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Saturday
| PERFORMERS - KEW Gardens Main Stage |
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| Alexis Baro |
| James Bryan |
| Shuffle Demons |
| Steve Oliver |
| Curtis Salgado |
Sunday
| PERFORMERS - KEW Gardens Main Stage |
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| Norman Marshall Villeneuve |
| Al Henderson Quintet |
| Bill King Sextet & Real Divas |
| Caché |
| Rod Piazza & the Mighty Flyers |
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Commentary from Bill King, Artistic Director
Did someone say seventeen years? I was a young man back when - absent gray highlights and rich brown moustache Wyatt Earp would have envied.
It seems much of what I’ve done musically in recent years has coincided with the evolution of the Beaches International Jazz Festival – the Jazz Report Magazine even the Jazz Report Radio Network back in the early days.
The BIJF is a Toronto tradition much the same as lounging at a beloved cafe sharing summer conversation while sipping Cappuccinos. We are a social bunch.
Every year the BIJF delivers three or four cartons of submissions from bands and individuals from all regions of the planet. My gig is to listen to everything and choose the most vital and promising artists keeping in mind we are an outdoor venue and have limited budget. There’s a lot of great music flowing this way but some acts are better showcased in a concert hall where silence is a compulsory.
Each year we try to attach a theme but in most cases the music is so diverse it’s hard to paint one broad picture of the event. The BIJF in many ways mirrors our great city. The variety of music, the many nationalities the many generations are all part of a city enriched by a world that’s cleared it’s doorway.
Last season was a blast! The tall blues was in session with young upstart Roxanne Potvin, the dusty crossroads of Byther Smith and scorching guitar of Kid Ramos. Barbados was represented with an all-star unit led by bassist Nicholas Brancker. Ah... the sun never shined so bright. Of course the salsa component rose with Son Aché whose hypnotic set kept everyone checking their pulse.
This season I believe we’ve come up with the same kind of mixture of sounds that make this the most inviting place to be especially on a hot summer day. Leading off Saturday noon time - Alexis Baro is exactly the kind of caliber artist you’d expect from Cuba. The country produces some of the most exciting trumpeters on earth. Baro has the range, lungs and energy to deliver a rousing set rooted in jazz and brought to life with Cuban rhythms.
Richard Underhill of the Shuffle Demons has spoken to me over years about getting just one date at the BIJF. I’m sure there is few places the band has landed the past twenty years where Richard and gang haven’t performed. We’re more than willing to accommodate.
Steve Oliver is making noise all over the place with his exciting take on smooth jazz. I caught him a couple years back at the Barbados Jazz Festival and knew then he’d been a perfect fit.
Curtis Salgado and Rob Piazza and his Flyers play true to our commitment to the blues. Over the years we’ve featured several top-notch blues ensembles from the Fabulous Thunderbirds to Lucky Peterson.
The explosive Norman Marshall Villeneuve band will make their first appearance along with the Al Henderson Quintet. Both units represent the very finest in mainstream jazz.
I’ll be back absent the Saturday Nite Fish Fry but with five extraordinary vocalists. – Liberty Silver makes a long awaited return visit – Dione Taylor, Emilie-Clarie Barlow, Suzie Vinnick and Heather Bambrick. The house band reads like an all star unit in iteself with drummer Larnell Lewis, bassist Duncan Hopkins, Chris Gale sax, Reg Schwager guitar, and Luis Obergoso percussion.
Do make time, drop by and say hello. There are plenty new faces on the street and some familiar sounds. That’s what we’re all about. After seventeen years, we’ve grown into one big multi cultural family. Now that’s the way I like living! |
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