>>PREVIEW
NEW CALGARY INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL: THE RE-BIRTH OF THE COOL
June 16 to 25
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THE BEGINNING
Twenty-six years ago, the Calgary Jazz Festival was born. Musicians, fans and supporters banded together and produced a one-day festival featuring local musicians on Prince’s Island.
Over the years, the festival grew to a 10-day event featuring local and international acts, and with that came the usual growing pains. Lack of funding and big-name sponsorship, and low ticket sales coupled with expensive big- name acts, led to the folding of the Calgary Jazz Festival 18 years later.
It was with slight trepidation that Calgary welcomed Marc Vasey in 1998, when the Calgary Jazz Festival board dissolved itself, unable to overcome a debt load of $100,000. As festival producer and co-founder of Edmonton’s once successful Jazz City Festival and vice-chair of the monolithic Westcan (the umbrella organization of jazz festivals in Western Canada), Vasey seemed poised to pick up the pieces and drag the Calgary International Jazz Festival into the next year – and drag he did. The shows went on and the years went by. Things even looked bright when TD Canada Trust was solidified as a title sponsor in 2004.
In interviews Vasey conducted with various media outlets in 2004 and 2005, one would have thought that things were looking up – he even went so far as to say that the festival was profitable. Not so, as became abundantly clear.
Only three years after taking over the Calgary jazz festival, the cracks started showing in Edmonton at Jazz City when major shows were cancelled and the Edmonton Journal, a major creditor of the festival, put a lien on festival ticket revenues for Jazz City debts going back to 1999.
It was only a matter of time before Jazz City crumbled and fired Vasey as festival producer. That was in 2004. Two years later, we’re seeing history repeat itself as Calgary saw the second incarnation of Calgary’s jazz festival announce the event was cancelled. With all this history, one’s got to ask, "What gives?"
IS IT REALLY ABOUT FUNDING?
Edmonton’s Jazz City claimed that they were forced to cancel their 2005 festival partly because of their inability to secure an Edmonton Arts Council grant – a situation mirrored today in Calgary, according to a press release issued by Jazz Festival Calgary.
Citing circumstances beyond their control, including funding uncertainties, ever-decreasing government funding and unexpected demands from creditors – Jazz Festival Calgary exited like the lamb it was. And playing the victim card hasn’t sat well with a number of people involved.
Everyone likes to blame the government, and in truth there’s been a lot of finger pointing, but the question remains: who’s being held accountable?
Funding agencies have heard it all and dismiss claims that lack of funding and unforeseen creditor demands were the sole causes of the festival’s demise.
"Everyone knows when the deadlines are for getting funding," states one source who preferred not to be named. "If an organization doesn’t get their application in or, most importantly, does not supply accurate reporting, it doesn’t matter how many artists call me asking for their money – if it’s not in place and the accountability isn’t there, there’s nothing we can do."
According to several funding agencies, at one point Vasey was directing artists to contact them for payment – a move that didn’t bode well for the festival or the artists that were promised payment.
What is surprising then is the reaction of so many people once Jazz Festival Calgary finally did call it quits.
Dan Brandenburg has been involved in the Calgary jazz community for a number of years, sitting on boards, volunteering and supporting the scene any way he can.
"Absolutely, it came as a complete surprise," admits Brandenburg. "I’m talking to the Warehouse on the Saturday night (May 13) and they’re all excited. I’m talking with other people that are all set to go to work and then Monday comes and somehow I’m the one telling these people it’s a no go."
Though Brandenburg hasn’t been involved on a board level for a number of years, he seems to have a good handle on the inner workings of the jazz festival community, but as to what really happened, he admits it’s anyone’s guess.
"Who knows what’s going on in Calgary," says Brandenburg. "There’s a lot of stuff that’s still up in the air. They ( Jazz Festival Calgary board) issued that one statement, but there’s been nothing since then. Who knows what’s going to happen with all this money that was given to them? I think a lot of people would like to know what’s going on."
Speculation abounds. In an interview with Vasey a mere three days prior to the festival being called off, his tone was positive and hopeful. Vasey sounded excited about the festival, referring to a well-rounded lineup with big-name acts such as Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, and Maraca as highlights for the coming year. Even communication between venues and Vasey (as late as May 14), included only confirmation of scheduling with no mention of potential problems. And still, with the exception of the fateful May 15 press release, little is known about what exactly happened – Vasey himself has been unavailable for comment. But one thing is certain – as the smoke clears and venues and musicians rub their eyes in disbelief, jazz is still alive and well in Calgary. Just ask Pat Maiani of C-Jazz, who helped revive the jazz festival.
GOING BACK TO THE BEGINNING
Things have fallen into place for C-Jazz, a Calgary organization that aims to promote local jazz musicians. A little over a year ago, Canadian Heritage committed a cool $45,000 to C-Jazz in an effort to support year-round jazz programming. Attendance consistently increases each year for its September festival, held at various clubs around town and at Olympic Plaza, and local musicians are generally upbeat.
When the Calgary Jazz Festival was cancelled, C-Jazz stepped in and saved it, securing gigs for all the artists who had already booked Calgary into their schedules. Problems are bound to happen in attempting to pull things together in less than a month, but Maiani insists that with the support of so many people, the New Calgary International Jazz Festival, as it has been dubbed, is already a success.
"C-Jazz has always been about building a jazz community," says Maiani. "When we started out, we just felt that there were a lot of local musicians that were being ignored. Their talents weren’t being recognized and they felt that, too. Things went from there. If we stray a little bit, they remind us. Which is a good thing."
If anything, the collective effort of all involved is the main strength of the most recent manifestation of the jazz festival. Without having a choice, this year’s festival speaks of a do-it-yourself ethic more commonly associated with punks than with jazzheads, and the buzz created from almost losing a major festival event has brought people on board that haven’t been associated with the Calgary Jazz Festival for years.
"The Beat Niq was the first to come on board," says Maiani. "They’re probably the most notable because they hadn’t been involved with the festival for six years. And they said whatever night you want, you got it. I’ve also got to give credit to some of the artists that were already booked at the Beat Niq because all the nights are now becoming double-headers. So they’re pairing up or doing two shows for the price of one."
The festival features many imaginative pairings of local talent with out-of- towners – Vancouver’s The Rabnett 5 pair up with Calgary’s Hutchinson/ Andrew Trio, Calgary’s Manic Thematic with John Hyde, Ralf Buschmeyer and Andy Erickson go head to head with New York’s Outside Sources led by bassist Michael Bates, and The Simon Fisk Quartet shares the stage with Kenny Werner and Brazilian vocalist Claudia Villela, who has a five octave range. Even Jazz on the Wing, one of the Jazz Festival Calgary’s more compelling series, continues on in spirit at the Cantos Music Foundation, with a jazz meets world-cage match to the death, featuring award winning drummer Sandro Dominelli, hammer dulcimer player Amir Amiri and violinist Linling Hsu.
More adventurous audiences will once again get their fill of squawk, honk and hiss with such luminaries as William Parker, Lori Freeman and Marilyn Lerner.
New venues are also jumping on board, particularly Ilyxor, the new club housed in the old Boyztown space. It’s illustrative of C-jazz’s mission to connect new people with new venues and new music.
"We’re kicking it all off at Ilyxor," says Maiani. "The idea being that a really exciting scene could possibly develop. Just being next door to the Hifi Club and having the Beat Niq around the corner. It could become Funk Avenue. There’s a lot of possibilities."
Possibilities. Something that was sadly missing from past festivals. Having so many musicians involved in keeping the festival going has empowered many of them and though challenges abound, Maiani’s convinced that this will only make the scene stronger.
"One of the main priorities for us right now is making sure the budget balances and even in the beginning stages, we still want to make sure that things are flawless in terms of taking care of the artists when they get to town and keeping them happy.
"They’ve been so grateful actually about getting a gig, that their expectations aren’t very high," Maiani says. "But you know it’s just the fact that everyone’s buying into this. Things were in a kind of stasis. People thought that things were pretty entrenched – that there was nothing they could do to change things they didn’t like. It came as a big surprise but then also in hindsight, I think people were saying ‘why did it take so long?’" |
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