Ottawa Jazz Festival 2009

The Ottawa Jazz Festival looks particularly good this year. The last couple of years they have seriously returned to seeking out actual jazz acts. I'm pretty out of touch with what's really going on in the jazz world but here's my top ten list anyway -

1. Esperanza Spaulding - Tuesday June 30th Confederation Park - She's a 24 yr old bassist already teaching at the Berklee School of Music in Boston. She's not exactly a virtuoso bassist but very tasteful and with a beautiful voice. Oh yeah, did I mention sexy, sexy, sexy?? She recently played the White House.
2. Gary Burton Quartet - Sunday June 28th Confederation Park - Great band (Pat Metheny, Steve Swallow and Antonio Sanchez) and Gary Burton is a true virtuoso on the vibes. Here's a sample of that band. Steve Swallow has one of the most refreshing approaches to the electric bass and I have never had the opportunity to see him live.
   
3. MARIA SCHNEIDER ORCHESTRA - Monday June 29th Confederation Park - One of the greatest big bands in existence. It's an all-star band and she writes extremely original, cutting edge compositions. She's also one of the jazz world's most sought after arrangers. Youtube sample.
4. The Bad Plus - Saturday July 4th Confederation Park - In some ways a pretty controversial band. Alot of jazz purists hate them because they play mostly covers of pop tunes. I actually discovered them thru the band's blog. I haven't read it in a while but they had some great interviews awhile back. Here's their version of Everybody Wants to Rule the World. They also do Tom Sawyer, Smells Like Teens Spirit, When the Levee Breaks, etc, etc.
5. Thursday July 2nd at 9:00 is a tough choice. There is Seven Strands of Sound featuring Petr Cancura, who I've played with many times but haven't heard in years. I've been hearing great things about his playing. Plus Truro homegirl Tena Palmer is singing with the group and Pierre-Yves Martel is playing the Viola de Gamba. Sounds like a great show. Unfortunately they are up against Wayne Shorter of the 1960s classic Miles Davis Quintet and Weather Report. He has written some of the greatest modern jazz classics (Footprints, ESP, Fee Fi Fo Fum, Infant Eyes, Witch Hunt, Speak No Evil). Tough choice. I may actually cheat and go see Wayne Shorter in Montreal. Later the same evening is a chance to see Ilmiliekki Quartet followed by Mark Dresser with Trio M at 4th Stage but that's mostly just me speaking as a bass player.
   
6. Brian Blade and the Freedom Band followed by Charles Lloyd's New Quartet - Sunday July 5th, Confederation Park - I don't know that much about Brian Blade or the Freedom Band but its one of those bands that I have been meaning to check-out based on fantastic word-of-mouth. Charles Lloyd is another musician that I don't know alot about except his bands have often introduced some of the best musicians of the day, including Keith Jarrett. One thing I learn about him on Wikipedia is he took time of from jazz in the late 60's - early 70's to practice Transcendental Meditation and played and toured with the Beach Boys.
7. Dave Douglas and Brass Ecstasy - Thursday June 25 Confederation Park. I'm a big fan of Dave Douglas' work with Masada and the Tiny Bell Trio. This group sounds amazing and I'm always keen on hearing improve based music without chording instruments (guitar/piano). Hears a sample without the french horn player. Followed by Roberta Gambarini with an incredible band (Cyrus Chestnut, Neil Swainson and Jimmy Cobb).
   
8. Chucho Valdés Quintet - Friday July 3rd, Confederation Park - - I'm a big Afro-Cuban fan but I find it difficult to find (or describe) the kind of Cuban music I like. Chucho Valdés fits the bill just fine. Here's a nice sample with a great bass solo.
9. Claudia Acuna - Friday July 3, Confederation Park - More Latin Jazz from this Chilean born, New York based singer. OK, I stole this one from Peter Hum's top ten in the Ottawa Citizen this morning. Chucho Valdés and Claudia Acuna back to back on a Friday night sounds like a party in the park to me. Without dancing ofcourse; this is Ottawa after all.
   
10. and my final jazz festival recommendation - drumroll please - the Steve Groves Quartet at the Rideau Centre, Saturday July 4th at noon. Steve has been mainstay of the Ottawa jazz scene for many years. The group includes 15 year old Daniel Ko on Alto sax, Don Johnson on drums and yours truly on bass. Shameless self promotion is a persistent feature of blogging, don't you know.

Please come out and support the Ottawa Jazz Festival's decision to choose jazz artists as opposed to pseudo-jazz pop artists.