The annual Festival International de Jazz de Montreal begins tomorrow, and Montrealers as well as out-of-towners are amped up for this year’s distinguished line-up of performers.
Hometown boy Rufus Wainwright, Quebec’s Pierre Lapointe, and country music’s Bonnie Raitt are just a few of the more than 3000 artists who will take to the 10 stages throughout the 10-day event. There will also be a number of awards given out during the Montreal Jazz Fest – Nova Scotia’s Holly Cole will be the 15th recipient of the Ella Fitzgerald Award, which was established in 1999 for the festival’s 20th anniversary and recognizes the versatility, improvisational originality and quality of repertoire of a singer renowned on the international scene. Also on the honouree list is Charles Lloyd, who will be the 20th recipient of the Miles Davis Award, which came about during the 15th anniversary of the Jazz Fest and is intended to honour a great international jazz musician for the entire body of his or her work and for that musician’s influence in regenerating the jazz idiom.
Past performers at Jazz Fest include icons like Leonard Cohen, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Diana Krall, Tony Bennett, Ray Charles, and Aretha Franklin.
The Festival International de Jazz de Montreal starts tomorrow, June 28th, and runs until July 7th. Visit their official website for more info.
Photo: WENN
