FESTIVAL REVIEW: 30th Annual Montreal Jazz Festival

Story by Mitch Myers

This past Independence Day, I was fortunate enough to attend the 30th annual Festival de Jazz de Montréal. After clearing customs, checking into my hotel and formalizing my press accreditation, I headed straight down St. Catherine Street and ducked into the first head shop I saw. Buying a nice piece of glass, I told the shopkeeper, “I’m here for the jazz festival and last year you helped me out, could we do that again?” Next year, when I say that in Montreal, it will actually be true. Armed with supplies, some cash and a handful of concert tickets, I proceeded to spend the next ten days on a nonstop pursuit of music, food and other social niceties.

The festival itself is a huge operation, involving hundreds of musicians performing on a variety of indoor and outdoor stages for almost two straight weeks. Opening night featured a free outdoor concert by none other than Stevie Wonder, drawing nearly 200,000 people to stand and wait in the pouring rain. The weather was a difficult mistress throughout the fest, but overall the big outdoor concerts were very successful. This included a massive reggae extravaganza, which coincided with the Montreal premiere of a new documentary, Rocksteady: The Roots Of Reggae, directed by Swiss filmmaker Stascha Bader.

Bader’s film showcases some of the great veterans who helped build a reggae sound out of the “rocksteady” groove that pervaded Jamaica in the latter 1960s. Culminating with a concert reunion a la The Buena Vista Social Club, the movie includes elder, post-ska musicians like Ken Boothe and Leroy Sibbles as well as the I Threes—better known as Bob Marley’s former background singers—Marcia Griffiths, Judy Mowatt and Rita Marley. This flick is instructive and compelling, and using old footage and new interviews Bader revisits singers like Derrick Morgan singing his rudeboy classic, “Tougher Than Tough,” and Ms. Dawn Penn singing her classic 60s soul anthem, “You Don’t Love Me (No, No, No).”

The live concert was even better, with Sibbles, Boothe, Griffiths and Mowatt all in attendance, as well as The Tamlins, Hopeton Lewis, Stranger Cole and a band full of old-school musicians from Jamaica playing vintage rocksteady hits like “Shanty Town,” “Stop That Train” and “The Tide is High” before pulling out the obligatory “No Woman, No Cry.” I almost forgot to mention the sweet, hazy cloud that hovered over the massive-but-peaceful Montreal crowd, but you figured that one out, didn’t you?

Canadian group/singer Patrick Watson enjoyed the festival’s support for a giant outdoor concert, drawing close to 100,000 people to see them perform music from their most recent album, Wooden Arms. Watson is a compelling front man, and the band achieved a dramatic, dynamic stage show with special guests and extravagant special effects—creating a theatrical-rock-cabaret of Coldplay-esque proportions.

For the most part, I stuck to watching the indoor shows, and had a great time doing it. Saxophonist Joshua Redman hosted three consecutive nights of concerts as part of the festival’s Invitation Series, where a featured artist gets to invite different groups of collaborators for each performance. First, Redman featured his own working group, the second night included special guest tenor legend Joe Lovano, and for his third and final gesture Redman brought out his “double-trio,” with bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Brian Blade flanking him on one side and bassist Reuben Rogers and drummer Greg Hutchinson on the other. All three shows were great, but the double-trio absolutely killed, and much of the music they played can be heard on his most recent album, Compass.

Speaking of killing, bluesman Buddy Guy split the bill with Susan Tedeschi at the Metropolis Ballroom and stole the show with his guitar heroics and sparkling stage manner. Nobody plays the blues like Buddy Guy, and he ran rings around the younger Tedeschi’s worthwhile but workman-like set. And speaking of guitar heroes, Jeff Beck came through town to pick up yet another lifetime achievement award, and he played two brilliant shows at the gigantic Salle Wilfrid Pelletier auditorium. Beck’s band featured drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, bassist Tal Wilkenfeld, and keyboardist Jason Rebello, and they performed much of the music featured his latest CD/DVD, Performing This Week…Live At Ronnie Scott’s. Tal, Beck’s very cute and talented bassist, was featured in a funky little segment during which she and Beck get together to play her bass simultaneously. The crowd ate it up, and so did I.

I certainly enjoyed the return of conquering jazz masters like Wayne Shorter and Ornette Coleman—both men are considered grand elders who have changed the face of jazz in their time, and both brought cohesive groups of talented, accomplished younger players to perform some of their famous compositions as well as to improvise on the highest possible level. I never get tired of seeing these quartets in concert, as no two shows are ever alike, and it’s great to see both bands evolving over time while deconstructing wonderful musical material (by Coleman or Shorter) from the last half-century. Ornette’s original bass player from the 1950s, Charlie Haden, also played at the Montreal festival, but he brought in a band of country pickers and his family band to celebrate his recent Americana release, Rambling Boy, and the Montreal jazz audience just couldn’t relate.

One of the most memorable shows was the massive Miles From India band that features veterans from Miles Davis’ fusion groups accompanied by a bunch of talented Indian musicians, jamming out on a variety of Miles’ compositions. With three powerhouse drummers, the great Daryl Jones on bass, two mad-scientist keyboard players, a row of Indian percussionists, a mandolinist, and a jazzy front line of Rudresh Mahanthappa and Bill Evans on saxophones and Nicholas Payton on trumpet, this was loud, funky, and had to be seen to be believed. Watch for a live recording coming soon, I hope.

As far as surprises went, I was impressed by the rocking guitar sound of Vieux Farka Toure, he’s a Malian guitarist/singer, and son of the late African bluesman Ali Farka Touré. This kid has a great act, and his boogie-blues-rock guitar stuff is deeply imbedded in a traditional African sound that is danceable and joyous. You can always check out his latest work, Fondo, but don’t miss him in concert if he comes to town. Ditto for the lovely (hot, actually) and talented young bassist/singer/bandleader, Esperanza Spalding, who’s played with everyone from Joe Lovano to Prince, and is still in her early twenties. With a voice that needs maturing and chops that are exceeded only by her many fascinating musical ideas, Spaulding is an artist to watch (and watch) and hope that her formidable talent catches up to the rest of her stage show.  

My straight jazz roundup would have to include the evening of quiet duets between pianist Bill Charlap and veteran “boss tenor” saxophonist, Houston Person at the intimate Gesù Theatre. The odd couple played a number of vintage songs from the middle 1900s, including old standards like “Now and Then,” “I’ll Remember April” and “Don’t Get Around Much Any More.” I don’t get around much anymore either, but I’m glad I went up to Montreal for their 30thannual jazz festival—maybe you should consider going up for the 31st!