| The countdown has started. We’re a week away from launch day of the New Calgary Jazz Festival, "Rebirth of the Cool." Last year the Jazz Fest almost died. It was a dark day for the Calgary jazz community until Pat Maiani and CJAZZ picked up the ball. To hear Maiani tell it, though, it was all pretty straightforward.
"We had this debate about letting it die a natural death and then rebuilding it. But, on the other hand, we had all these musicians that were coming to town. Their flights were booked, their hotels were booked and they just needed a place to play. So basically that’s just what we did," Maiani explains.
Maiani and his supporters did a huge service for this city. Thanks to hard work and a lot of people stepping up, the festival succeeded and so here we are for round two. How did things shake down after this emergency revival? Last year’s successes will be the foundation for 2007. Look for our local best to share the billing with out-of-town talent.
"What was really rewarding for the audiences (last year) and the musicians themselves was to pair up a lot of the local guys with some of the visiting artists where possible," he says. "When we can create stuff like that, I love it, and I think the audiences appreciate it, too. The local guys, they know this is a performance that counts and they’re at their best and then they sometimes challenge the other guys who might think, ‘You know, they’ve been touring all the hotspots of the world and they gotta come to Calgary which is in the middle of nowhere and they can maybe slough it off.’ But they can’t, and they see the calibre of players we have here."
This year’s launch party with Philadelphia native Joey Defrancesco headlining sets that tone. Defrancesco is considered one of the best B3 players around, and is a winner of five consecutive DownBeat critics’ polls since 2002 and veteran sideman with the likes of Miles Davis and Elvin Jones. Joining him on the April 25 gig is Calgarian Richie Pollack, monster harmonica player, 2006 winner of The Western Canadian Music Award for outstanding blues recording. Add that to jazz guitarist Jake Langley and other special guests and the recipe is right – top calibre local talent liberally mixed with out-of-towners. And, that’s just to launch this year’s festival.
Maiani is closed mouthed about who’s coming to town for this year’s festival. The full lineup will be revealed on April 25. He will however reveal exclusive inside information to Fast Forward readers. As Maiani says, "You can get tickets now for Joshua Redman at www.calgaryjazz.com. The rest of the lineup will be announced at the event launch. Get those tickets soon. |
Copyright ©2007 FFWD. All rights reserved.