning has paid off, and Vasey says that ever-improving sponsorship has been key.
"We just received confirmation of a new five-year deal, including title sponsorship…. No jazz festival in Calgary has ever before had a title sponsor…. I am assuming that the company will be making an announcement with us sometime in the next few weeks and, while we are bound by a confidentiality agreement, it will be obvious soon who this sponsor is."
Vasey and his hard-working staff (JFC has a mere three full-time permanent employees, who it shares with Jazz City Festival) are to be commended for their tenacity, savvy and business acumen.
Vasey, for his part, brings a lineup that, while modest in scope, showcases just enough big names to capture the attention of the mainstream audience. He is also sensitive to local realities, working with local promoters where possible and booking a sizeable number of local jazz musicians (such as Tanya Kalmanovitch and Maura Shaftoe) in headlining spots and as warm-up acts.
It is, however, with respect to venues that one hears the most frequent complaints about JFC. While the events generally take place in the downtown area, it really is just a collection of concerts rather than a festival. For example, there is no central focal point comparable to the massive outdoor stages, clubs and concert halls in the St. Catherine Street area during Montreal’s jazz fest. And how can you have a jazz festival in Calgary without concerts at the Jack Singer Concert Hall or a series at Beat Niq Jazz and Social Club, the year-round home of jazz in Calgary?
An ideal scenario would be to block off portions of First Street S.W. and Macleod Trail S.E. for two massive outdoor stages, with free evening outdoor concerts on Stephen Avenue Walk and Olympic Plaza. There could also be big shows at the Jack Singer nightly and jazz, blues and world-beat series at Beat Niq, Murietta’s and The Palace. Focusing on a two- or three-block area, this would give the festival a high-powered punch. And how about a return to a free all-day concert at Prince’s Island, where the festival began in 1980?
Vasey responds by saying that the Jack Singer, for one, was not available for the required dates.
"It’s also a matter of being able to send deposits to venues months, or years, (in advance) to secure dates when no gigs are booked, which of course we don’t have the resources to do."
Vasey also says that other venues like Kaos and Beat Niq were contacted, but did not return Jazz Festival Calgary’s calls.
"We actually decided that we would encourage discussion during the year, try to convince some venues that, while they may do other music regularly, it may be in their interest to… present jazz during the festival," says Vasey. "Maybe next year."
And as for outdoor gigs, Vasey says they are too dependent on the weather for their success.
Well, it is not a perfect world. Ideally, the festival would have kept a Calgary production base. Concerts and series have taken place in the Jack Singer and Beat Niq in the past, but perhaps those bridges have been burned. The truth is that we are lucky to have an excellent jazz festival in Calgary – one that is realistic in its means and that is here to stay. |
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