from The Star
Jazz fest adding hip hop
Sax stars, Etta James are headliners
`Downtown' name trimmed for 20th
Apr. 26, 2006. 01:00 AM
ASHANTE INFANTRY
ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER
Toronto's biggest annual jazz event is celebrating its 20th anniversary by spreading its wings and changing its name.
Now called the Toronto Jazz Festival — Downtown has been dropped from its moniker to reflect its growth and diversity, organizers say — the fete will run June 23 to July 2 and feature some big-name debuts and repeat favourites at more than 40 locations around the city.
Judging by the oohs and aahs from onlookers at yesterday's lineup event at the Sheraton Centre, the slate of elite saxophonists — George Coleman, Yusef Lateef, Pharoah Sanders, Kenny Garrett and Paquito D'Rivera — is the top note.
However, two festival first-timers, singer Etta James and guitarist/vocalist John Pizzarelli, are guaranteed warm welcomes, as are returning pianist Dave Brubeck and the Mingus Big Band.
This year's inclusion of hip-hop artists De La Soul and Kardinal Offishall, Brazilian vocalist Seu Jorge and local R&B singers Jacksoul and Divine Brown is indicative of the festival's ever-widening "umbrella," said artistic director Jim Galloway.
"The music is expanding," he said, "and as it becomes more embracing, that helps to widen the audience."
Galloway reminisced about the festival's inaugural year, comprised of just three major venues, and he waved the thin 1987 program around, but he also noted that heavyweights Miles Davis and Stan Getz were on the playbill.
The festival, recently named Canada's best at the National Jazz Awards, is now a $3.5 million effort showcasing 1,500 musicians and 350 concerts and atttracting half a million people.
Among the new components:
EuroJazz: a series showcasing cutting-edge music from the likes of Joost Buis, Zanussi Five and the Igor Butman Quartet.
A Phat Tuesday celebration honouring New Orleans and fundraising for post-Katrina relief.
JAZZ.FM91 will broadcast live from Nathan Phillips Square throughout the festival.
Having adopted the Regent Park School for Music as its charity, the festival is inviting its 170 students, aged 5 to 16, to attend the festival and raise money for instruments from its sponsors.
Galloway said there is a slight increase in ticket prices for the mainstage (top price $95) but a significant portion of the festival remains free.
"Ideally, we'd give it all away, but artists' fees and travel costs don't go down," he said.
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i'm in 4sho
Jazz fest adding hip hop
Sax stars, Etta James are headliners
`Downtown' name trimmed for 20th
Apr. 26, 2006. 01:00 AM
ASHANTE INFANTRY
ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER
Toronto's biggest annual jazz event is celebrating its 20th anniversary by spreading its wings and changing its name.
Now called the Toronto Jazz Festival — Downtown has been dropped from its moniker to reflect its growth and diversity, organizers say — the fete will run June 23 to July 2 and feature some big-name debuts and repeat favourites at more than 40 locations around the city.
Judging by the oohs and aahs from onlookers at yesterday's lineup event at the Sheraton Centre, the slate of elite saxophonists — George Coleman, Yusef Lateef, Pharoah Sanders, Kenny Garrett and Paquito D'Rivera — is the top note.
However, two festival first-timers, singer Etta James and guitarist/vocalist John Pizzarelli, are guaranteed warm welcomes, as are returning pianist Dave Brubeck and the Mingus Big Band.
This year's inclusion of hip-hop artists De La Soul and Kardinal Offishall, Brazilian vocalist Seu Jorge and local R&B singers Jacksoul and Divine Brown is indicative of the festival's ever-widening "umbrella," said artistic director Jim Galloway.
"The music is expanding," he said, "and as it becomes more embracing, that helps to widen the audience."
Galloway reminisced about the festival's inaugural year, comprised of just three major venues, and he waved the thin 1987 program around, but he also noted that heavyweights Miles Davis and Stan Getz were on the playbill.
The festival, recently named Canada's best at the National Jazz Awards, is now a $3.5 million effort showcasing 1,500 musicians and 350 concerts and atttracting half a million people.
Among the new components:
EuroJazz: a series showcasing cutting-edge music from the likes of Joost Buis, Zanussi Five and the Igor Butman Quartet.
A Phat Tuesday celebration honouring New Orleans and fundraising for post-Katrina relief.
JAZZ.FM91 will broadcast live from Nathan Phillips Square throughout the festival.
Having adopted the Regent Park School for Music as its charity, the festival is inviting its 170 students, aged 5 to 16, to attend the festival and raise money for instruments from its sponsors.
Galloway said there is a slight increase in ticket prices for the mainstage (top price $95) but a significant portion of the festival remains free.
"Ideally, we'd give it all away, but artists' fees and travel costs don't go down," he said.
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i'm in 4sho
