Top-Notch Musicians Play Ottawa Jazz Festival: Béla Fleck and Matt Andersen thrill the crowd
Susan Hallett, Epoch Times
Canada Day saw masses of people at Confederation Park in downtown Ottawa. Two boys were swimming in the fountain while three others gathered the pennies people had thrown in for good luck while I strolled past. Mobs of people were licking ice cream cones and eating rotis, sipping beer and enjoying poutine along with the all-day free jazz concerts at the 31st annual TD Ottawa International Jazz Festival.
What we heard on this perfect, star-filled night was an absolutely unique bluegrass-jazz crossover displaying what the festival brochure describes as “a special kinship between the four musicians, a bond forged over 20 years ago in a mutual passion for creativity and artistic advancement.” After playing with various artists and taking a hiatus, Fleck reconvened the original Bela Fleck & The Flecktones, that amazing initial line-up of an incredible combo.
Ottawans and fellow jazz lovers were fortunate to have the opportunity to hear these stars play. It was definitely a night to remember.
Full review on the Epoch Times website: Top-Notch Musicians Play Ottawa Jazz Festival
Bad weather hammers Jazzfest: Even with big pop stars this year, fewer fans attended the festival than in 2010
Peter Hum, The Ottawa Citizen
Photograph courtesy of: Bruno Schlumberger, Ottawa Citizen
Although it spent more money on music this year and gave its mainstage lineup a striking populist tweak, the TD Ottawa International Jazz Festival attracted 12,000 fewer attendees in 2011 than in 2010, thwarted by too many nights of so-so, cold and even terrible weather.
The festival’s preliminary tally pegged attendance for this year’s 11-day event at 280,000 people. Its reported attendance in 2010 was 292,000. (The numbers for both years include roughly 90,000 people tallied on Confederation Park during the respective Canada Day celebrations.)
“It was just the rainy days the brought the numbers down,” said Suzan Zilahi, the festival’s communication’s director. She said that this year’s festival was nonetheless “fantastic” because of packed shows given indoors, most notably at the National Arts Centre Studio and Fourth Stage, and in the OLG tent.
Full story: Bad weather hammers Jazzfest
2011 Juno Award winner inspires youth to dream big
Here is a great example of the often over-looked benefits of festivals and special events — the opportunity for youth to connect and learn from their role models in a meaningful way.
Eddie Rwema, YourOttawaRegion
Shad Kabango, 2011 Juno Award winner for best rap recording, took time of his busy schedule and spent the afternoon of Sunday, June 26 delivering words of inspiration to the youth of Rwandan origin.
The Vancouver-based rapper, who was in town to perform at the Ottawa International Jazz festival, spoke to the youth about making good choices and life decisions.
The young people had gathered at the annual youth empowerment conference organized by Rwanda Social Services and Family Counselling.
“Do what you love, be who you are, have some integrity and purpose in what you are doing,” Kabango told those gathered.
Full article on YourOttawaRegion website: 2011 Juno Award winner inspires youth to dream big
Jazz Fest announces line-up
Cassandra Trenholme, Centretown News
The TD Ottawa International Jazz Festival has announced its line-up for this year’s event in late June.
Performers include Robert Plant & the Band of Joy, Elvis Costello and the Imposters, k.d. lang and the Siss Boom Bang, Pink Martini, Return to Forever IV, Youssou N’dour, Paco De Lucia, Lucky Peterson, Béla Fleck & the Original Flecktones, and Daniel Lanois’ Black Dub. They will headline the Concerts Under The Stars series, on the Canal Stage at Confederation Park.
For ticket information, prices and the complete line-up visit www.ottawajazzfestival.com.
Full story on Centretown News Online: Jazz Fest announces line-up
Ottawa’s festival industry members honoured by Festivals & Events Ontario
OTTAWA — Each year as winter draws to a close, the festival community across the province eagerly awaits the announcement of the Top 100 Festivals and Events in Ontario list compiled by Festivals & Events Ontario (FEO) at their annual Awards Gala. This year five Ottawa area festivals were honoured — The Rideau Canal Festival, Canadian Tulip Festival, Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest, Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival, TD Ottawa International Jazz Festival and Winterlude. The Top 100 Festivals and Events in Ontario designation is presented to a select few of more than 2,000 events that occur annually within the province.
Mark Monahan, Founder and Executive Director of the Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest, was inducted into the association’s Hall of Fame, an annual award which has been created to recognize and honour leaders in the Ontario festivals and events industry.
“This is a well-deserved honour,” says Barbara Stacey, Exectutive Director of Ottawa Festivals, a not-for-profit organization that represents festivals, special events and fairs that take place in Canada’s Capital Region, “Besides the incredible growth and success Mark has seen at Bluesfest, he is also a community champion and has been involved in a number of initiatives on behalf of the industry and the tourism sector, as well as programs such as Blues in the Schools and the She’s the One Emerging Female Artist Competition.”
Mosaika, the Sound and Light Show on Parliament Hill that is presented by the National Capital Commission (NCC) was singled out in the category for Best Poster and Best Promotional Campaign in FEO’s Achievement Awards which acknowledge individual festival and event excellence and best practices.
“We are very proud of the calibre of festivals and events presented in Canada’s Capital Region,” says Stacey, who was in attendance at the FEO Conference, “Ottawa is being recognized by more and more people as, Canada’s Festival Capital. It is because we are home to a number of world-class events such as the ones honoured by FEO; and having hundreds of festivals and events taking place through the year, there always seems to be something happening.”
Jazzfest revelations and speculations: Mehldau, Fleck, N’Dour Ottawa-bound this summer
Peter Hum, Ottawa Citizen
It’s around this time of year that I and other jazz fans are itching to find out who the TD Ottawa International Jazz Festival will bring to town this summer.
Not that the event wants us to know.
While the lineup has almost certainly been determined for the event’s 31st annual edition, which runs from June 23 to July 3, jazz festival folks are keeping their lips sealed until their April 13 launch.
Read full story: Jazzfest revelations and speculations
Gord Grdina and the East Van Strings take Ottawa by storm
Following a sold out performance at the 2010 TD Ottawa International Jazz Festival, guitar and oud player Gord Grdina returns with a stunning project this Monday, February 21, 2011, 7:30pm at the National Arts Centre Fourth Stage.
“…harnesses progressive energy in ways that most cannot.” – Exclaim
After a 3-year hiatus Grdina will perform with the East Van Strings in this not to be missed concert which includes; violinists Jesse Zubot and Eyvind Kang and cellist Peggy Lee. The Vancouverites are touring in support of their release The Breathing of Statues (Songlines) which has received 5 stars out of 5 on amazon.com. The project led by Grdina is inspired by string quartets of Bartok and Webern, drawing on Arabic and Indian music, free jazz, as well as the music of Phillip Glass.
Grdina has taken the music world by storm with his fiery playing, wide range of influences and versatility, leading groups of the highest calibre with inspired ease. His initial vision back in 2005 was to assemble a dream band of string players making up the members of the East Van Strings. All of these musicians are brilliant improvisers in their own right, deeply respected and sought after for their unique and powerful voices.
General admission: $22 and Students: $15 (Students under 25 years of age with a valid i.d.).
Tickets:
Ottawa Jazz Festival office before 5pm on Friday, February 18: 294 Albert, Suite 602,
613-241-2633 (Fourth Stage concert series is not available through the Jazz Festival website, only by phone)
Ottawa Festivals office: (47 William Street, Ottawa)
Ticketmaster: (613) 755-1111 or www.ticketmaster.ca
At the door: Tickets will be available at the Fourth Stage after 6:30pm on the evening of the concert.
After blowing out the candles, the TD OTTAWA INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL ‘Blows its own horn’ after celebrating the most artistically successful Festival ever in 30 years!
From its roots as a weekend-long Dixieland bash to its current status as one of the National Capital Region’s largest annual events, the Festival has been thrilling music fans for 30 summers. Just over 290,000 attended the Festival’s most successful year in its 30-year history in 2010, up by 28,000 from 2009! On Canada Day more than 92,000 attended free concerts, performed by some of the most innovative and cutting-edge Canadian artists at Confederation Park.
More than 850 artists performed in 250 concerts, in 10 different series and in 8 different venues located in the heart of the Nation’s Capital.
“In an industry where success often depends on things beyond organizers’ control, the festival took major risks this year to build for the future, and everything it added worked according to plan.” – Ottawa Sun
Besides the star-studded line-up on the Main Stage there were gems to be found in the successful OLG Stage, Improv Invitational, Friends and the Late Night Jam Sessions at the Crowne Plaza.
“This year, the festival introduced the OLG Tent, a new stage in Confederation Park. Its eclectic, late-night shows were very successful, easily drawing listeners from mainstage concerts that had just concluded. The tent could not hold all who wanted to hear acts such as Bonobo or Gypsophilia.” – Ottawa Citizen
“the Improv Invitational series, experienced the best overall attendance in its five-year history, with some of its best programming to boot.” – Ottawa Sun
“The festival’s nightly jam sessions, run by Ottawa bassist John Geggie, were consistently impressive, with visiting stars such as the saxophonists Joshua Redman and Joe Lovano sitting in to play. An hour or so after the big band of Roy Hargrove finished playing in Confederation Park, the trumpeter and many of his musicians staged a benevolent takeover of the festival jam.” – Ottawa Citizen
Join us next year from June 22 – July 3 as we celebrate the 31st edition of the TD Ottawa Jazz Festival.
Festival fatigue? From May to September, there’s a festival every weekend. Is Ottawa in danger of …
Bruce Ward, The Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa’s festival season is exhilarating and exhausting, but it also poses an existential dilemma: How do you wring every drop of fun from the festivals when so much is on offer? Let’s be optimistic and say our summer is about four months long — call it 16 weekends.
During those 16 weekends, Ottawans can choose from hundreds of events tied to smaller festivals and cultural celebrations, not counting the Tulip Festival and Canada Day celebrations on Parliament Hill. That’s in addition to the big four music shows — Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest, TD Ottawa International Jazz Festival, Ottawa International Chamber Music Fest, and the Ottawa Folk Festival.
And what about the possibility of festival fatigue? Will residents and visitors get turned off when confronted with Ottawa’s overload of shows and events? “Other than jokingly — ‘Oh, there’s too much to do, how do you choose?’ — I haven’t really heard any serious criticism of there being too many festivals,” says Jantine Van Kregten, director of communications at Ottawa Tourism.
“I find June, though, there really is a lot. It’s just one thing after another. Every weekend there’s not just one or two things, there’s multiple things to choose from.” Festivals bring a big payday to Canadian cities, including Ottawa. At the 2009 Bluesfest, the combined overall attendance was 395,044 with visitor expenditures of more than $65 million.
Full article on the Ottawa Citizen website: Festival fatigue?
Jazz festival blows its horn: ‘Most successful’ edition staged more varied acts than ever
Peter Hum, Citizen Special
From its soggy start hours after Ottawa’s recent earthquake to its sweltering finish on Sunday night, the 30th TD Ottawa International Jazz Festival was the “most successful” edition of the event to date, its executive producer said Sunday night.
As reasons to be pleased, O’Grady cited the co-operative weather this summer compared with the rain that befell most of her 2009 edition, a 25-per-cent increase in pre-event passes sold compared with last year, and much positive feedback she’s received concerning the festival’s mix of shows.
That mix, which cost the festival more than $1 million, was jammed with extra shows compared with previous years, and its mainstage shows offered more pop- and funk-flavoured music than ever.
Read full atory on Ottawa Citizen website: Jazz festival blows its horn
