Montreal Intl Jazz Festival 2011

Details

Parent Category: Other Festivals

Category: Music

Published on Thursday, 23 June 2011 10:00

Written by L E Shannon

The 32nd edition of the Montreal International Jazz Festival (Festival International de Jazz de Montréal) takes place June 25 - July 4, 2011 at La Maison du Festival Rio Tinto Alcan in downtown Montreal, Québéc, Canada.

Festival International de Jazz de Montréal was named Festival of the Year by the Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry during the Canadian Music Week gala in March.

Alain Simard, president and founder of the Festival, is delighted. "We are very honored to receive this award. It is the result of many years of effort poured into building the Festival into the largest event of its kind in the world."

This truly international Festival draws 2.5 million spectators who come to hear 3,000 artists from 30 countries perform an assortment of jazz, blues, Latin-jazz, Brazilian, Cuban, African, soul, reggae, electronica and more.

Performing this year are

• Diana Krall in a first solo concert
• Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant
• Sade
• Paco de Lucía

Appearing are such Immortals as:

• America
• Tony Bennett
• Dave Brubeck
• Marianne Faithfull
• Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
• Peter Frampton
• Wanda Jackson
• Chaka Khan
• Don McLean
• Return To Forever

Performers of contemporary jazz include:

• Madeleine Peyroux
• Brad Mehldau
• Joshua Redman 
• Anat Cohen
• Richard Galliano
• Gonzalo Rubalcaba
• Christian McBride
• David Binney
• Erik Truffaz
• Esperanza Spalding

Up and coming stars include:

• Keren Ann
• Jill Barber
• Boogat
• Catl
• Émilie Clepper
• Clara Furey
• Sophie Hunger.
• Sly Johnson
• Theophilus London.
• Katie Moore 
• S. Mos

Canadian and Québécois musicians also showcase both genres and generations, with:

• Emilie-Claire Barlow
• Blue Rodeo 
• Champion et ses G-Strings
• Holly Cole 
• Colin James
• Oliver Jones 
• k.d. lang
• Men Without Hats
• Orchestre Métropolitain
• Ron Sexsmith
• Nikki Yanofsky
• Jean Pierre Zanella

A more cosmopolitan flavor is provided by:

• Milton Nascimento
• Tigran Hamasyan
• Ana Moura
• Youssou N'Dour 
• Rudresh Mahanthappa 
• Yaron Herman
• Hugh Masekela
• Sierra Maestra
• Harold López-Nussa 
• The Jolly Boys
• Pink Martini

plus these special events:

• a concert-celebration of the 85th birthday of the Father of Festivals, George Wein
• the now-classic Battle of the Bands with the Glenn Miller Orchestra and the Artie Shaw Orchestra
• the world premiere of GRUBB: Gypsy Roma Urban Balkan Beats, a group of 22 Serbians ages 13 - 17 in America for the first time

In conjunction with the Festival, the 5th edition of the Montreal Guitar Show is being held July 1 - 3 with over 150 acoustic and electric luthiers as well as concerts.

Another feature is the Family Festival, a series of free activities centered around an 11,000-square-foot musical park with two play areas that feature a giant piano and other musical instruments such as a trumpet slide, guitar ladder, clarinet tunnel, drum blackboard and a xylophone. 

Other activities take place throughout the day, including concerts by La petite école du jazz (The Little School of Jazz), face painting, and arts and crafts as well as "learn an instrument" hours. 

This is also a Green Festival. The Festival has played a leading role by recovering on-site waste for over 25 years, and has been carbon-neutral ever since 2008. Over the last years, the Festival successfully reduced on-site waste by 9% annually and collects 34 tons of recycled material. The Festival was rewarded with an Ulysee Trophy in the new "Sustainable Tourism" category in 2009.

For more information, visit www.montrealjazzfest.com.

Montreal International Jazz Festival /
Festival International de Jazz de Montréal
June 25 - July 4, 2011

La Maison du Festival Rio Tinto Alcan
305, rue Sainte-Catherine O
Montreal QC H2X 2A3
Canada
514-840-3618

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