The Beaches International Jazz Festival is all about showcasing jazz sounds from places across the continent and around the world. But year after year, one of the best things about the Fest is actually just how local it feels. The Beach is one of those timeless neighbourhoods — with its blue slivers of lake peeking through leafy shaded streets, an unapologetic sweet tooth (where else could places like The Pie Shack, The Nutty Chocolatier and Ed’s Real Scoop be allowed to line the same street?), and a real take-your-time attitude. All that happens at the Beach is infused with the neighbourhood’s own brand of communal comfort. So the Fest always feels as much like a celebration of the Beach as it does a celebration of jazz.
Now in its 24th year, the Fest, which begins today and continues until July 29, plans to bring some outstanding music to a number of stages at the Beach. The OLG Stage at Kew Gardens is the Fest’s self-proclaimed “global listening post,” and will feature bands which have made their mark internationally. The beer garden is a great spot to catch the likes of blues queen Sharrie Williams, funk masters LMT Connection, star pianist Tyler Yarema and five-time Juno Award winner Liona Boyd.
The Kew Gardens stage will also showcase the nutty Lemon Bucket Orkestra — now infamous both for their extremely eclectic brand (“Balkan-Klezmer-Gypsy-Punk-Super-Party…what?”), and for recently making headlines with an impromptu performance on a delayed Air Canada flight. Also worth a visit are the stages at Woodbine Park, and those garnishing the boardwalk: the World Beat Stage, new this year; the Big Band Stage, which will feature the romantic grit of 1930s, 40s and 50s Big Bands; and Latin Square, for its raw celebration of Latin-spiced jazz.
But nothing really defines jazz in the Beach better than the StreetFest (Thursday, July 26 until Saturday, July 28), a pretty thrilling street scene of almost 50 local bands, strewn down a two-kilometre stretch of Queen Street East, showcasing their own brand of Swing, Dixieland, Smooth, Big Band, Post-Bop, Afro-Cuban, Fusion, Funk, R&B and Soul. StreetFest is beautifully unpredictable, inherently interactive, and has that rare instant gratification quality that only live (and slightly cacophonous) music on the street can have. The lineup includes the fantastic folk old-timers Sultans of String, the brilliant violin chaos of Dr. Draw (pictured above), and bands like Gone Phission and The Paul James Band.
See the full line-up at beachesjazz.com.
Photo by jbach