Uptown Jazz Festival back with renewed focus
New artistic director wants to delight and educate audiences this weekend in Waterloo
WATERLOO — Starting Friday, the three-day Uptown Waterloo Jazz Festival will offer audiences a bit of the familto iar as well as some new sounds and Derek Hines, for one, is pumped.
“I’m really energized,” said Hines, a jazz vocalist familiar to Waterloo Region audiences. However, for this festival, he is acting as the event’s marketing guru. “I think it’s the right mix of familiar favourites, lots of new artists with new material that will be released in the next six months,” he said. “I think it’s important for audiences, they have something to look forward to.”
Also new this year is a major shift in how the artists were chosen.
“For the first time we have an artistic director,” enthused Hines. “It gives an opportunity
UPTOWN WATERLOO JAZZ FESTIVAL Friday, July 20 to Sunday, July 22 Waterloo Town Square and Waterloo City Hall stages
For a full lineup visit: uptownwaterloojazz.ca
have a singular vision.”
Past artistic director Patti Brooks had the title but worked with a committee to choose artists, though she would also find artists on her own.
Lukas Bouda has taken over that role and his mandate is more defined in that he has control over the festival theme and which artists perform.
“I first came to the festival when I was 13 and it was in a parking lot, in a tent,” said Bouda. “It had a really nice feeling to it.”
The Waterloo-born composer, musician and teacher returned home in April 2017 after working in England for two years. He sees part of his new role as educating audiences, not just presenting great music.
Given the festival has been around for nearly three decades, artists around the world send in applications every year. Bouda sifted through just over 150 applications this year, looking for performers who fit the festival mandate as well as artists who are perhaps new to audiences and bring a specific jazz vibe — people like Coco Love Alcorn who’s beautiful, ethereal vocals will grace the City Hall stage Sunday at 12 p.m.
Bouda is also excited about Toronto-based composer/multiinstrumentalist, Chelsea McBride’s Socialist Night School, a 19-piece orchestra which recently released its first fulllength LP, “The Twilight Fall.” McBride was named one of Cana-
da’s top 35 jazz musicians under 35 by CBC.
“She’s an up-and-coming newcomer,” Bouda said, describing her music as a fusion of modern, pop, rock with “poetic influences, stream of consciousness stuff.” The band performs Saturday at 4:30 p.m., City Hall stage.
Bouda is keen to introduce audiences to the inner workings of jazz and its history of improvisation.
“What I want to do is focus on the improv, which is a unique element to jazz,” he said. “We have added master classes and a Q-and-A.”
In both, the idea of improvisation in jazz will be thoroughly explored, perhaps helping audiences develop a whole new appreciation for how talented jazz musicians create this music collaboratively.
Bouda will conduct the Q-and-A with composer/recording artist, Jim Gelcer followed by a panel discussion featuring Chelsea McBride and Ernesto Cervini.
The weekend will also feature a talk “Tying Improvisation into the Narrative” led by Ted Warren and Bouda. Fern Lindzon will also conduct a master class.
The festival launches Friday at 4 p.m. with the Youth Jazz Ensemble followed by something completely different.
Bouda liked the idea of including a wandering minstrel, and brought in guitarist Sandy MacDonald, who will perform at 5 p.m. on the Waterloo Town Square stage. Then at 5:45 Theatre Arcturus, a local aerial theatre company will perform to his music for 15 minutes. At the end of their set, MacDonald will lead the audiences to the City Hall stage like the pied piper of Waterloo.
“It’s music being expressed differently,” Hines said. “It will get people moving.”
Bouda said he likes the idea of incorporating different artistic disciplines into the festival. This year he has included Laurie Wonfor Nolan, a Cambridge artist who will be painting the band Manteca at 9 p.m. Saturday as they perform on the City Hall stage, her brush strokes inspired by the music. Bouda said that adding so many new elements to the festival gives audiences “a multidisciplinary experience.”
Friday night the City Hall stage will feature the Jason Raso Funktet, followed by Marito Marques and then the night closes with the smooth jazz of Mike Downes.
On Saturday at Waterloo Public Square the day starts at 11:30 a.m. with the Bernie Carroll Project, followed at 1 p.m. by the Mingus Appreciation Society, named after the American jazz musician Charles Mingus.
At 2:30 the Phoenix Jazz Group is on stage followed at 4 p.m. by Brenda Lewis.
Over on the City Hall Stage, at 12 p.m. the Uptown Waterloo Jazz Band kicks off the day followed by Jim Gelcer then at 3 p.m., Turboprop led by Ernesto Cervini.
Chelsea McBride’s orchestra is on at 4:30 p.m., followed at 6 p.m. by Fern Lindzon, then Ted Warren at 7:30 p.m. and the night ends with returning favourites Manteca at 9 p.m.
Sunday is a shorter day for the festival, with performances on the City Hall Stage only, starting at 10:30 a.m. with the Uptown Waterloo Jazz Ensemble then Coco Love Alcorn performs at noon, followed by Francisco Pais “Lusitano” with special guest Marta Pereira da Costa and at 3 p.m., the final act for the festival, Mark Kelso & the Jazz Exiles.
vhill@therecord.com, Twitter: @HillRecord