Smooth jazz, ragtime, hard bop, and avant-garde improv: the 2018 TD VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL presents a jam-packed schedule that appeals to every musical taste. The festival runs JUNE 22 TO JULY 1, 2018 at multiple venues across Vancouver and features 300 CONCERTS by internationally renowned jazz musicians from around the globe.
While it’s impossible to make a wrong choice where the TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival is concerned, we’re delighted to serve up this list of eight can’t-miss festival concerts.
June 22
ROBERTA GAMBARINI QUARTET
A force to be reckoned with, Italian vocal powerhouse Roberta Gambarini got her start singing in clubs when she was only 17. Since then, she’s been nominated for two Grammys and collaborated with giants like Dave Brubeck, Clark Terry, Herbie Hancock, and Wynton Marsalis.
Pyatt Hall
from $34
June 24
KAMASI WASHINGTON
Saxophonist Kamasi Washington’s tour de force album, The Epic, was a game changer. The heady mix of hip-hop, classical, and R&B elements with jazz opened the door for young audiences to experience music unlike anything they had heard before. He’s since collaborated with Kendrick Lamar, John Legend, Run the Jewels, and released an EP entitled Harmony of Difference.
Queen Elizabeth Theatre
from $50
June 25
BONOBO
Bonobo’s rise has been stealthy but unstoppable, and Si Green, the man behind it all, is now one of the biggest electronic artists of our time. His subtle, emotional, ambiguous and deeply musical work transcends EDM clichés and creates dance music to move your heart, as well as your feet.
Queen Elizabeth Theatre
from $40
June 25
SPANISH HARLEM ORCHESTRA
The 13-piece all-star powerhouse Spanish Harlem Orchestra shows why they’re the leading light of the salsa reconstruction movement by doing what they do best: hard-hitting, high-energy, no-holds-barred New York salsa. The true voice of the barrio, SHO brings the heat with fresh, intricate arrangements and pulsating rhythms steeped in the authentic salsa dura (“hard salsa”) tradition.
Vogue Theatre
from $44
June 27
BEAUTIFUL TOOL
Beautiful Tool is a wide-ranging and constantly surprising collaboration between incomparable vocalist Mary Margaret O’Hara and cellist Peggy Lee. Mojo Magazine called O’Hara one of the top 100 cult music heroes of all time, and her 1988 debut “Miss America” one of the top 100 albums of the 20th Century. Lee and O’Hara flow effortlessly from song to improvisation, taking melodic tangents and exploring layers
of texture and colour.
Performance Words
from $28
June 28
MACY GRAY
Multi-platinum Grammy Award-winner Macy Gray first broke onto the scene in 1999 with her debut album On How Life Is which peaked at #4 on Billboard’s Top 200. Inspired by the stylings of Billie Holiday, Macy Gray is revered for her raspy yet soulful vocals, which she put to good use in her hit song, “I Try.”
Queen Elizabeth Theatre
from $50
June 29
ROBERT PLANT AND THE
SENSATIONAL SHAPE SHIFTERS
Though Robert Plant has returned to the Welsh borders, he retains the sensibility – and the soul – of an itinerant troubadour.
His diverse musical points of reference stand out like pins on a map, from Austin, Texas to Timbuktu, Mali. Plant performs
with the Sensational Space Shifters, his well-matched band of brilliant, eclectic players with whom he’s been touring, on and off,
since 2002.
Queen Elizabeth
Theatre from $65
June 30
THE
JERRY DOUGLAS BAND
Legendary dobro/lap steel player and vocalist Jerry Douglas has a whopping 14 Grammy Awards to his credit. His next-level mastery can be heard in O Brother Where Art Thou? Douglas has absorbed and transcended the conventions of bluegrass, country, jazz, blues, and rock. His bold new music is cinematic and stunningly detailed, hitting on an artful chamber Americana sound beyond the boundaries of anything he – or anyone else – has done before.
Vogue Theatre
from $39
Tickets and details: www.coastaljazz.ca
Chan Hon Goh. Living for Ballet