Festival International de Jazz de Montréal
The Festival International de Jazz de Montréal (FIJM) is the largest jazz festival in the world.
It usually takes place at the beginning of the Canadian festival season (or late June to mid-July). Over 2 million people attend the eleven day event. During the festival, large parts of the city center (Downtown Montreal) are closed to car traffic, so that concerts can also take place outdoors. Some of the open air concerts are attended by more than a hundred thousand people. Concerts are then held in pubs, clubs, theaters, museums, concert halls and even some department stores. Of the more than 650 concerts, 450 are free and take place at around ten open air spaces. In addition to jazz, world music, pop and blues musicians also perform. The festival is attended by around 2 million visitors every year, 250,000 of them tourists. It is run by an independent non-profit organization. It is known for its relaxed folk festival atmosphere.
The festival was first organized in 1980 on the initiative of Alain Simard (who had previously organized jazz and blues concerts in Montreal through the Kosmos Productions agency) and André Ménard (shortly afterwards supplemented by Denyse McCann), with their joint company Spectra Scene. In 1978 they announced the festival and also organized concerts, e.g. B. with Bill Evans , BB King and Charles Mingus , but received no funding. It didn't work in 1979 either (there were concerts with Pat Metheny and Keith Jarrett ), but only in 1980 with the support of CBC Radio and the sale of radio rights to Radio Québec. At that time, on the island of Sainte-Hélène u. a. Gary Burton , Chick Corea and Ray Charles attended and 12,000 people attended. In 1982 it moved to the St. Denis district, which was soon too small. Soon afterwards his reputation was consolidated with the appearance of stars like Miles Davis , Ella Fitzgerald , Stéphane Grappelli , Oscar Peterson , Sarah Vaughan . In 1987, after a financial crisis, it received support from the city of Montreal for the first time and from 1989 it took place at its present location in Downtown Montreal around the “Place des Arts” and the “Complexe Desjardins”. In 1989 the festival had over 1 million visitors.
The festival also awards prizes: the “Ella Fitzgerald Award” for vocal artists (from 1999), the “Miles Davis Award” for established international jazz musicians (from 1994), the “Oscar Peterson” award for Canadian jazz musicians (from 1989), the “Antonio Carlos Jobim Award” for world music.
At the 30th festival in 2009, Stevie Wonder performed in front of an audience of around 200,000 as part of the opening event. In a moving speech before his appearance, he remembered Michael Jackson, who had died a few days earlier . In this anniversary year, Al Di Meola , Buddy Guy , Dave Brubeck , Joe Cocker , Katie Melua , Pink Martini and Wayne Shorter also performed .
Festival program 2003 (selection)
- In 2003, more than 500 music groups performed at the festival, and around 2,000 music critics from all over the world attended.
Ray Charles , David Murray , Wayne Shorter , Jack DeJohnette , Michael Brecker , Joshua Redman , Norah Jones , Theo Jörgensmann Quartet , Joachim Kühn , Gary Burton , Don Byron , Abdullah Ibrahim , Geri Allen , Bobby Hutcherson , Egberto Gismonti , Esbjörn Svensson Trio , Arturo Sandoval , Gary Peacock , Hilton Ruiz , Carmen Souza and others a.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Alan Conter: Wonder weathers the storm. The Globe and Mail , July 1, 2009, accessed May 3, 2014 .
- ↑ Le Grand événement Général Motors. Festival Archives. (No longer available online.) Montrealjazzfest.com, 2009, archived from the original on May 3, 2014 ; accessed on May 3, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Wonder's musical tribute to Jackson. The Westmorland Gazette, July 2, 2009, accessed May 3, 2014 .
- ^ Bernard Perusse: Stevie Wonder Ignites Montreal Jazz Festival With Classic Grooves, Salutes to Michael Jackson. Rolling Stone , July 1, 2009, accessed May 3, 2014 .
- ↑ Artists by year: 2009. (No longer available online.) Montrealjazzfest.com, 2009, archived from the original on May 3, 2014 ; accessed on May 3, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
