Manny About Town
Cool Weather and Hot Jazz
Concerts Abound at the 28th Montreal Jazz Festival

By Manny Meland

	Manny Meland with Glenn Meland and Billy Georgette

The 28^th Montreal International Jazz Festival took place June 28 to July 8.  Although the weather was cool  (in the 50s to 70s) , the music was hot. Seven stages were erected in a downtown area, roped off for pedestrians. On these stages, free concerts were performed. Thousands of fans enjoyed the greatest musicians from Canada and around the world. For 11 days, the heart of the city beat to the music of this urban gathering at outdoor and indoor venues.

I purchased a “Friend of the Festival” card for $12.50, which gave me access to jam sessions that took place at several jazz clubs. Many musicians jammed in the clubs ‘til the wee hours of the morning.

Program books were distributed throughout the site. You really needed one as there were approximately 500 concerts, (50 concerts per day), with 350 free shows to choose from. It informed you as to who was playing on which stage and at what time. It also listed the paid shows that were presented in various concert halls and clubs. I purchased tickets to several concerts. Unfortunately, the Branford Marsalis concert was sold out the day that it went on sale. I got tickets for guitar virtuoso Allan Holdsworth at the Spectrum and for bassist Richard Bona at the Jean Duceppe Theatre at Place Ville Marie. 

	John Roney, Nancy Martinez and Zack Lober

The festival opened with the Brazilian band Carlinhos Brown. He dazzled us with his Bahia sound, which is a mix of Afro-Brazilian percussion with a reggae or pop beat backed up with electric guitars and a brass section. The sound was infectious. A thousand people danced in the street to “Bog La Bag,” “Cobricada,” “Formigeiro,” “Rapunzel” and “A Latina”. What an opening act!  Not to be outdone, midway through the festival, featured Seun Kuti & Egypt 80. They brought us their Afrobeat, which is a fusion of jazz, funk and traditional African chant. Their music is especially popular in their native Nigeria and neighboring African countries where their lyrics carry a strong social message against thievery and corruption in their country. What better place to shame the perpetrators than in an international setting like this.

I bought a ticket to the Spectrum on Rue Ste. Catherine. I peeled back at a table near the stage with a nice bottle of Merlot and was soon mesmerized by the magic sounds of Allan Holdsworth as he performed on his Synthaxe. Holdsworth is a British jazz/fusion guitarist, acclaimed for the complexity of his compositional work as well as his amazing technical skill. His Synthaxe is a type of guitar with the neck bent upward from the body with two independent sets of strings. It has a breath controller to manipulate the timbre and volume of the instrument. Check out his recordings of “Against the Clock”, “Flat Tire” and “Sand”. Guitar Player magazine voted him best synth guitarist for several years.

	Billy Georgette and the Paradise Band

At the bargain price of $10 per ticket at Theatre Jean-Duceppe, Montreal’s prime concert hall, I enjoyed a concert by Richard Bona. He has traveled a circuitous route from Cameroon in Africa to Germany and then France, where he lived and played for several years. While there, he studied music and played in several jazz clubs and was exposed to the jazz genre. He decided to switch his focus to the electric bass. He then moved to New York where he presently holds a professorship of music at New York University.

At the clubs we visited to catch up with some jam sessions, there was plenty of action if you could make it to four in the morning,. The Upstairs in a basement on Stanley Street with their upside-down sign featured Skip Bey and Jeff Johnson, among others. There was good jamming at the Metropolis and the Savoy, both on Rue Ste. Catherine. The Hyatt, which is located right at the fest, was the most convenient. There, John Roney held court at the piano with his band mates Zack Lober on bass and his featured drummer, Jim Doxas. Roney has been doing the jazz festival’s late night jam sessions at the Hyatt for the past few years. His background in bebop and classical music molded his musical style. Nancy Martinez stood in with the band the night I was there. I was especially thrilled that one of her songs, “Rhythm of Your Heart,” was composed by my lil’ bro’ Glenn Meland.

	Montreal Crowd

Another coincidence is that I caught Nancy’s act again a few nights later at my favorite Montreal jazz club, which is appropriately named the House of Jazz.  It is located on Aylmer Street and was formerly called Biddle’s, after jazz saxophonist Charlie Biddle. There you can have a moderately priced Louisiana style chicken and rib dinner while enjoying the swinging tunes of Billy Georgette and his Paradise Jazz Band. Billy and his hot musicians kick ass. Georgette, an old time Montreal pianist, is an important supporter and promoter of jazz in the city. Georgette played with sax icon Sonny Rollins in Chicago many moons ago. In March 2006, when Billy was visiting south Florida, I grooved with him at the Gusman Center in Miami where we caught Sonny Rollins’ act. (See photo of Georgette with Sonny Rawlins in the picture gallery, MiamiArtzine.com, Issue 13.) To hear Billy Georgette, get his CD, Jammin’ at houseofjazz.ca . It’s a bargain and a treat.

All things come to an end, and the last but not least to perform on center stage downtown was Rachid Taha, a Muslim musician originally from Algeria but who now resides in France. Rachid’s music spoke to us of democracy, tolerance and altruism---a great message for the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal.