A look at this month’s Montreal Jazz Festival.
It’s the largest event of its kind on the planet (so says The Guinness Book of Records) and the experience is out of this world: 11 days of outstanding entertainment from noon to midnight; more than 650 concerts and 400 free outdoor performances; 3,000 artists from 30 countries; and some of the biggest names in the music industry playing to a total audience of almost two million people. The 2008 Montreal Jazz Festival, which celebrated its 29th anniversary this year, boasted a stellar line-up from Aretha Franklin to Leonard Cohen, James Taylor, Dave Brubeck, Steely Dan and rising UK sensation Katie Melua, with special guest appearances by Woody Allen and his New Orleans Jazz Band. This year’s festival was dedicated to the late Oscar Peterson, who passed away last winter. From jazz to blues, Latin, African, reggae, contemporary and electronica, this extraordinary festival sets the city alight with color and spectacle. – From Spire