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Winnipeg Free Press - ONLINE EDITION

Jazz festival might find new Groove

By: Chris Smith

20/07/2009 6:51 AM | Comments: 4

The 20th Jazz Winnipeg Festival will do no worse than break even, "but I expect to do better," executive producer Paul Nolin says.
"I have three weeks of accounting to do," he said, but the bills are paid or in the process of being paid. "Attendance was solid across the board."
Total attendance should easily reach or surpass its target of 40,000.
Nolin expects it will be the end of the month before the financial figures are complete for the festival, which this year ran from June 26 to July 5.
Then Nolin and the Jazz Winnipeg board will turn to the issue of a name sponsor for the annual festival.
Groove FM has held that spot since 1994 (starting when the station was Cool FM, under the Canwest umbrella, before being bought by Corus) and Jazz Winnipeg and Groove will meet as they have done each year, likely in August, to review the partnership, Groove program director Russ Tyson says.
It has been a "very beneficial partnership," he said, but added "I’m not sure to what extent our involvement will be."
Nolin said, "There is nothing written in stone at this point, but I’m not losing any sleep about our sponsor base. It’s premature to talk about next year’s event."
The Festival International de Jazz de Montreal was facing a sponsorship dilemma as its long-term presenting sponsor, General Motors, ended its association with the festival after this year’s event (for obvious economic reasons).
But on July 8 it announced that TD Canada Trust was the new main sponsor of the world-renowned festival.
"Since 2004, TD has been a major festival partner and beginning in 2010 they will succeed General Motors as presenting sponsor and official presenter of the world’s largest jazz festival," organizers said in a news release.
TD has been a sponsor in various ways for many festivals for a few years, since the du Maurier Arts Council was forced to disband in October 2003 owing to new federal legislation banning tobacco advertising and sponsorship. TD has sponsored specific events with Jazz Winnipeg and other festivals, including jazz festivals in Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, Victoria, Saskatchewan and Atlantic Canada.
Here the financial institution has the sponsor of Jazz Winnipeg’s jazz lab master classes where visiting musicians work with locals, the Jazz on Wheels outreach program and green initiatives like the recycling bins and bike stands at this year’s fest, Nolin says.
He adds that the festival’s overall sponsor base allows him to take chances and book acts, such as the Kenny Werner Quintet this year, for musical rather than economic reasons.
❚ ❚ ❚
In my last column, I stuck to my opinion that the Branford Marsalis Quartet was the best act at the Jazz Winnipeg Festival, the one act to see if you could only get to one. I asked for readers’ opinions on the best act. Here are a couple:
I thought the best show was the Branford Marsalis show, followed closely by the Bad Plus and then Kenny Werner. While Bad Plus are quite unorthodox with their covers of pop songs, the fact that they are willing to take chances that upset jazz purists is a sign that the spirit of adventure is alive. And, as someone who has seen them before, they are a very formidable straight-ahead band. More importantly, the fans responded stronger to the Bad Plus and Wendy Lewis than to the other fine shows that I attended. Openers the Keith Price-Curtis Nowosad group were quite good and I would pay to see these local young lions perform again and will buy their upcoming CD. Kenny Werner’s show was superb. They played some challenging jazz and didn’t play it safe. They were the festival’s supergroup, for me. However, I thought the biggest name, Randy Brecker, didn’t quite give it his all. Nor did he look too happy with the sound problems.
Still, the Marsalis show with the Michelle Grégoire Quintet (as opening act), was tops for me.
— Shaleem Hosein

The highlight for me was Alexander von Schlippenbach (Monk’s Casino). You don’t often hear a founding father of the European avant-garde in these parts. Normally you’d have to go to Vancouver for those sorts of musicians.
Other shows I heard: Branford Marsalis Quartet, Shuffle Demons, Kenny Werner Quinte and the Bad Plus.
— Gord McGonigal

chris.smith@freepress.mb.ca

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4 Comments

Posted by: Earl Tunnley

July 20, 2009 at 5:26 PM

It's a great festival, with some variety to draw in people who may not normally follow jazz. The two blues shows that I took in were top notch, Derek Trucks and Buddy Guy. Al Green was not my cup of tea, but the audience clearly loved the show. I was quite satisfied with the straight-ahead jazz shows that I took in - Marsalis, Werner and the Bad Plus. The programmers can't please everybody, but they surely pleased a lot of us with the stellar lineup. Bravo Jazz Winnipeg!

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Posted by: vhf

July 20, 2009 at 5:08 PM

It's a great music festival - something we look forward to all year. Always a selection of acts otherwise never seen in Winnipeg. Expand the free stage if anything - it's where we gather before (and sometimes after) a performance.

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Posted by: Hunnicutt

July 20, 2009 at 2:50 PM

B-bonn,
Sounds like all the acts mentioned above - Branford Marsalis, Michelle Gregoire, Randy Brecker, Kenny Werner, Bad Plus, Alexander von Schlippenbach, Shuffle Demons - are all "actual jazz."

Also at this year's festival was Jimmy Cobb, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Jane Bunnett, Jean-Christophe Beney, John Stetch and dozens more Canadian and local jazz acts. So I am not sure what your gripe is.

Nothing bothers me more than people complaining about the integrity of a jazz festival, but then the organizers have to pull teeth to sell tickets to artists like Kenny Werner. I'm not suggesting you, B-bonn, are one of these people. I am sure you were first in line to buy tickets, and were grateful that these jazz performers had even come to town.

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Posted by: B-bonn

July 20, 2009 at 10:46 AM

Maybe consider scheduling some actual "jazz" during the festival. Or perhaps change the name to the Winnnipeg Hip hop, soul, blues and some lite jazz festival. I mean... c'mon.