The 29th edition of the Montreal Jazz Festival, regarded as the world’s largest musical event, will be presented by General Motors of Canada in collaboration with Rio Tinto Alcan from June 26-July 6.
Over the course of 11 days, more than 3,000 musicians from every continent will celebrate music and the life-force from the city’s stages. The indoor concert program alone has more than 150 shows in 15 series, breaking jazz down into its complete spectrum of sounds. There are numerous free concerts practically every hour, every day in the streets surrounding the downtown venues.
Some of the ticketed performers include Woody Allen, Leonard Cohen, Aretha Franklin, Return to Forever, Abbey Lincoln, Dianne Reeves, James Taylor, Lee “Scratch” Perry, The Wailers, David Murray, Michel Donato, Guy Nadon, Ravi Coltrane, Coral Egan, Steely Dan, Katie Melua, Yael Naim, the double program featuring Al Green / Lizz Wright, and the return of Lewis Furey.
This year the festival is being dedicated to the late Oscar Peterson, who passed away last winter. The absence of this great Canadian and jazz colossus will be marked notably by the Invitation Rio Tinto Alcan series, featuring a number of well-known pianists, with Hank Jones, McCoy Tyner and Dave Brubeck splitting up nine concerts, and welcoming Brad Mehldau and Oliver Jones, among others. Moreover, this year, a different type of “invitation” was extended to selected artists: Daniel Lanois and Brad Mehldau will perform in their favorite venues, offering different musical perspectives in different settings throughout the Festival.
