Summer officially starts on June 20 and that means music festival season is upon us.
For local jazz legend Phil Dwyer it’s a busy time with performances on and off the Island.
His summer schedule kicks off with the Vancouver International Jazz Festival which runs June 22 to July 1.
The multi Juno award winning Qualicum Beach musician said it is an event he has always enjoyed taking part in.
“The first time I played at the Vancouver Jazz festival it was quite modest. Now it is a huge deal. The first year or two it was small and we were all pretty excited about having a jazz festival in Vancouver. It was back in 1986 when I first played and it was in the context of Expo. The whole time I was running around like a lunatic … I was so busy,” he recalled.
The lineup of established greats and up-and-coming stars has been constant since then and Dwyer noted that over the years the festival has assumed its position as being one of the major music events in the country and he looks forward to performing at it.
“I do get excited to play at it even though I have played a dozen times.”
“I am excited to play this year because I love this band and I am sure we will get a huge crowd,” expressed Dwyer.
The band Dwyer will be performing with on a brand new outdoor stage in downtown Vancouver is one that local jazz fans had the opportunity to hear when Dwyer performed with them at a benefit concert for the Kwalikum Senior Secondary (KSS) music program at the Qualicum Beach Civic Centre on March 2.
Dwyer and his sextet, hand-picked from the west coast jazz scene, played music from Dwyer’s CBC Radio 2 commissioned Canadian Songbook Project.
Asked to re-imagine his favourite Canadian songs, Dwyer turned to the music of Joni Mitchell, The Guess Who and Ian Tyson among others to create an innovative new suite of compositions.
The beautifully expansive contemporary jazz by the saxophonist/arranger and his marvelous ensemble include Juno-nominee and Sting collaborator Laila Biali on vocals, Vince Mai on trumpet/flugelhorn, Rob Piltch on guitar, Jodi Proznick on bass and Joe Poole drums.
Dwyer said although the recent weather hasn’t been that great he isn’t going to worry about rain for his June 24 show which is on an outdoor stage.
“When we did jazz in the garden at Milner Gardens it was always a nail biter…I was worrying needlessly, but you cant do anything about the weather,” he admitted.
Dwyer agreed he has seen it all when it comes to the elements and the most dramatic was a Canada Day show he was taking part in a few years ago on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
“We had a huge line up of Canadian legends of rock n’ roll and we rehearsed for three days. Ten minutes before we were to go on there was a huge lightening storm. The lighting guys were in a metal scaffolding in the middle of an open field. They scrambled to get out of the tower. We never did do the show which would have been amazing,” he related.
You can hear Dwyer and his friends on Sunday, June 24 at 12:30 p.m. on a stage a Georgia and Hornby. It is one of the free venues around the city that will present a wide range of music starting on June 23.
Scattered around the Robson Square/Vancouver Art Gallery blocks, the festival’s four downtown outdoor stages will see a parade of incredible talent play for free June 23 to 24.
Audiences can look forward to the sounds of Grammy Award-winning vocalist and instrumentalist Van Hunt, French cornetist/vocalist Mederic Collignon, salsa band Mazacote and the big band sounds of Dal Richards and his orchestra.
The free two-day opening event heralds the 10-day celebration of jazz and blues, featuring more than 1,800 musicians and 300 concerts at many major and minor venues.
There will be an interactive Play The Jazz fusion exhibit inside the Art Gallery’s foyer, a family zone and a community fair.
For the first time ever at the opening weekend event, the festival will have two licensed bistro bars where people can enjoy the sounds over a drink, including one on Robson Street, which will be closed between Howe and Hornby Streets.
The festival spans every musical style and many of the acts defy conventional categorization including the Avett Brothers who are at the Orpheum on June 26. These rowdy but sensitive brothers are hitting their stride with their stunning folk-pop songwriting and rousing live shows.
Their latest album is described on the festival performance site as “a propulsive, foot-stomping, ‘punk-grass’ folk masterpiece that filters CSNY countrified boogie through the brothers’ early neo-punk roots.”
With everything from Mongolian throat singing to R&B, rock n’ roll, soul, swing and world music, including international artists and local and national talent there is a sound everyone can enjoy.
For all the details go to www.coastaljazz.ca.
Dwyer’s sextet will also be performing in a concert at the Victoria International Jazz Festival on June 26 at the Alix Goolden Hall.
His festival circuit will see the group perform in music festivals throughout the country before returning home where he will bring the Canadian Songbook Project to the Kulth Festival in Coombs on July 22.
