It’s
that time of year again. A time of
blazing horns, soulful grooves and heartfelt melodies throughout the city
landscape. When it is the beginning of
summer, it means one thing in the city of Toronto: the TD Toronto Jazz Festival.
I
managed on opening day to catch three great acts in which involves big band,
contemporary jazz, and R&B/hip-hop.
These acts sure did not disappoint when it comes into ringing another
year of great jazz and fun in the summertime at the TD Toronto Jazz Festival.
The
first act featured the Brian Barlow Big Band doing a tribute to the music and
legacy of Duke Ellington. Presented by
the Duke Ellington Society, it was a great kickoff by an all-Canadian band to
the real core roots of jazz, swing and the blues while honoring an iconic
composer, pianist and arranger to kick off the festivities. All the classics were performed, such as
“Caravan”, “Mood Indigo”, “Take the A Train” and “In a Mellow Tone” to name a
few. The band was swinging, the solos
were hot, and the groove was tight from start to finish.
After
a trip to Ellingtonia, I went to my first of three ticketed concert events held
at the Church of the Holy Trinity. This
concert featured the solo guitar stylings of Kurt Rosenwinkel. An accomplished guitarist, Kurt has managed
to create a sonic soundscape through effective uses of melody, chordal
harmonies, bass lines, guitar effects, and harmonic vocals. His was an exciting repertoire of original
music and standards ranging from “Chelsea Bridge”, “Reflections”, “Pensativa”
and “Ruby My Dear”. It was an
enlightening and intriguing concert that opened up the possibilities of what
one can do with a guitar and a few effects, in essence being a one-man band.
I
was originally going to go home after the Kurt Rosenwinkel concert but decided
to linger a while and catch a few songs by the opening main act of the
festival, Janelle Monae. Boy, did I
ever make a great decision to stay. Not
only it was one of the highlights of the festival, but also it really showed
how dynamic a performer Janelle Monae is from start to finish. Along with her R&B/hip-hop repertoire,
she sang everything from standards (“Smile), James Bond tunes (“Goldfinger),
retro pop (“I Want You Back) all the way to her number one smash tune, “Tightrope”. In terms of performer, she also displayed
her inventive and creative uses of tap dance, and she even did live abstract
painting during a performance. I was
really impressed from the get go of the performance abilities of this chameleon
of a performer and I cannot wait as to what she can come up with next in the
near future.
It
was overall a wonderful day to kick off a wonderful festival, showing that at
26 years, the TD Toronto Jazz Festival is alive, here to stay, and off to a
great start.
TD
TORONTO JAZZ WEBSITE:
JANELLE
MONAE OFFICIAL WEB SITE
KURT
ROSENWINKEL WEB SITE
KURT ROSENWINKEL AND ME
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