2008 Ottawa Jazz Fest Leaks Acts
Wynton Marsalis, Herbie Hancock, Chic Corea and More in Ottawa
The early line-up for Ottawa's 2008 Jazz Festival constitutes a chronology of the music, from the bayous of Louisiana to the River of Herbie Hancock.
The official line-up won't be announced until April 8 but like the mouth of an irrepressible soloist pressed against a leaky horn, the 2008 edition of the TD Canada Trust Ottawa International Jazz Festival is already making musical announcements that are setting the senses a-tingle.
The strategic whispers - aimed at creating a buzz before Ottawa's headlines are inevitably hogged by the ubiquitous BluesFest - trace a chronological history of jazz from its origins in New Orleans to its modern twinning with the world of pop.
Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra - June 20
Opening night, June 20th, promises a replay of the well-attended party thrown back in 1999 by Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. This time, Marsalis and company are not celebrating the life and work of Duke Ellington (it was the Duke's centenary during their last appearance) but the Marsalis family homestead, that colourful cradle of jazz so irreparably crippled by hurricane Katrina.
Buddy DeFranco - June 21
Decades pass overnight, as the main stage of Confederation Park converts, on June 21st, to a '40's era big band shell for the appearance 83 year old swing clarinettist Buddy DeFranco (a welcome pick, but one bound to draw ire from Ottawa's jazz elite, if a previous appearance by DeFranco counterpart Pete Fountain is any indication.)
Return to Forever - June 26
The modern era announces itself with a blast of jazz-rock electronica as the nation's capital becomes a major Canadian stop on the Return To Forever reunion tour (one of only three such appearances.) Word is that the venerable foursome - keyboard king Chic Corea, bass boss Stanley Clarke, guitar god Al DiMeola and percussion prince Lenny White - are as adventurous as ever, interpolating turntable-era favourites (in conjunction with the upcoming release of an anthology CD) with ipod-era experiments.
Herbie Hancock - June 22
Finally - with the help of a few steps backwards - here is the made-fresh-today section, in the form of the primo booking of the born-yet-again Herbie Hancock, hot on the heels of his double Grammy win for River, his salute to folk-jazz icon Joni Mitchell. Hancock won't be bringing the band that's on the album but one that could prove just as perfect for converting Joni's just-shy-of-oblique word paintings into open, dreamy statements of pure, unforgettable jazz: saxophonist Chris Potter, guitarist Lionel Loueke and bassist Dave Holland - and, it's rumoured, a name vocalist.
There'll be more, of course - unheralded Canadiana, exciting up-and-comers, first-rate foreign talent - but the current confirmations are already proof positive that this still-mid-sized festival is once again out to add some serious inches on the musical growth chart.
The TD Canada Trust Ottawa International Jazz Festival, June 20 - July 1.
