Plant Those Road Trip Seeds
June festival lineups are blooming; HJS runs bus trip to Montreal festival
No better time than now to start planting the seeds for a road trip to some stellar jazz festivals in upstate New York and Canada in early summer (photo courtesy NC State University Library)
I come from a long line of farmers and gardeners. There was nothing my grandfather liked to do in the cold winter quite so much as peruse the seed catalogs and get his little seedbeds ready to pre-start the growing season.
That farming stuff never took with me. My Dad’s idea of a hobby garden was something you had to plow with a Farmall and he cleverly knew child labor laws didn’t include forced labor in the family potato hills.
But I do have a corollary – right after the new year rolls in, I start to check the big June and early July jazz festivals in upstate New York and Canada: Saratoga, Rochester, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. The lineups are growing a little more every day, and it’s maybe time to start making travel and hotel plans – and if you’re looking to let someone else do most the planning, some Hartford Jazz Society folks are offering a chartered bus to Montreal.
I can tell you from experience that time of year is gorgeous in that area; all the lake effect snowstorms are but a memory. And you probably want to make hotel reservations earlier rather than later - the story about the last-minute hotel room with the damp floor is kind of amusing now. It wasn’t in the moment. So without further delay, here are the highlights:
Saratoga Jazz Festival, June 28-29: The festival, held at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, has a new lead sponsor – Freihofer’s is out and GE Vernova is in.
Main stage acts for Saturday include Gary Clark, Jr., Gregory Porter, Veronica Swift, and others. Saturday’s Discovery Stage performers include the quartet Artemis (killer band, killer), trumpet Keyon Harrold, zydeco’s C.J. Chenier and the Red Hot Louisiana Band, and Connecticut’s own Nicole Zuraitis.
Sunday main stage shows feature Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue, Cory Wong, Cassandra Wilson, and more. Discovery Stage shows include trumpeter Bria Skonberg, Gary Bartz, and the Brandee Younger Trio, plus others.
The 8495Jazz staff made the trip in 2023. Food was overpriced and overrated (you can bring your own), and we were glad to have reserved seats for when we wanted to get some guaranteed shade. Best performance we saw was Samara Joy on the second stage. You never know who’s going to blow your socks off at SPAC.
Rochester Jazz Festival, June 20-28: This one maybe flies under the radar a little more than it should in comparison to Saratoga and Montreal in particular. But it’s a week of serious jazz, from world-famous headliners to real cognoscenti favorites. This year’s headliners include Smokey Robinson on June 20; Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, June 21; The Wood Brothers, June 24; Rickie Lee Jones, June 25; and Thundercat June 26. This lineup will fill out through March; I’m contemplating making hotel reservations somewhere downtown for at least a couple nights, banking on the organizers’ usually savvy filling out of the roster.
Chautauqua Institution: Not a jazz festival per se, but they’re bringing Diana Krall June 27.
Toronto International Jazz Festival: The folks at the festival haven’t provided full dates yet, but they have released the first bunch of ticketed shows, including: Wynton and JLCO, June 20, and Arooj Aftab, June 24. Much of the free music is centered in a fairly walkable neighborhood around the University of Toronto and Yorkville. Ticketed shows are usually easily accessible from wherever you may be staying by subway.
Ottawa Jazz Festival, June 20-29: The folks in Canada’s capital city are a little further along in announcing their headliners than Toronto. Highlights include Richard Bona, June 20; Mavis Staples, June 21; Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog, June 22; Wynton and JLCO, June 24 (yeah, they get around); and Samara Joy, June 27.
Montreal International Jazz Festival, June 26-July 5: The folks in Montreal are already in high gear announcing their headliners. Wynton and JLCO get a head start on the festivities June 25; trumpet god Chris Botti, June 27; Samara Joy, June 28; Branford Marsalis, July 1; and heavy blues cat George Thorogood brings the Destroyers in July 3. There’s scads more.
And hey – if you’d like to leave the logistics to somebody else, the Hartford Jazz Society’s Tonya Knight is organizing a charter bus trip to Montreal July 3-6. Package includes:
Round trip motor coach transportation from Windsor commuter lot, Rte 218
Three nights at the Holiday Inn Select Centre-Ville Montreal. Taxes and gratuities included
Full buffet breakfast every morning
Transportation to the Casino de Montreal (Friday evening)
DISCOUNT PRICE PER PERSON
$1,100per person based on 1 per room
$ 695 per person based on 2 per room
$600 per person based on 3 per room$550 per person based on 4 per room
You don’t have to be an HJS member to go (but, hey, membership is a bargain).
Don’t forget your passport!
For more info and payment schedule, contact Tonya at tonanite@gmail.com
It’s Grammy Night
Jazz musicians with Connecticut ties are vying for Grammy awards tonight. Nicole Zuraitis, who won the Best Jazz Vocal Album Grammy last year, is nominated again, this time for Best Jazz Performance on “Little Fears,” off her husband Dan Pugach’s album Bianca Reimagined: Music for Paws and Persistence. The album is nominated for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album. Pianist Zaccai Curtis, who has been a Connecticut scene mainstay for years, is nominated for Best Latin Jazz Album for Cubop Lives!. The show will be broadcast at 8 pm on CBS and streamed on Paramount+.
Jazz festivals are great places to see up and coming acts. Philadelphia-based Atomic Fizz, here at last year’s Rochester International Jazz festival, is just one example.
Next week: 8495Jazz talks to a retired editor and journalism professor who is now all in on music. If his story doesn’t inspire you, check your pulse.
Out and About With 8495Jazz
8495Jazz Wild Card Gig of the Week
Parkville Sounds, Hartford, CT
Aaron Parks Little Big, Sat., Feb. 8, 7 and 9:30 pm. $39.19.
Pianist Aaron Parks, guitarist Greg Tuohey, bassist David Ginyard Jr. and new drummer Jongkuk Kim are touring in support of their third album and their first on Blue Note Records, and bring their virtuosity to the Hartford studio’s Parkville Sessions series.
“The band now has reached a place where it really feels beyond genre, seamlessly incorporating our influences from non-jazz sources in an integrated and distilled way,” their promo material says. “But it also feels riskier and more alive than ever before, and therefore in some ways it’s more jazz than ever.”
The 8495Jazz staff took in a recent show at Parkville and can attest to its comfortable intimacy and terrific sound quality.
8495Jazz Spur Of The Moment Gig TODAY
Hartford Public Library, Hartford, CT
Baby Grand Jazz, Chris Beaudry Quintet (saxophone, combo), today, 3 pm. Free.
Other Shows This Week
Mad Monkfish, Cambridge, MA
Mostly Bones (mostly trombones, duh), Thur., Feb 6, 7 pm. $20.
Niagara Coffee Haus, Millis, MA
Alexander’s Jazz Time band (trad), Sat., Feb. 8, 7 pm. $20.
Veronica Hagman Concert Hall at WCSU, Danbury, CT
Aaron Goldberg Trio featuring John Patitucci and Al Foster, Sat., Feb. 8, 7 pm. $45 advance, $50 day of show, $125 VIP.
VFW Post 399, Westport, CT
Alan Bartus, a celebration of the music of Dave Brubeck, 7:30 and 8:45 pm. Early show $20.76, $15.76 student/veteran. Late show $10.76. (Bartus was the winner of the 2024 JEN Dave Brubeck Composer and Pianist Award)
Elicit Brewing Co., Manchester, CT
Hartford Jazz Orchestra, Mon., Feb. 3, 7:30 pm. Free.
Park City Music Hall, Bridgeport, CT
Liquid Love performs the music of Freddie Hubbard, Wed., Feb. 5, 7:30 pm. $15 advance, $20 day of show.
Buttonwood Tree, Middletown, CT
Adam Yonkman Quartet (sax, combo), Fri., Feb. 7, 7 pm. $15, $10 students.
Benjamin Simmons (sax), Sat., Feb. 8, 7 pm. $15.
The Falcon, Marlboro, NY
Eric Person and Houston Person (saxophones, combo), Sat., Feb. 8, 7:30 pm. Free (suggested $30 donation).
Pump House Music Works, Wakefield, RI
Duke Robillard & Chris Flory Quartet (guitar, combo), today, 7 pm. $20.
Jams
Cafe Nine, New Haven CT
New Haven Jazz Underground jam, usually 2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month: free admission
Saturday jazz jam most Saturdays, 4 pm. Free.
Blackeyed Sally’s, Hartford, CT
Jazz Wednesdays, featured set 7 pm, jam session afterward.
Carmine’s, East Hartford, CT
Paisley’s All Star Memorial Jam, 3rd Tuesday of the month, 7:30 pm. House band set followed by jam. Free.
Jazz Societies and Organizations (great info on events, festivals, and more)
Jazz Society of Fairfield County
Jazz Fridays at Three Sheets New Haven 1st/3rd Fridays from 6-9pm
Jazz Thursdays at The Cannon New Haven every other thurs from 7-9pm.
Correction: Last week’s 8495Jazz stated vocalist Samara Joy won a Grammy award in 2023. In fact, she won two in 2023, one in 2024, and is nominated for two this year.
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