By Laura Kennelly
When the Cleveland Jazz Festival is over, where does one go to find more jazz festival action? That’s right — Montreal, Canada. Lest you think that’s excessive I hasten to point out that we weren’t the only Cleveland folk on our short flight (thanks, United) to Montreal. Although the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal (that’s the extent of my French unless one speaks very, very slowly) lasts two weeks, we just caught the last few days.
The venue is terrific. Cafes and food stands, little shops and big ones (there’s a nearby shopping center underground and above) make life easy.
An impressive amount of downtown gets set aside for the event (no cars!) It takes in the huge Montreal arts complex (including the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, Masion Symphinque de Montreal, Theatre Maisonneuve, Theatre Jean-Duceppe, the Musee D’Art Contemparain) and more. People-watching is most excellent, especially at the very popular dancing fountain installation that attracts frolicking kids (mostly young ones, but a few parents too).
But that’s just the setting: what about the music? It’s everywhere and represents the world. Musicians from New Orleans to Romania and beyond played non-stop. Three big outdoor stages had something free going on from noon to midnight. Ticketed events are held indoors, some in huge spaces, some in small. The last night the good-natured crowd made it almost impossible to move (except to dance).
Extremely cool free music meant most listening was done outside. But inside? Well, while I missed Trombone Shorty and Lyle Lovett (darn it all), I did hear Oliver Jones (what an amazingly light touch that man has on the keyboard–just so gentle and fine) and Emile-Claire Barlow’s appealing vocal offerings. Pianist Michael Kaeshammer started off Barlow’s concert with humor and his own lively ensemble.
An unexpected pleasure came with the concert featuring Benoit Charest et le Terrible Orchestre de Belleville. The small orchestra played live the music they recorded ten years ago for the old-style movie, Les Triplettes de Belleville, an Academy Award-nominated film. The quirky film is hard to categorize, but imagine what might happen if Cleveland’s Derf drew a movie (hint hint) and you’ll get a good idea. The bizarre drawings kept eyes as involved as ears. (It reminded me of those great Blossom concerts when the Cleveland Orchestra plays Bugs Bunny cartoon music.)
Cleveland’s own Tommy LiPuma (well, that’s how I think of him) got the Bruce Lundvall Award, given to an individual in the music industry for his contributions to the development of jazz.
Next year the Montreal Jazz Festival will run Friday, June 27 to Sunday, July 6, 2014! Rest up. Check it out at http://MontrealJazzFest.com.
Laura Kennelly is a freelance arts journalist, a member of the Music Critics Association of North America, and an associate editor of BACH, a scholarly journal devoted to J. S. Bach and his circle.Listening to and learning more about music has been a life-long passion. She knows there’s no better place to do that than the Cleveland area.