Jazz Fest kicks off with a bang in Montreal
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A member of the Swing Tonique jazz band stands atop a ladder during the daily festival parade, which adds a Mardis Gras-style party atmosphere to the Montreal Jazz Festival’s 30th anniversary celebration. Photo by Tom Huntington |
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By TOM HUNTINGTON Arts Correspondent - Published: July 3, 2009
The Montreal International Jazz Festival kicked off with a bang Tuesday, with an epic performance by soul legend Stevie Wonder and a post-midnight fireworks show setting the celebratory tone for the beloved festival's 30th anniversary soiree.
A steady drizzle - which, for the most part, stopped about a half-hour before Wonder's two-and-a-half-hour show - didn't deter the umbrella-filled throng, estimated to be over 150,000 strong. The massive free show, which christened the fest's new Place des Festivals, featured Wonder and his 14-piece delivering numerous hits from his impressive repertoire.
Wonder also paid tribute to recently deceased pop star Michael Jackson, which included a killer take on "I Can't Help It," a song that he co-wrote for Jackson's classic "Off the Wall" album. Other covers included a gorgeous rendering of Miles Davis' "All Blues" (with Wonder playing the melody on harmonica), the Beatles' "Michelle" and tunes by jazz luminaries John Coltrane and Chick Corea.
Meanwhile, indoor performances were being held at, among other places, the festival's gorgeous new venue, L'Astral, an intimate space that is like a slightly bigger and more open version of Burlington's FlynnSpace.
Adventurous New York City-based jazz band the Bad Plus took the L'Astral stage around 11 p.m. to a packed house of about 350 people, who were seated at small tables. Featuring the unassuming and distinctive singer Wendy Lewis, the piano trio of 30-somethings served up stellar and more nuanced versions of classic rock tunes such as U2's "New Year's Day" and Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb."
A major highlight of the show was the second encore, a subdued and beautiful interpretation of Neil Young's "Heart of Gold," which featured stunning a cappella singing of the refrain by the entire band, sans microphones. As if on cue, audible booms from a post-midnight fireworks show snapped the audience out of their trance as the band quickly wrapped up the tune with a smile.
Outside, the thunderous display - launched from atop several of the high-rise buildings that surround the site as a light rain sprinkled down - illuminated the sprawling downtown plaza that serves as the festival core.
Though it was hard to top Tuesday's supercharged action, Wednesday was also seriously festive — due in large part to the fact that it was also Canada Day, a federal holiday that found the festival site packed to the gills with revelers. Latin jazz sounds from the Scene Rio Tinto Alcan stage - and, later, a mobile brass band — filled the hot summer air as people lounged around a fountain area.
Later, the daily La Parade du Festival took things up a notch. Led by the highly entertaining Swing Tonique jazz band, the parade infused the festivities with a Mardi-Gras style party vibe as dancers, an electric train and giant "creatures" (including an alligator and lobster) snaked their way up St. Urbain Street before settling into the plaza for an extended performance.
If the opening two days of the festival are any indication, this year's 30th anniversary soiree should be one for the ages.
The sizable musical park and play area was bustling with kids playing in a bouncy house, jumping up and down on giant piano keys and getting elaborate face paintings.