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All-Canadian Jazz Festival Port Hope, scheduled for September 23-25 |
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Written by Ronaldo Oregano
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Sunday, 24 July 2005 |
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Page 1 of 2  Photo by Andrea Canter
Some of the hottest players in Latin jazz will get people
out on the dance floor in the Club Tent, a new addition to this year’s
festival format. Latin jazz will also be featured in the Concert Tent,
as Jane Bunnett and the Spirits of Havana play the Friday evening
headline show.
Building her career at the crossroads between
Cuban music and jazz, Bunnett has turned her bands into showcases for
the finest musical talent from Canada, the United States and Cuba.
Mentoring
of the next generation of musicians is an important theme throughout
the festival. The Northumberland High School All-Star Jazz Band, led by
saxophonist Pat Labarbera will open the festival on Friday evening.
New
Canadian jazz artists from Russia, Hungary, Argentina and Cuba will
also take their places among more than a dozen of the country’s finest
ensembles.
In planning this year’s festival, programmer Sybil
Walker says, “we became increasingly aware of the number of musicians
who, although not Canadian by birth, are Canadian by choice. These
players bring to their music the unique flavours of their cultural
backgrounds, enriching the fabric of Canadian jazz.”
Saturday’s
festivities begin with the Blow Your Own Horn Jazz Parade, down Port
Hope’s historic main street. The parade is led this year by saxophonist
Richard Underhill, of Shuffle Demons fame, and Underhill plays the
first concert of the day.
Saturday afternoon will see sets by
the John Alcorn Quintet, and the Hungarian-born Botos Brothers, Robi
and Frank, on piano and drums.
Russian-born songstress Sophie
Milman, who has been catapulted into national stardom at the age of
twenty-one, appears in the Concert Tent, followed by Montreal’s
Sweatshop Tango Ensemble, whose music is devoted to the rhythms of
tango.
Fresh from Toronto’s Lula Lounge, nine-piece band Le
Cache will play three sets in the Club Tent, followed by the TD Canada
Trust Young Jazz Showcase, a group of high school jazz stars selected
from across the country.
Closing out Saturday’s events in the
park is rising sensation Matt Dusk. This velvet-voiced
twenty-four-year-old is all set to sing his way to international
stardom. Dusk combines the finer elements of the Rat Pack era (great
vocals, style, sophistication) with unique new material, and the result
is the dawning of a new era of sound.
Versatile pianist John
Arpin, whose name has become synonymous with piano rags, opens Sunday’s
schedule. Tabby Johnson takes the stage next in the Concert Tent,
bringing a group of inspirational gospel performers.
Singer
Dione Taylor, whose conservatory training has been enriched by jazz,
soul, blues and gospel, leads her quintet in the Concert Tent, and
Juno-award-winning, Cuban-born piano legend Hilario Duran heats up the
Club Tent with his trio.
The Festival closes with a performance
by Molly Johnson, an audacious entertainer and a proud Canadian musical
ambassador. As a pop artist, she has rocked standing-room-only
audiences in bars from coast-to-coast, and she has seduced the patrons
of salons and lounges with her luscious interpretations of jazz and
blues standards.
Additional late-night entertainment is planned
for the Capitol Theatre upstairs studio. Lou Pomanti hosts the Local
Heroes Jam Session on Friday night, and June Garber, backed by The
Richard Whiteman Trio, sings jazz standards and ballads on Saturday
night. Once again the Oasis Bar & Grill will be the Festival’s
satellite venue in Cobourg with outstanding performers.
Admission
prices at the Festival remain low, with a pass for day-time events in
the park priced at $15 for Saturday and $10 for Sunday, $5 for youth
under 18 both Saturday and Sunday. Tickets for the headline concerts by
Jane Bunnett, Matt Dusk and Molly Johnson are priced at $25, $30, and
$25, respectively. Friday night park admission is free.
“The
presentation of this year’s festival is a culmination of three years
work and experience of over 300 volunteers, ” says festival Founder and
Executive Director David Acomba. “Don’t miss our celebration of the
finest in Canadian Jazz by some of the best performers from across the
country – and don’t forget to bring your dancing shoes!”
2005 Festival Schedule Follows:
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 Friday, 05 December 2008
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