EVENT: TD Toronto Jazz Festival tunes up to diversity

Almost every song has a bit of jazz breathing through it. Jazz’s influence is apparent in various genres and style of music like bebop, blues, funk, soul, rock, R&B and country. It also draws inspiration from other styles of music. This year’s TD Toronto Jazz Festival speaks to both those elements.

“Jazz is influencing other artists, but also jazz is being influenced by other artists and art-forms,” said Josh Grossman, artistic director of the Toronto Downtown Jazz, which produces the annual TD Toronto Jazz Festival.

The scale of influence is apparent with this year’s festival, running June 20-29. The lineup includes artists whose tunes are flavoured with jazz, rooted in traditional jazz, and infused with other styles of music.

Grossman said he’s seeing jazz’s evolution more so with the younger generation of jazz musicians.

“They’re really absorbing all the music that’s happening around them and incorporating that into their jazz music, and what comes out of that is a very exciting hybrid — something that we really haven’t heard before — and it’s very forward moving for jazz as a genre,” he said.

This year’s event also brings together up-and-coming talent, established musicians, as well as veteran artists like Smokey Robinson, Mavis Staples, Dr. John, Willie Nelson, and Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, who continue to influence today’s generation.

The jazz festival began in 1987, and has grown to become Toronto’s largest music festival, with more than 1,500 musicians playing in more than 60 venues across the GTA. Several big names in music have also played at the festival — Miles Davis, Sarah Vaughan, Ray Charles, Diana Krall, Harry Connick Jr., and Oscar Peterson, to name a few.

While not everyone may be a jazz fan, the festival strives to present different styles of the genre and showcase its diversity to anyone who just embraces music.

“We’re really trying to present the best musicians in the world on our stages. And I think that really resonates with people,” Grossman said.

“It’s rare that you get this kind of concentration of really fantastic musicians all happening in the same place at the same time,” he added.

Some of this year’s highlights include marquee shows at Massey Hall, Harbourfront Centre and Nathan Phillips Square. Willie Nelson and Family will open the jazz festival at Massey Hall on June 20.

Smokey Robinson, and Martha Reeves and the Vandellas take the mainstage at Nathan Phillips Square on Friday — the show is free courtesy of the festival’s “free-for-all-Friday” feature, which extends to all of the official festival venues across the city.

“That’s a really exciting way to present a whole variety of jazz at no charge, and it’s a great way for people to just go and explore the various venues around the city that present jazz during the festival and on a year-round basis,” Grossman said.

Grossman also said he is looking forward to the shows at the Harbourfront Centre’s Enwave Theatre — featuring vocalist Gregory Porter and pianist Fred Hersch — the Horseshoe Tavern and the Jazz Bistro.

“We’ve also got a really fun series at the Horseshoe Tavern, which spans the ages of jazz,” he said.

Blues musician James Cotton and multi-genre virtuoso Robert Glasper Experiment are two of the artists performing at the tavern. Click here for a list of shows.

Musicians and event-goers alike will also experience the city’s newest jazz venue, the Jazz Bistro — once home to the landmark Top o’ the Senator. Some of the artists performing at the bistro include vocalists Molly Johnson and Ranee Lee, and pianists Bill Charlap and Geoffrey Keezer. Click here for more.

Some of the other highlights this year include free shows at the Shops at Don Mills, the Distillery District, as well as afternoon performances at Nathan Phillips Square — the latter featuring Big Band music.

The free music series and smaller venue shows allows newcomers to jazz to explore its diversity, and also appeals to those who want to try out the genre.

“[To] explore what jazz is all about today and who are some of the great musicians that are performing it,” Grossman said.

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Festival highlights

Marquee shows

• Willie Nelson and Family, June 20 at Massey Hall
• Smokey Robinson, and Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, June 21 at Nathan Phillips Square
• Molly Johnson, several shows at Jazz Bistro
• Mavis Staples and Dr. John, June 22 at Nathan Phillips Square
• Ranee Lee, June 23 at Jazz Bistro
• Nikki Yanofksy, June 25 at Koerner Hall
• Pianist Fred Hirsh, June 24 at Enwave Theatre
• Vocalist Gregory Porter, June 27 at Enwave Theatre

Free shows

• Shops at the Don Mills
• Distillery District: Trinity Stage
• Distillery District: Pure Spirits patio
• Nathan Phillips Square: select shows

Related links

• Venue locator
• Show calendar
• Free-for-all Friday (June 21)
• Ticket info