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Rain or shine, for jazz fans summer always means one thing: festival season. As always, La Scena Musicale offers a wide selection of interesting shows and musicians, local and from abroad, who will appear on Canadian stages during the season.
For experienced ears
Ever since the 2018 reissue of his classic 1975 Valley of Search LP, Brooklyn-born saxophonist Alan Braufman is enjoying a late career renaissance. He has since released two new albums, reuniting with some old comrades (notably, pianist Cooper-Moore), but also meeting newer talents (like fellow saxophonist James Brandon Lewis and vibraphonist Patricia Brennan). Braufman will give a rare show in Montreal on July 3.
French pianist Ève Risser is equally comfortable playing solo (prepared) piano and leading the remarkable 12-piece Red Desert Orchestra. For her 2025 Summer tour, she will share the stage with drummer John Hollenbeck, playing duets in Ottawa on June 21 and in Montreal (for Suoni per il Popolo) on June 22. In Vancouver, Risser will play solo on June 26, also performing at the Time Flies concert on the same day and with Susie Ibarra’s “An Ecology of Rhythm” on June 28.
Trumpet virtuoso Peter Evans reunites with bandmates from his “Being & Becoming” project, vibist Joel Ross and bassist Nick Jozwiak, adding special guest, legendary free funk drummer Calvin Weston (James Blood Ulmer, Ornette Coleman’s Prime Time, Lounge Lizards, etc.). The power quartet will be in Montreal on June 26.
Canadian content
Every project by clarinetist François Houle is worth celebrating. “The Secret Lives of Colour” (premiered in 2021) reunites Houle with the great French double bass master, Joëlle Léandre. The pair are joined by pianist Myra Melford, guitarist Gordon Grdina and drummer/percussionist Gerry Hemingway. As a quintet they will appear in Ottawa (June 20) and Montreal (for Suoni per il Popolo, June 22). Houle, Grdina and Hemingway will also play in Vancouver, in a quartet with Ireland-based Japanese pianist Izumi Kimura, on June 25.
Based in Berlin for more than 15 years, Kingston, Ont.-born saxophonist Peter van Huffel brings his quartet Callisto on the Canadian roads this summer. Also based part-time in Berlin, Edmonton-born trumpeter Lina Allemano shares the front-line with Van Huffel. Callisto will appear in Hamilton (June 22), Ottawa (June 24), Kingston (June 25), Edmonton (June 28), Calgary (June 29) and Toronto (July 1).
Celebrating its 25th edition this year, Suoni per il Popolo is notably hosting three special evenings of improvised/creative music, starting with its opening night on June 14 (at Parc Lafontaine’s Théâtre de Verdure, with Sam Shalabi’s septet and Matana Roberts appearing, among others). On June 22, a triple bill will feature François Houle (see above), along with Brass Knuckle Sandwich (pianist Marilyn Lerner and trumpeter Nicole Rampersaud) and Open Thread (a quartet with former Vancouverites Peggy Lee and Dylan van der Schyff, now based in Melbourne, Australia). On June 26, at Casa del Popolo, no less than four different groups will share the stage for an evening called Get Free!, featuring local improvisers as well as distinguished guests such as pianist Lisa Cay Miller and Mexican bassist Adriana Camacho.
Safe bets
Canadian festival-goers will be able to catch not one but two Marsalis brothers this summer. To begin with, Wynton Marsalis will tour with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, appearing in Toronto (June 20), Ottawa (June 24), Montreal (for a pre-festival concert June 25) and Quebec City (for Jazz en juin, on June 27). His brother, saxophonist Branford Marsalis, also has a couple of Canadian dates on his summer schedule: in Ottawa on June 29 and Montreal on July 1.
One of the undisputed masters of modern guitar, Bill Frisell, is touring with a trio—an ideal setting for his impressionistic style. Festival-goers will be able to catch him in Vancouver (June 24), Toronto (June 26), Ottawa (June 27) and Montreal (July 1), as well as in Halifax (July 18). In a similar vein, guitar fans will not want to miss Marc Ribot with Ceramic Dog, appearing in Ottawa (June 22), Toronto (June 23) and Montreal (June 26).
Among those veterans passing through our festivals this season, fusion jazz fans will look forward to hearing the legendary Brazilian trio Azymuth in Toronto (June 26) or in Montreal (June 27). Saxophonist Gary Bartz, who will soon turn 85, played with many jazz legends, from Art Blakey and Max Roach to McCoy Tyner and Miles Davis himself! Bartz will be making his first appearance as a leader at the Montreal Jazz Festival on June 28. Finally, on July 5, the Sun Ra Arkestra will grace an outside stage at FIJM, which is sure to please (or at least surprise) festival-goers!
This is the year of Oscar Peterson’s centennial, and tribute concerts are, of course, to be expected—both in the city of the great pianist’s birth, Montreal, and his adopted hometown, Toronto. The celebrations will begin at Massey Hall on June 14 under the musical direction of drummer Jim Doxas, with performances by more than 20 musicians. In Montreal, a celebration gala will be hosted on July 4 with Doxas leading the Oscar Peterson Centennial Quartet, and with the Oscar Peterson Centennial Jazz Orchestra, headed by bassist and bandleader John Clayton, for a newly arranged version of Peterson’s famous Canadiana Suite. A (free) tribute concert will be presented at city’s jazz festival on July 1 with special guests Dave Young and Ulf Wakenius.
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