DETAILS
One thing you can’t miss about this year’s Calgary Jazz Festival is its heavy roster of Calgary and Alberta talent. You can catch Sinistrio, Johanna Sillanpaa, Steve Pineo, Hutchinson/Andrew Trio, Karl Schwonik, The Polyjesters, Tim Williams and others at venues throughout the city, from the Ironwood, Auburn Saloon and Wild Rose Brewery, to Mike’s Juke Joint, Quincy’s and Cantos.
Add in some top-notch Canadian and international musicians, and you have a festival that pushes the boundaries of jazz. Take headliner Dave Brubeck, whose only Calgary performance was sold out weeks ago. This legendary jazz pianist’s cool jazz hit “Take Five” became a jazz standard in the ’50s, and Brubeck has continued to challenge listeners with his performances and compositions.
Then there’s Wynton Marsalis, whose music has spanned both classical and jazz. Early in his career, Down Beat Magazine named him best trumpeter and jazz musician of the year, and he’s largely recognized as the most outstanding jazz musician of his generation. Marsalis plays with his big band, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra on June 24 at the Jack Singer.
Down Beat Magazine also recognized another music legend slated for the Calgary Jazz Festival — Maceo Parker. Parker’s funk music career started as a sideman for James Brown, but for the last 15 years he’s worked successfully as a solo act. He appears in Calgary with outstanding vocalist Divine Brown, who has performed with legends like the Temptations and George Benson. Catch them at the Jack Singer on June 27.
As for Canadian talent, consider pianist Yves Leveille, who’s playing Beat Niq on June 25. The Montreal-based musician has recorded three albums for the Effendi jazz label, which was nominated for label of year at the Canadian National Jazz Awards in 2002, 2003 and 2004. Like Effendi, Leveille has a reputation for challenging his listeners. His music has been described as adventurous, elegant and intricate, and he is one of the most gifted composers of our time — a reputation that has spread thanks to performances across Canada, and international gigs from France to New York and Singapore.
Jazz drummer Karl Schwonik, originally from central Alberta, is another artist with an international reputation. Schwonik recently played a gig at Carnegie Hall, has been featured on ABC and NBC television and has gigged with the likes of Chucho Valdes, Dave Liebman and P.J. Perry. Add to that his recent win of the Richard Cowie Scholarship for Young Jazz Musicians here in Calgary, and you have a local musician to watch. Don’t miss his gig with Joel Miller at the Auburn on June 25.
For a show that blends local and international performers, internationally renowned Norwegian group Beady Belle play a blend of jazz, soul, R&B and techno. They released their first internationally recognized album, Home, in 2001, and their fourth album, Belvedere, was released in early 2008 to rave reviews in North America. Swedish-born Johanna Sillanpaa, now based in Calgary and a familiar part of the local jazz scene as part of Silan and Young, will join Beady Belle on June 26 at Quincy’s on Seventh.
Expect an intimate experience when the Davidson-Murley-Braid Quintet plays the Cantos Music Foundation on June 26. The Quintet features Juno Award-winners, Mike Murley (sax) and David Braid (piano) joined by emerging artist Tara Davidson (sax). Each of the three is renowned in their own right. Davidson composes as well as performs, and her gigs have included New York’s Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Murley leads a number of small groups and has sided for Rob McConnell and David Occhipinti, while Braid is one of the best young jazz pianists and composers around, and has played with artists like Phil Nimmons, Matt Brubeck and Kelly Jefferson.
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