MOURNING A MUSIC MAN
Pickering gave fest global pull
Anyone in Vancouver who dealt with Ken Pickering behind the cash register at Black Swan Records in the early ’80s knew him first and foremost as a fan who loved to curate people’s purchases to ensure they got the best band for their buck.
In the years before he co-founded the TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival, the Kitsilano store where he worked played a key role as a hub for spreading adventurous music news around town and was something of a hang spot too, with a welcoming and unpretentious feel.
Pickering’s expansive knowledge of jazz, coupled with his approachable style, made him a beloved mainstay in the local music industry.
And when news of his death due to complications from throat cancer reached the jazz world on Aug. 10, an outpouring of sadness, tributes and condolences was quick to follow. He was 66.
The Coastal Jazz and Blues Society, the organization that Pickering, John Orysik and Robert Kerr co-founded in 1985, which produces the Vancouver jazz festival, tweeted: “Today is the worst, saddest day. After a short battle with cancer, founding artistic director @ken_pickering passed away peacefully early this AM. We will miss him terribly.”
Pickering’s wife, Christine Fedina, also made the announcement on Facebook, breaking the news that he had stopped treatments and died on Friday: “I lost the love of my life, my soulmate, my everything, my dear sweet Ken in the early hours of this morning.”
With his wide-ranging ear and passion for music on the cutting edge, Pickering elevated the Vancouver festival to global importance while also bringing such scenes as the New Dutch Swing and Nordic Jazz to prominence in Canada. Welcoming hundreds of thousands of people every year, the Vancouver jazz festival has showcased everyone from legends such as Miles Davis, contemporary stars such as Diana Krall and seminal avant-garde icons such as John Zorn and William Parker.
Pickering recreated this environment in his role as longtime artistic director, setting an example for jazz festivals everywhere. He proved that you could build dedicated audiences for non-mainstream, uneasily classified music by pursuing the highest quality and not backing down from that.
“Our great mentor, Ken Pickering, is dead of cancer, too soon, too, too soon. Ken was for all of us a leader, mentor, music zealot, knowing and loving those fine musical moments of genius and insight. Ken was also loving and kind and the definition of a friend. I cannot imagine the sadness for Chris, the love of his life. All of us in the Canadian jazz community feel this immense loss as do artists around the world. Ah, Ken, we love you man. Our loss is deep and profound,” wrote Ottawa Jazz Festival executive producer Catherine O’Grady.
Writing on Facebook that he was too ill to attend the 2018 festival didn’t lessen his enthusiasm for the program his replacement, Rainbow Robert, and her team had put together. Rallying toward the end of the festival, he made it out to some shows and his joyful spark and humour were in full force, still wearing the promoter’s cap: “... tonight at Ironworks with Eric Revis Quartet (Vandermark, Kris D, Chad T) and Jaime Branch’s Fly or Die will be an evening to die for … well maybe bad choice of words, but it will be awesome! If you’re in town don’t miss it. Thanks again for all the love as I battle this illness thing.”
Pickering ’s tireless networking and community building in support of the music he loved contributed to the career development of many of the genre’s most celebrated players, as well as influencing many other festivals’ and societies’ approach to pursuing their mandates. Robert noted how Pickering always advocated for the sounds he adored: “Ken was unwavering in his support of the positively brilliant music coming out of the community in Vancouver, and was forever focused on creating exceptional opportunities for local artists,” said Robert. “Facilitating collaborations between local and international artists at the jazz festival and advocating to create opportunities for Canadian artists to perform at other festivals around the world, Ken was always clear that the music, and the exceptionally important people who dedicate their lives to making it, must always come first. Everything else flows from the genuinely respectful treatment of artists.”
That treatment and respect for musicians was echoed across social media as news of Pickering ’s death spread. From acclaimed pianist Marilyn Crispell to saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa and many, many more, the message was that this was a huge loss for the world’s jazz community. Musicians such as Vancouver’s Francois Houle praised Pickering ’s encyclopedic knowledge, curiosity and dedication to encouraging collaborations and dialogue.
“With no formal musical training, he instinctively felt his way into the music, educating himself through avid listening and reading, but most importantly by interacting and forging friendships with musicians,” said Houle.
“Always looking to help out, no matter if you were a young, upcoming musician or a veteran of the scene, he would go out of his way to make things happen. Such was his convictions that, in his 30-some years as artistic director, he helped put Vancouver on the international creative music map as a centre of activity on par with Paris, Chicago and New York.”
This reporter was a stage manager for over 17 years with the jazz festival in its early years, and I can personally thank Ken Pickering for turning me on to some of the mostenduring performances of my career as a music journalist. Teaching by example how important it is to be open to everything and willing to push yourself past pre-conceived notions, he changed my — and a great many others’ — ears forever.