Jazz Fest goes through growth spurt
‘I’d love to turn this area into a Disneyland for arts’
They’re already Niagara’s jazz power couple. So when it came time to kick start a regional jazz fest, Juliet Dunn and Peter Shea were thinking long term. Not just a festival, but a legacy. “Our vision is, I’d love to turn this area into a Disneyland for arts,” says Shea. “I’d like art and culture to be synonymous with this region, like it is in New Orleans.”
“I think the framework’s here,” adds his wife Dunn. “We need to convince some people still that it’s possible. Sometimes, around here, we don’t realize how great it is what we have. When I drive around I take a lot of the back roads, and I have to pinch myself. ‘There’s vineyards!’ It’s like living in France.”
Last year’s inaugural TD Niagara Jazz Festival attracted about 3,000 people for 20 artists in a handful of venues. This year it will more than double in size, offering 35 bands, 200 artists and more than 20 venues throughout the region. It also goes from three to four days, running July 23 to 26.
Details were announced during a launch party at Two Sisters Vineyard in Niagara-on-the-Lake Tuesday.
The flagship event will be July 24 at Jackson-Triggs Winery, with headliner Michael Kaeshammer.
Other acts throughout the festival include Robi Botos, Barbra Lica, Heilig Manoeuvre and Big Rude Jake. Local artists include Khea Emmanuel, the Niagara String Band, Vox Violins, Sarah Jerrom Trio and John Sherwood Swingin’ Quintet.
Shows will take place in wineries, restaurants, parks and cafes. Dunn says weekend packages will enable festival-goers to stay and have a “unique Niagara experience” over four days.
“Niagara is worthy,” says Dunn, who started her career as a singer/ actress in France. “So many times, people say to me, ‘You lived in Paris, France for 13 years — what are you doing in St. Catharines?’ And it really irks me. I’m always defending it, going, ‘No, it’s really great.’”
“The potential is bubbling,” adds Shea. “There’s so much here. I think it’s serendipitous (Juliet and I) are back in the region. I was born and raised here.
“We want to pass on this legacy. What I was given when I came up, I want to give more. That’s why we’re trying to keep arts and music and culture alive, because society needs it. I don’t think they’re aware how desperate they need it.”
Shea, the festival’s artistic director, is aiming for 10,000 people for the second year, despite a recent Nielsen music report which shows jazz’s popularity among music buyers at an all-time low.
Whatever its sales figures, Shea says jazz is still a popular genre for festivals.
“It’s the sense of community,” he says. “I’ve seen young people go (out) and not even have a conversation … they sit across from each other at a cafe and text each other.
“People are disconnecting from one another and this is one of the reasons festivals are making a comeback.”
“Jazz might not be as popular, but the festivals are,” adds Dunn. “People need human contact.”