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TD Ottawa Jazz Festival 2018
Courtesy John R. Fowler
Multiple Venues
Ottawa, Canada
June 21-June 26, 2018
For its 2018 edition, the 39th annual TD Ottawa Jazz Festival faced a number of significant logistical challenges.
First, Confederation Park, which has traditionally been the location of its large, outdoor venue, a food court and number of shops where attendees can pick up CDs of the artist they just saw, T-Shirts and more, is currently under renovation and, therefore, was unavailable to the festival. The good news was that Marion Dewar Plaza, located literally across the street from Confederation Park and part of the City Hall complex, was available. Having been used by the Ottawa Blues Fest for quite a few years before relocating means that there was a different park configuration, but one that definitely worked.
Despite currently being torn up, the west end of Confederation Park is still available and so, the late night OLG Stage that was originally across from Confederation Park in Marion Dewar Plaza, has been relocated there, while The Tartan Homes stage (originally in the west end of Confederation Park) has been moved to Lisgar Field, just a short walk from Marian Dewar Plaza, for late night programming.
After major external renovations made accessing the National Arts Centre, where the festival has used often used the 1,100 seat Theatre, 350-seat Studio and 180-seat, club-like Fourth Stage, the arts venue is now undergoing significant internal renovations, specifically making acoustic upgrades to most venues that, after 51 years, are in serious need of modernizing. With only the Fourth Stage available, the festival relocated a number of shows to the nearby First Baptist Church, a lovely hall with warm acoustics.
Beyond logistical issues, however, the festival has put together yet another stellar lineup for its 11-day run from June 21 to July 1. Big name, big ticket (but still, compared to other festivals, very reasonably priced) performers at the main stage included a range of jazz music and beyond, from smooth jazz trumpeter
Chris Botti
trumpetb.1962
Dee Dee Bridgewater
vocalsb.1950
Bela Fleck
banjob.1958
Howard Levy
harmonica
Herbie Hancock
pianob.1940
On the same stage, but before the 8:30 main acts, will be the festival's regular Canadian Jazz series, this year featuring artists including drummer
Jim Doxas
drums
Joe Sullivan
trumpet
Ernesto Cervini
drumsb.1982
Francois Bourassa
pianoThe Fourth Stage, typically hosting the festival's more improv/left-of-center artists, was home to artists including the Baltic Jazz Trio, New York-based Israeli expat guitarist
Rotem Sivan
guitar
Tim Berne
saxophone, altob.1954
David Torn
guitar, electricb.1953
Ches Smith
drums
Marius Neset
saxophoneb.1985
Peter Van Huffel
saxophoneb.1978
Samuel Blaser
tromboneb.1981
Maciej Obara
saxophoneb.1981
Dan Weiss
drumsThe Tartan Home Stage was the place to catch rising star trumpeter/vocalist
Bria Skonberg
trumpet
Kellylee Evans
vocals
Petr Cancura
saxophoneb.1977
Kimmo Pohjonen
accordion
Jerry Douglas
multi-instrumentalistThe festival also brought a variety of outstanding artists to the First Baptist Church, including Kimmo Pohjonen collaborating with Canadian singer Mary Margaret O'Hara; mainstream guitar icon
Russell Malone
guitar1963 - 2024
Django Bates
pianob.1960
Bill Bruford
drumsb.1949
Terence Blanchard
trumpetb.1962
Jerry Granelli
drums1940 - 2021
Robben Ford
guitarb.1951
Gonzalo Rubalcaba
pianob.1963
With the Tartan Homes Stage handling the late night events, this year's OLG stage was home to a series of free concerts under the moniker OLG Ontario Series. This series of eight free concerts featured a number of up-and-coming and established artists from the festival's home province, and was a terrific way for those on a budget to catch some great music.
July 1, Canada Day, which has traditionally become the festival's final day, must program a day of entirely free, entirely Canadian content (due to federal regulations). This year, six shows, beginning at 1:00PM and ending at 7:00PM, will feature groups including Ottawa's own Souljazz Orchestra, Bank Street Bonbons, Montreal's Saxsyndrum, keyboardist Anomalie, pop/rap/funk unit Random Recipe and another show from the TD Jazz Youth Summit, this time also with the Stingray Rising Stars. And that's only a sampling of the music brought to the festival this year; if not the largest, then certainly amongst the largest and most diverse it's offered in its near-forty years.
And that doesn't include the popular late-night jam sessions at the close-by Lord Elgin Hotel, starting at 10:30PM and going to, well, whenever, where two of the city's most renowned local artists, bassist
John Geggie
bassb.1960
Roddy Ellias
guitarb.1949
Nick Fraser
drumsb.1976
June 29: Boz Scaggs, Top Shelf Main Stage
He's a veteran of the music scene since first appearing as a member of another major hitmaker's band,
Steve Miller
guitar and vocals
Boz Scaggs
guitarb.1944
Scaggs delivered a perfectly paced hundred-minute show (including encores) to a large crowd at the Top Shelf Main Stage in Marion Dewar Plaza, drawing upon material from across his nearly 50-year career as a solo artist. Well, his career as a solo artist actually extends beyond 50 years, with Scaggs' first album under his own name, Boz, released by Polydor Records in 1965. Still, it was only with the release of Boz Scaggs (Atlantic, 1969)—the first in a series of albums that received critical and (increasing) commercial success—that people began to take real notice of this blue-eyed white soul singer.
With a new self-produced album, Out of the Blues (Concord), on the horizon with a July 27, 2018 release date, Scaggs performed its closing track, the slowly shuffling 12/8 blues "The Feeling is Gone," as well a rocking, roots-driven version of rockabilly songwriter John Martin's "Cadillac Walk" and Scaggs' own album-opener, the more soulful "Gone Baby Gone," from his 2013 return to form, Memphis (429 Records).
Scaggs clearly knew what his audience came for, even if he included a few unusual/rare choices from his career, including the soft ballad "Look What You've Done to Me," co-penned with David Foster for James Bridges' 1980 film, Urban Cowboy, and the buoyant "Drowning in the Sea of Love," from
Steely Dan
band / ensemble / orchestrab.1972
Donald Fagen
piano and vocalsb.1948
But more about that later. With a full half dozen songs culled from Silk Degrees (Columbia, 1976)—his biggest-selling album ever, hitting #2 in the Billboard 200, certified platinum five times by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), with four singles—Scaggs gave the audience exactly what it wanted. In a rare instance where making any significant changes to the arrangements would have been a bad idea, Scaggs largely stuck to script. Still, with a burnished, butter-melting voice still surprisingly strong for a singer who'd just turned 74 earlier this month, and arrangements so good they simply didn't need updating, this was a rare case where straying little from form was the right decision. From the disco-fied "Lowdown," up-tempo pop of "Georgia," soulful ballad "Harbor Lights," bright-tempo'd "It's Over," set-closing (and sole Top 40 hit for Scaggs) "Lido Shuffle" and groove-heavy (though, what song from Scaggs' 100- minute performance wasn't?) "What Can I Say," the first of three planned encores, made crystal clear just how well Scaggs knew his fan base.
Even so, with those songs spread throughout the set and encores, Scaggs must have been happy with both the performance and the capacity crowd's enthusiastic response, coming back for a fourth, unexpected encore, "Breakdown Dead Ahead," the second track from his platinum 1980 album, Middle Man (Columbia). With a similar groove and tempo to "Lido Shuffle," it was, nevertheless, no retread, and sent the crowd home on a positive note.
While Scaggs did, indeed, largely stick to script, opening the set with the mellow funk of Middle Man's "Jojo," he also gave his sextet of veteran touring/session players room to move and shine. And it was a stellar group. Guitarist Mike Miller (
Chick Corea
piano1941 - 2021
Yellowjackets
band / ensemble / orchestrab.1977
Quincy Jones
arranger1933 - 2024
Keyboardist/saxophonist/guitarist
Eric Crystal
saxophone
Allen Toussaint
piano and vocals1938 - 2015
Paul McCandless
woodwindsb.1947
Keyboardist/background singer
"
data-original-title="" title="">Michael Logan (
Ramsey Lewis
piano1935 - 2022
Michael Manson
bass, electric
Will Downing
vocalsIn addition to background vocals, Wieczorek (
Norah Jones
pianob.1979
Herbie Hancock
pianob.1940
Al Jarreau
vocals1940 - 2017
But perhaps the biggest surprise with Scaggs' show was finding Willie Weeks in the lineup. A bassist who may not be household name but who has appeared on literally hundreds of albums by artists ranging from
George Harrison
guitar1943 - 2001
David Bowie
vocals1947 - 2016
Randy Newman
pianob.1943
James Taylor
guitar and vocalsb.1948
Rickie Lee Jones
vocals
Vince Gill
guitarb.1957
Which he did. For 74, his range was still surprisingly strong, with only a little trouble hitting the high notes in the chorus of "Lido Shuffle." Still, that was a small quibble for a performer who, even when he wasn't playing, always had a guitar strapped around his neck. Clearly comfortable in front of large audiences, he may have kept his between-song to a relative minimum, largely introducing songs early in the set and, for the last half, letting the well-known songs speak for themselves. He may also have left the heavy guitar lifting for Miller, but during the ten minute-plus encore of "Loan Me a Dime," Scaggs took a couple of brief but appropriately blues-based solos that, while not possessed of Miller's jazz chops, remained impressive for what they were. His acoustic guitar work, too, on a couple of songs including "Harbor Lights," added some textural diversity to his largely electric band.
It was a perfect summer's evening show, from the smoothly swinging "Runnin' Blue," from Boz Scaggs & Band (Columbia, 1971), through to "Breakdown Dead Ahead." With a set heavy on the songs that his fans know and love, Scaggs nevertheless covered his entire career, from 1969's Boz Scaggs through to the upcoming Out of the Blues, delivering a memorable set from an artist whose recent albums, Memphis and 2015 follow-up, Fool to Care, rank amongst the absolute best of his career. Scaggs' inclusion of one track from Out of the Blues makes clear that his recent winning streak is clearly set to continue.
June 23: Marius Neset, NAC Fourth Stage
While he's long since transcended "new kid on the block" and "rising star" attributions in Europe, the nameMarius Neset
saxophoneb.1985
His first recording for ACT, Lion (2014), was a diversion from his by-then-established quartet (with
Phronesis
band / ensemble / orchestra
Ivo Neame
piano
Anton Eger
drumsb.1980
Django Bates
pianob.1960
Petter Eldh
bassb.1983
Trondheim Jazz Orchestra
band / ensemble / orchestrab.2000
With 2015's Pinball, Neset augmented his now-quintet, with the addition of vibraphonist/percussionist
Jim Hart
vibraphoneJohn Warren
composer / conductorb.1938
Lionel Loueke
guitarb.1973
Herbie Hancock
pianob.1940
Jack DeJohnette
drumsb.1942
Dave Holland
bassb.1946
Beyond his recordings, Neset was seen by over a million people on June 15, 2017, when he played at the annual Swedish Polar Jazz Prize awards show, which honored both
Sting
bass, electricb.1951
Wayne Shorter
saxophone1933 - 2023
So, clearly, Neset is reaching a lot of people in Europe. He is slowly gaining ground in North America too, having been selected as one of Downbeat Magazine's "25 for the Future" artists and garnering regular coverage at All About Jazz. But in a continent where breaking into the scene is a significant challenge no matter how recognized you are elsewhere, the best way to build an audience is still through touring and word of mouth, as the 150 people or so attending his packed show at the National Arts Centre's Fourth Stage will, no doubt, be spreading.
A quick note about the Fourth Stage. Since its renovation, it has turned into a far more comfortable (if not slightly smaller, seating just 150 people to its old 180) venue, with a bigger stage, better lighting and vastly improved acoustics and sound system. With its four-chaired tables spread around the room with considerably more space than the original, and a raised back section so those who sit in the rear can still see the stage without any difficulty, if this is a sign of what the NAC is doing to improve all of its halls, then when the full art venue reopens later this year, it will be a big deal for music, ballet and theater lovers.
But back to Neset. What's been remarkable—since his emergence in 2011 and, increasingly, in performance, as witnessed at the 2012 edition of the Jazzahead! trade fair, where he was backed by the Phronesis trio in its entirety, and his equally intense quartet show at the 2014 Jazzkaar festival in Tallinn, Estonia—is how Neset, a mere 26 when Golden Xplosion was released, has managed to dilute the essence of his more expansive album lineups down to either a quartet or, as was the case with his crowd-enthralling set at the 2018 TD Ottawa Jazz Festival, his quintet including Hart. Somehow, his broader-textured compositions can be reduced to smaller contexts without feeling like anything is missing.
Of course, a large part of this has to do with the absolute mastery of his group—and, in particular, Neset's own remarkable technique as a tenor and soprano saxophonist. At the start of Pinball's "Music for Drums and Saxophone," the second song of his set at the Fourth Stage, Neset created a metrically challenging percussive intro that became all the more complex when Eger joined in, with the saxophonist using his tenor's keys as percussion instruments by tapping them without blowing into the horn and, far more impressive, his use of percussive tonguing while articulating vowels with his mouth.
It's hard to imagine, in fact, how Neset was able to actually speak during his between-song introductions, after the workout he gave his mouth with his array of extended techniques. A solo spot, later in the set, turned into an epic saxophone master class as Neset built upon music that, with its lilting phrasing, seemed rooted in Scandinavian folk music. Increasingly rapid lines, punctuated with lower-register notes that implied chord changes where there were none, ascended and cascaded as Neset swayed back and forth with his horn to an internal rhythm, his face registering all manner of emotions. That would have been impressive enough, along with his broad intervallic leaps, altissimo strength and astounding control over dynamics that were effortlessly mirrored by his band mates.
But his solo turned more unbelievable still (were it not for his audience as witnesses) as he suddenly dropped to a near-whisper and began to slowly draw consonant multiphonics from his horn. A rare technique first heard on Single Engine (Jazzland, 2007), Neset expanded and expounded upon fellow Norwegian
Hakon Kornstad
saxophoneb.1977
His playing with the group was, of course, no less impressive. Largely drawing upon music from Pinball and Sirens of Cologne, he opened with his most recent album's title track, which was a commission from the titular German city. Beginning in abstraction, with everyone in the band contributing to a slowly coalescing pulse, Neset cued the group into a complex scored section of irregular meters and constantly shifting harmonies, as the composition briefly moved into a 6/8 blues before turning more complex yet again. "Prague's Ballet," on the other hand, was a lovely interlude, a trio for saxophone, piano and vibraphone that demonstrated this group's equal penchant for spare beauty and simpler lines.
Still, from the start of the set, both the individual virtuosity and deep chemistry of the group was in clear evidence, even with American bassist
Michael Janisch
bassb.1979
Neame, whose most recent Edition Records album, Moksha, was released just three months ago, was as impressive as ever, whether creating vividly motif-driven solos as he navigated Neset's challenging terrains or providing harmonic support, either alone or in telepathic combination with Hart.
Hart is another player who, like everyone in this group, needs to find larger audiences in North America, though Neame has made some inroads, alongside Eger, through multiple tours over here with Phonesis. Whether on vibraphone, marimba or a series of percussion instruments ranging from wood blocks to shaken metal—or, in the unnamed song following Pinball's "Music for Saxophone and Drums," a series of tuned bells that he played, in challenging meters, in perfect synch with Neame, who gradually introduced dissonances that blended and diverged from the vibraphonist—Hart's contributions to the group made Neset's Ottawa set an even more satisfying and exhilarating experience than his Jazzahead! and Jazzkaar performances.
As always, Eger was not just a charismatic, relentlessly animated and clearly joyous performer, but a drummer who has, over the last decade, demonstrated not only an ability to find grooves in the most difficult of rhythmic circumstances, but to inject all manner of polyrhythms and cross-rhythms that combine with the rest of his band mates to make "finding the one" no small challenge. But with the best advice being to just try and feel the pulse rather than intellectually finding it, Eger has not just evolved, like his band mates, into a far better player over the years; he has grown from young firebrand into a far more mature player. Yes, he can be absolutely crazy at times, but he's equally capable of greater subtlety and, even, a sparser approach where he plays so little that it's amazing just how strong his sense of time is. If there's anyone to which Eger can be compared (despite being absolutely different), it has to be the similarly irrepressible, always smiling and stylistically unpinned
Joey Baron
drumsb.1955
Not that he needed to solo in order to demonstrate just how strong a player he was, Neset nevertheless provided Eger a chance, at the end of Circle of Chimes' set-closing "Life Goes On," where the drummer covered more ground in a couple of brief minutes than most drummers do in entire sets.
Neset's 110-minute set included, following a rousing standing ovation, a well-deserved encore of Pinball's title track, which moved from knottily conceived thematics to a middle section reminiscent of (without actually being) the American traditional "Shenandoah," before ending with a high-energy section of rhythmic starts and stops, as Neset navigated both the script and improvisation with complete and utter élan. Explaining that after he'd written the tune, he was told it was in nine different key signatures, Neset then quipped, "I'd meant to write it in twelve," before the band launched into this impressive close to an evening that will not only prove a memorable experience for those who were hearing Neset and his band for the first time, but set an early high bar for the festival that will undoubtedly turn out to be amongst the best concerts of the 2018 TD Ottawa Jazz Festival.
June 25: Django Bates' Belovèd, First Baptist Church
Truly a treasure hidden but, equally, not-so-hidden, Britain'sDjango Bates
pianob.1960
Mark Lockheart
saxophone
Tim Whitehead
b.1950
Iain Ballamy
saxophone, tenorb.1964
John Parricelli
guitar, electric
Ashley Slater
trombone
Chris Batchelor
trumpet
Steve Arguelles
drumsb.1963
Nic France
drumsBill Bruford
drumsb.1949
This early Earthworks group (a second, more wholly acoustic one would emerge in the late '90s) lasted from 1987 through to the mid-'90s, when Bruford got the call to rejoin a new, double trio version of
King Crimson
band / ensemble / orchestrab.1969
Tim Berne
saxophone, altob.1954
Now known as Django Bates' Belovèd, featuring two young musicians who first met Bates in his capacity as music educator (an important second path in the pianist's career), the trio's original premise was to pay homage to alto saxophonist
Charlie Parker
saxophone, alto1920 - 1955
Fast forward to summer, 2016 and the trio had been picked up by Munich's renowned ECM Records, releasing its first album for the label, The Study of Touch, in the fall of 2017.
Belovèd also features Swedish double bassist
Petter Eldh
bassb.1983
Peter Bruun
drums
Gard Nilssen
drumsb.1983
Magnus Hjorth
pianoSamuel Blaser
tromboneb.1981
Marius Neset
saxophoneb.1985
There's also a notable connective thread within the group. Bates not only played on but produced Marius Neset's Golden Xplosion, while Eldh has been the saxophonist's bassist of choice, from Suite for the Seven Mountains (Calibrated, 2008) through to Circle of Chimes (ACT, 2017). Eldh, in fact, would have been performing with Neset at his TD Ottawa Jazz Festival performance just two days prior, were it not for his being on a brief North American tour with Bates' Belovèd.
That this was Bates' first North American appearance with Belovèd is not only a bit shameful in that it's taken this long for him to be invited here, but it's also something of a coup for the Ottawa Jazz Festival, since the trio's only other North American dates were at New York City's Jazz Standard, where the group delivered four shows in two nights, followed by a performance at the Rochester Jazz Festival. Bates commented that the Jazz Standard gig was well-attended, but that it seemed the majority of attendees were musicians—no particular surprise for an artist who comes to North America all too infrequently and who has clearly become an influential musician's musician, even if he remains less known than he should to jazz fans.
In jazz, most artists gain popular attention one show at a time, one audience at a time, and certainly Bates' performance at the TD Ottawa Jazz Festival will bring him a few hundred new fans. With a 90-minute setlist that weighed heavily on The Study of Touch, though three of that album's tunes (Bates' "Sadness All The Way Down" and "Giorgantics," seamlessly merged together and opening the set, and the set-closing "We Are Not Lost, We Are Simply Finding Our Way") all also appear, in slightly expanded or contracted versions, on Confirmation. Still, ECM label head/producer
"
data-original-title="" title="">Manfred Eicher's touch can be heard on the slightly abbreviated versions included on The Study of Touch, with the abstract "Sadness All the Way Down" and, in particular, more dramatic and dynamic "Giorgantics" being more subdued readings. As wonderful an album as it certainly is, the trio was paradoxically even more atmospheric and dynamic on the concert stage. Bates' playful unpredictability not only kept Eldh and Bruun on their toes throughout the set, but they've also evolved considerably since the trio's inception, providing equal push-and-pull for the pianist as the trio effortlessly blurred the line between form and freedom, navigating complex compositional constructs with the same ease that they demonstrated when engaging in flat-out unfettered improvisations.
While the set largely emphasized Bates' writing, two Parker tunes (Confirmation's evergreen "Donna Lee" and Belovèd's "Star Eyes") rendered the origins of the trio crystal clear, even as they were so significantly stretched, twisted inside-out and rearranged as to be barely (but still) identifiable. This was a trio of equals, rather than a pianist supported by a rhythm section and, while there was clear time during the set, who actually defined that time was fluid, with Bates, Eldh and Bruun all equally capable of either rendering time crystal clear or suggesting it with house-of-cards delicacy.
The title track from The Study of Touch originated as a commissioned work for Belovèd's spring, 2013 collaboration with the Norrbotten Big Band in the northern Swedish town of Lule?. All About Jazz was afforded the rare opportunity to travel to Lule? and follow Bates, Eldh and Bruun, with Ashley Slater also in tow, as they met the Big Band for the very first time, rehearsing for five full days before premiering the piece, along with a number of other pieces from the Belovèd repertoire (also arranged for Norrbotten) at the Lule? New Directions Festival.
Hearing the commissioned piece in 2013 and then, again, in a reduced trio version as The Study of Touch's title track revealed just how effectively Bates was able to dilute a piece originally written for a much larger group down to its essentials, in particular a four-note motif that formed the basis for the roughly ten-minute piece's early section. Just experiencing the composition's structured and unfettered array of colors, implied and defined pulses, vivid chordal injections, lithe linear phrases and, from Bates, a solo with seemingly unpredictable motion but ultimately filled with the kind of astute inner logic that rendered it a high point of the set.
Bates, a largely soft-spoken individual with a dry sense of humor, made the concert experience all the richer for the TD Ottawa Jazz Festival audience through his brief introductions. Introducing his trio mates Peter (Bruun) and Petter (Eldh), along with thanking festival Programming Manager Petr (Cancura) for bringing the trio to Ottawa, it was a logical segue into the trio's performance of The Study of Touch's "Little Petherick," though just before he left the microphone and went to his piano, he quipped about the title being something "I'll have to investigate when I get home ... though I'll probably find out it's actually 'Patrick.'"
Later, introducing the same album's knotty but still somehow rhythmically focused "Slippage Street," he suggested his original plan was to "call it just 'Slippage,' but I discovered when you add the word 'Street' to anything it instantly becomes more hip." Bates was also capable of truly lovely ideas that spoke as much to Bates' personality as his playing, introducing the trio's version of Gene Paul and Don Raye's classic "Star Eyes" after the trio had played it, describing it as a song that "Parker loved to play ... and it loved him back."
Throughout the 90-minute set, there was little in the way of delineated soloing, despite Bates representing an intrinsically dominant force. Instead, the trio moved like a single organism, passing melodic and rhythmic ideas around like a six-armed juggler. No matter how complex or idiosyncratic as the music could be, there were also more than enough moments of unusual but still vivid beauty, as in the closing "We Are Not Lost, We Are Simply Finding Out Way" where at various moments, the dynamics dropped and both Bates and Bruun delivered warm, beautiful, wordless vocal harmonies.
Bates is clearly one of those rare musicians who is firing more brain cylinders than the average bear, and yet as challenging as his music must be to play, and as heady as it could sometimes be to hear, it was still a captivating experience for a crowd that, despite Bruun needing to rush over to the Fourth Stage for a 9:00PM show with trombonist Samuel Blaser and guitarist
Marc Ducret
guitarb.1957
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