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Announcing the 2010 Guelph Jazz Festival

1. Award-winning Festival offers more than ever, with better-than-ever festival pass

Hot off the heels from its trip to Toronto to accept the Premier’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, the Guelph Jazz Festival is releasing a stellar 2010 concert line-up that includes a new, and very intriguing dusk-to-dawn event called Nuit Blanche.

The complete schedule encompasses an array of activity and free community offerings, from the random and roving performances taking place in seemingly accidental places on the streets and parks of the city, to the ever-popular Upper Wyndham Street Jazz Tent.

This year, the price of a festival pass has been dramatically reduced to $139 / $109 students and seniors, designed to give music-lovers the opportunity to participate in everything the festival has to offer. Our mission is to promote jazz and improvised music, and what better way to expose people to music they may be unfamiliar with than a pass that offers everything! (Special: an early bird festival pass is available for the next two weeks for only $99, $85 for students / seniors.) For tickets, click here. With tickets and passes so accessible, they will be limited, as will seating at most venues, so don’t delay!

The festival's fresh and interactive website launches today including a full schedule, with detailed biographies and photos on all the artists.

2. Guelph Jazz Festival & Colloquium highlights

Here are some of the highlights of the 17th annual Guelph Jazz Festival:

• Three consecutive days (Thursday through Saturday) of world-class music at Guelph's River Run Centre, featuring three double-bill concerts
• A special tribute to the ECM recording label. Having recently celebrated its 40th anniversary, the award-winning label has been heralded by UK newspaper The Independent as "the most important imprint in the world for jazz and new music"
• Nuit Blanche: Guelph's first, and very own

The festival's fresh and interactive website launches today including a full schedule, with detailed biographies and photos on all the artists.

3. A day-by-day look at what’s happening

Here is a day-by-day summary of what the festival has to offer this year.

Wednesday, Sept. 8

• The Festival’s Colloquium opens at the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre. This is a three-day offering of workshops, lectures and concerts, all of it free. The music program premiers at Rozanski Hall with a very special telematic performance featuring accordion legend Pauline Oliveros, performing live in Guelph with Anne Bourne (cello), Guelph’s own Ben Grossman (hurdy gurdy) and Jesse Stewart (drums). They’ll be connected to two other sites, where they will be joined by Ricardo Arias on balloon (in Bogota, Columbia) and Jonas Braasch on soprano sax and Doug Van Nort on laptop (in Troy, NY).
• Later that evening Macdonald Stewart Art Centre is host to Ikons, an integration of experimental music created by composer and author George Lewis with a large array of sculptures constructed by internationally acclaimed visual artist Eric Metcalfe.

Thursday, Sept. 9

• The Colloquium continues throughout the day, with the first of the festival’s three double-bills taking place at River Run Centre’s Cooperators Hall. Starting at 8pm, Guelph’s own Ben Grossman teams up with Toronto-based percussionist and composer Germaine Liu. Bob Ostertag leads the second set accompanied by the acclaimed improvising musicians Sylvie Courvoisier, Taylor Ho Bynum, Jim Black (USA).

Friday, Sept. 10

• The final day of the Colloquium, followed by a late afternoon show at the Guelph Youth Music Centre. American violinist Mark Feldman is joined by the renowned Canadian world-music ensemble Tasa. At 8pm, the ECM artist summit begins with artist and German based cellist Anja Lechner joining forces with Argentinean bandoneon wizard Dino Saluzzi to perform in the acoustic splendour of the sanctuary in historic St. George’s Anglican Church. The second half of the bill is a special collaboration between composer Peter-Anthony Togni, bass clarinetist Jeff Reilly and the Elmer Iseler Singers, performing music from their new ECM record, Lamentatio Jeremiae. Late night at Mitchell Hall is the popular Henry Grimes, Jane Bunnett and Andrew Cyrille.

Saturday, Sept. 11

• This is the most ambitious Saturday in the history of the festival, with countless acts appearing in outdoor and indoor venues throughout the city.
• On Saturday morning, American pianist and composer Marilyn Crispell will dazzle audiences with a solo performance piano at River Run’s Cooperators Hall. Spend your Saturday afternoon at the Cooperators Hall with trio Marilyn Lerner, Ken Filiano, Lou Grassi make up the first part of a double bill along with Ratchet Orchestra a 30-piece ensemble from Quebec.
• At the Upper Wyndham Street Jazz Tent (in front of the old post office), running from 11:30 am until 1 am is the following lineup, all free: Kidsability Youth Orchestra with members of Ratchet Orchestra, Canaille (ON); Mike Murley, Rich Brown, Ted Warren (ON); Fanfare Pour pour (QC); Huelepega Sound System (ON); Sagapool (QC); Souljazz Orchestra (ON).
• Back to the River Run Centre on the Main Stage for the 8pm not-to-be-missed double-bill that opens with Sangam: Charles Lloyd, Zakir Hussain, Eric Harland (USA). Legendary saxophonist Charles Lloyd is recognized as a key voice in modern jazz. Lloyd collaborates with internationally celebrated Indian tabla master Zakir Hussain. Joining them is drummer Eric Harland, who has played with Joe Henderson and Wynton Marsalis. That performance will be followed by The Trio led by Muhal Richard Abrams (the great African-American pianist and founder of the AACM) who returns to Guelph to perform with fellow AACM stalwarts Roscoe Mitchell (from the Art Ensemble of Chicago) and George Lewis.
• As the sun begins to set, Nuit Blanche is set to begin! A first for the city of Guelph, the term Nuit Blanche generally describes an all-night arts festival phenomenon and has appeared in Paris, St. Petersburg, Berlin, Tokyo, Amsterdam, Madrid, Miami, Montreal and Toronto. Cities are transformed into all-night art galleries, providing space for music, film, art installations, dance, performance art, and themed social gatherings. Guelph is one of Ontario’s most artistically vibrant cities, and it naturally fits for the Guelph Jazz Festival to host the celebration, as it is recognized nationally and internationally for its commitment to art and innovation, presenting music not often heard at other festivals. Guelph will be the smallest city in the world to host the event. Further details about what will be occurring the night of Saturday, Sept. 11 will be unveiled on July 21.
• A Nuit Blanche sneak-peak: two ticketed late night offerings at Mitchell Hall in St. George’s Church: multi-instrumentalists Chicago Underground Duo (USA/Brazil) at 11:30 and turntable virtuoso Kid Koala at 1:30 am.

Sunday, Sept. 12

• Guitarist Marc Ribot (last in Guelph with John Zorn) returns with an all-star trio featuring the great Henry Grimes on bass and the always amazing Chad Taylor on drums. This will be the first show of the day taking place at the Guelph Youth Music Centre. Stick around for the festival’s closer, local Vertical Squirrels launch their debut record Hold True. This improvising ensemble is comprised of Jazz Festival Artistic Director Ajay Heble, long-time Guelph colleagues Daniel Fischlin and Lewis Melville plus former Guelph post-doctoral student Rob Wallace.