The 34th annual TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival, taking place June 21 to July 1, genre-bending performances from diverse, cutting-edge artists at Pyatt Hall (843 Seymour Street), and Frankie’s Jazz Club (765 Beatty Street).
PYATT HALL SERIES
The Arntzens: 3 Generations in Jazz
June 21 • Pyatt Hall @ 7:30pm • $34
If you want to talk traditional jazz in Vancouver, you need to talk about the Arntzens. Spanning three generations, this prolific musical family dazzles with melodic, swinging tunes rooted in the New Orleans tradition. Patriarch Lloyd Arntzen discovered the music of Jelly Roll Morton and Louis Armstrong as a boy, lighting a fire in him that burns brightly to this day.
Laila Biali
June 22 • Pyatt Hall @ 7:30pm & 9:30pm • $34
Keyboardist/vocalist Laila Biali moves effortlessly between incandescent contemporary jazz and absorbing modern pop. An acclaimed composer, deeply personal lyricist and acute interpreter, the New York-based Vancouverite took home this year’s JUNO for “Vocal Jazz Album of the Year.” In Laila’s eclectic and energetic live show, melodies take thrilling left turns and bold choruses give way to thoughtful instrumental interludes. One minute, Biali is soaring over a hard-charging, bluesy storm, and the next, she’s pouring out her soul on an impassioned ballad. It’s jazz, it’s pop, it can’t be put into a box…but it’s definitely beautiful.
Joe Magnarelli Quintet featuring Ralph Moore
June 24 • Pyatt Hall @ 7:30pm & 9:30pm • $34
Coming in hot with his new album If You Could See Me Now on Cellar Live, American trumpeter/flugelhornist Joe Magnarelli pays tribute to composer/arranger Tadd Dameron, who Dexter Gordon called the “romanticist” of the bebop era. In his short life, Dameron was one of the most important figures in bridging the swing and bebop periods, and even has a distinctive and very jazzy chord change named after him: the “Tad Dameron Turnaround.”
Steve Maddock and The Jill Townsend Jazz Orchestra play Sinatra at The Sands
June 25 • Pyatt Hall @ 7:30pm & 9:30pm • $34
Now in its 19th season, this critically acclaimed jazz orchestra features hard swinging, delectable music and sparking arrangements by leader Jill Townsend and guitar sensation Bill Coon. For this special occasion, jazz vocalist extraordinaire Steve Maddock joins the ensemble as they pay tribute to the classic sounds of Frank Sinatra with the Count Basie Big Band, who originally recorded definitive versions of Old Blue Eyes’ best-known songs in the Copa Room at Las Vegas’ legendary Sands Hotel.
Eric Alexander Quartet featuring Eric Reed
June 26 • Pyatt Hall @ 7:30pm & 9:30pm • $34
Boasting a warm, burnished tone, and keen harmonic imagination, tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander brings fresh ideas to the illustrious bop-based jazz tradition. With influences from bebop pioneers and post-bop innovators, his wide vocabulary touches on Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, the Sonnys (Stitt and Rollins), Charlie Parker, and Coltrane. Regularly working New York City’s most prestigious jazz clubs, he’s collaborated with the likes of Joe Lovano and Rufus Reid while appearing on more than 80 albums.
FRANKIE’S JAZZ CLUB
June 21 & 22: Emanuele Cisi Quartet
June 23: Jacqui Naylor
June 24: Tara Kannangara
June 25: Mazacote
June 26: Black Gardenia featuring Daphne Roubini
June 27: Dave Robbins Sextet
June 28 & 29: Steve Smith’s Groove Blue Organ Trio
June 30: Groovy Goodies: Cory Weeds with Organ Accompaniment
Tickets & more details at www.coastaljazz.ca
Photo by Vincent Lim
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