Montréal Jazz Festival Kicks Off 43rd Year

There’s a bit of a misconception when one hears the words “jazz” and “festival” placed next to one another. It conjures up images for some of smoky nightclubs and endless improvisation by highly trained musicians.

Kicking off this Thursday (June 29), just north of the Canadian border in the most populated city in the province of Quebec, at the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal (FIJM), the “highly trained musicians” part might be at least somewhat true. And maybe the “improvisation” bit as well.

But it’s also a destination where artists diverse as Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Buddy Guy, Samara Joy, Orville Peck, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Herbie Hancock, George Benson, Diana Krall, Arooj Aftab, Thundercat, Vance Joy and many more will be performing over a 10-day period.

Taking place in the Quartier des Spectacles, the primary cultural district in downtown Montréal – which is closed to traffic during the fest – becomes the meeting place not just for jazz lovers, but for music lovers worldwide. Many established artists will be performing at the festival for the first time and jazz will be more prominent than ever on both indoor and outdoor Festival stages.

Obviously, it’s not just jazz – and the organizers know and embrace that.

“It sounds cliché in the festival world, but it’s worth saying because it’s so true: we are incredibly proud to present a truly balanced program that is jam packed with gems!,” said Maurin Auxéméry, the new director of the FIJM programming says in a statement. “With the full backing of the big festival family, each member of the programming team passionately defends their vision of jazz, which has sparked engaging discussions and a program that embodies what the genre is today.”

“Jazz from the 21^st century is changing and mutating, drawing on other musical styles, and our programming reflects this refreshing change,” Auxéméry continues. “Jazz lovers are becoming more diversified, new generations are tuning in, and we couldn’t be happier.” Over the course of the 10 days, a staggering 350 concerts will be taking place in the heart of Montréal as part of the FIJM. Two thirds of that number will be free to the public. Music will encompass every genre imaginable, from classical to hip hop to indie rock to bluegrass to blues to pop to rock and, yes, a healthy heaping of jazz.

A version of this article appears in this week’s print and online editions of my syndicated Rock Music Menu column under the title “Rock Music Menu Festival Report: Montréal Jazz Festival kicks off 43rd year.”