Andre 3000 at Montreal Jazz Festival 2024
The organisers of the world’s biggest jazz festival have spent over 40 years perfecting their annual Montreal event and making it accessible to all, with many free gigs. The Montreal International Jazz Festival has broad appeal with some of the most appreciative crowds you’ll find anywhere. The 2024 edition this month included proper jazz gigs for purists from big names like Stanley Clarke, Robert Glasper, Marcus Miller and Erik Truffaz, as well as more mainstream acts like Pink Martini, Norah Jones and new Icelandic superstar Laufey, appealing to a wider audience. Here are a few of our personal favorites from this year’s festival, including some new discoveries.
1.Stanley Clarke with 4EVER, Places des Arts
Stanley Clarke and his new band at Montreal Jazz Festival 2024
Four time Grammy Award winner, legendary bass player Stanley Clarke needs no introduction and it was great to see he continues to experiment with the help of a brilliant new band 4EVER. Bringing a dynamic, youthful energy to Clarke’s jazz fusion are Jeremiah Collier on drums, Beka Gochiashvili on piano and keyboards, Colin Cook on guitar, Emilio Modeste on saxophone. Blending rock, funk, R&B, hip-hop and electronic music with classic jazz, this was a thrilling opening night concert that wowed the main concert hall audience.
2.Andres Vial Quartet, Upstairs Jazz Club
Andrés Vial at Upstairs, Montreal Jazz Festival 2024
Pianist/composer Andrés Vial was joined at Upstairs, one of our favorite jazz clubs anywhere, by saxophonist Craig Handy and Walter Stinson on bass. And the audience at the sold-out gig knew they were in for a treat with the great Billy Hart on drums. Since backing Shirley Horn and Jimmy Smith in the 1960s, and Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis in the 1970s, Billy Hart shows no sign of slowing down. And what a brilliant gig it was.
3.Cortex, Club Soda
Jazz funk band Cortex has created a wild mix of funk, bossanova, samba-jazz and psychedelica since they formed in 1974. Fifty years later band leader Alain Mion leads a rotating group of new members including the powerful vocalist, Virginie Hombel who shone at the sold-out Montreal gig that also featured the energetic Loïc Soulat (keyboard and alto sax), Mohamed Ouaraz (bass), and Victor Dubois (drums).
4.Melissa Aldana, Pub Molson
Grammy nominated Chilean saxophonist Melissa Aldana showcased her new album Echoes Of The Inner Prophet, a lively follow-up to her acclaimed Blue Note Records debut 12 Stars (2022). Inspired by Wayne Shorter, Aldana says she’s been transcribing some of Freddie Hubbard’s recordings with Wayne Shorter and finds that it changes the way she hears music and the way she plays the saxophone.
5.Andre 3000, Places des Arts
Andre3000 at Montreal Jazz Festival 2024
Some fans of the iconic hip-hop duo Outkast (and there were plenty in the audience) may have been disappointed by a gig that seemed like a fairly radical departure from André Benjamin’s (André 3000) usual performance. But it was great to see such an established artist continuing to innovate creating a trippy light and sound free jazz show called New Blue Sun, featuring his non-rehearsed experimentation with a flute.
6.Audrey Ochoa Quartet, Pub Molson
Trombone player Audrey Ochoa delighted the crowd at the free outdoor stage, Pub Molson, playing a latin inspired blend of Jazz, Rock, Pop, Latin, Punk, Ska and more. Since her strong debut album in 2014, Trombone and Other Delights through her current release album The Head of a Mouse, showcased at the festival, this energetic Canadian trombonist has been creating a unique range of sound with standards and original compositions.
7.Chris Potter Trio, Pub Molson
We continue to be impressed by the level of musicians on free stages at the Montreal jazz festival was a thrill to see Grammy Award nominated saxophonist Chris Potter. Chris was the youngest musician ever to win Denmark’s Jazzpar Prize and since then he’s created 15 albums as a leader, with sideman appearances on over 100 albums. He has performed or recorded with many of the leading names in jazz, such as Herbie Hancock, Dave Holland, John Scofield, the Mingus Big Band and many others. In Montreal, Chris was joined by Matt Brewer on bass and Kendrick Scott, on drums.
8.Lex French Quartet, Places des Festivals
New Zealand-born jazz trumpet player Lex French is fast becoming a bright star on the Canadian jazz scene. With a unique voice on the trumpet, he plays with technical virtuosity and creativity, often being compared to legendary trumpeters Freddie Hubbard, Woody Shaw and Kenny Wheeler. His latest album on show here had plenty of influences and included original compositions inspired by the visual arts and poetry, arrangements of folk songs from around the world and classic jazz standards.
9., Shahara Sinclair, The Stanley
Although not officially part of this year’s jazz festival program, this talented young singer and her band performed during festival week at The Stanley, a cool new restaurant and bar at Le Centre Sheraton. Shahara Sinclair performs there regularly with her band and her soulful singing and infectious energy certainly kept the crowd engaged. As a finalist on the Canadian talent search TV program PopStars and a founding member of the Canadian girl group, Jai, it will be interesting to see what she does next.
10.Vanilla is Black, Rogers stage
Trio Chuck Inglish, Kevin Roosevelt and Kenneth Wright a.k.a. Vanilla is Black delivered a lively performance of funk, soul, bass and vocals using synth, guitar and drums. The idea for this fun new collective is to use the funky spirit of Parliament, with the room to experiment like The Gorillaz.