New jazz fest warms up Niagara this weekend
Grammy winners and jazz royalty will gather this weekend in Niagara- on- the- Lake and St. Catharines for the inaugural Oscar Peterson International Jazz Festival.
The three- day event, named after one of Canada’s jazz icons, will feature 15 artists playing three different venues, starting Friday night at FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in St. Catharines.
Friday’s show ( 8 p. m.) will feature multiple Grammy winners, including Cecile McLorin Savant who just won the award for best jazz vocal album ( Dreams and Daggers) and Christian McBride who won for best large jazz ensemble album ( Bringin’ It).
The loaded show also includes Benny Green, Kenny Washington, Jon Faddis, Michael Dease and Jimmy Greene.
“The Friday night lineup is incredible,” says Alexis Spieldenner, executive director of Bravo Niagara! Festival of the Arts, which teamed with Junowinning pianist Renee Rosnes and Peterson’s widow Kelly to put on the event.
“What’s really exciting is it’s going to be a jam session. Like jazz in the philharmonic style.”
The festival continues with two events Saturday.
At 1 p. m. at St. Mark’s Anglican Church in Niagara- on- the- Lake will be the screening of a documentary on Norman Granz, the civil rights activist who founded Jazz at the Philharmonic in 1944. A close friend of Oscar Peterson, Granz championed young black artists by demanding there be no segregation at the concert halls he booked.
On Saturday night ( 7: 30 p. m.), five- time Juno winner Rosnes — the festival’s artistic director — will perform with Grammywinning pianist Bill Charlop at Stratus Vineyards in Niagaraonthe- Lake.
The festival heads back to Stratus Vineyards for its finale Sunday ( 3 p. m.) for a Canadian lineup featuring Carol Welsman, Kevin Turcotte, Mike Murley, Robi Botos, Dave Young and Jim Doxas. It will also include the newly created Canadian Jazz Master Awards, presented to one living and one deceased artist.
Spieldenner says the festival has been a box office success its first year, with a waiting list for tickets for the Saturday and Sunday night shows.
“With Kelly and Renee, they set the bar so high for the first year with this lineup,” she says. “It’s the highest calibre of jazz musicians that they’re bringing in. We’re so lucky.
“This combination of musicians has never performed in the region. To have all of them together is like winning the lotto here.”