Peter Hum’s Picks
Duchess
June 20, 6:30 p.m., Confederation Park main stage
Here’s a show for music lovers who bemoan the retreat of more traditional jazz sounds from Confederation Park in recent years. Duchess is fronted by three young New York-based vocalists — Amy Cervini, Melissa Stylianou, Hilary Gardner — who are updating the notion of singing in harmony in the classic Andrews Sisters style. Their music is slightly retro but very immediate and great fun without sliding into camp and kitsch. Without making any musical compromises, Duchess has a ball, and it’s likely listeners will too.
Kenny Werner Trio
June 20, 7 p.m., NAC Studio
The jazz festival is blessed with some especially potent pianists this year, and one must-see among them is Werner, renowned for his flowing creativity and playfulness. On intriguing originals or wryly arranged jazz standards, the pianist, 63, and his trio mates of the last 15 years, Johannes Weidenmueller on bass and drummer Ari Hoenig, dive into deep musical waters.
Renee Rosnes Quartet
June 21, 7 and 9 p.m. NAC Studio
The Vancouver-raised pianist, a New Yorker for the last three decades, proudly waves the flag for hard-swinging, bop-based jazz, and she does so in her own inimitable, highly polished fashion. Leading a group that includes the masterful Steve Nelson on vibraphone and the unbeatable team of Peter Washington on bass and Lewis Nash on drums, Rosnes should deliver impeccable mainstream jazz thrills.
Maria Joao and Mario Laginha
June 22, 5 p.m., NAC Fourth Stage
Of the festival’s many fine European jazz concerts, the show of Portuguese vocalist Maria Joao and pianist Mario Laginha, a duo that began collaborating almost three decades ago, could be a standout. Joao is an unbounded, arresting vocalist who can mix folk and avant-garde influences into her jazz or cover Tom Jobim, the Beatles or Bjork equally convincingly. Laginha is a vastly under-recognized pianist of tremendous sensitivity and romantic spirit.
Robi Botos featuring Seamus Blake
June 23, 6:30 p.m., Confederation Park main stage
Just 36, pianist Robi Botos has been a heavyweight on Toronto’s jazz scene since he arrived there as a refugee from Hungary in the late 1990s. His new CD, Moving Forward, lives up to its name with high-energy, splendidly grooving music that at times nods to Botos’ Roma heritage, and he’ll present some of that material, joined by a group that includes A-list saxophonist Seamus Blake, in Confederation Park.
Branford Marsalis Quartet
June 23, 7 p.m. (sold out) and 9 p.m., NAC Studio
The A-list saxophonist has been a frequent visitor to Ottawa, having played the jazz festival four previous times in the last decade. Plus, he played jazz and classical music at last year’s Music Beyond Festival. But if you like dynamic, surging music and focused balladry played at the highest level, you can’t get enough of the famed hornman. With pianist Joey Calderazzo, bassist Eric Revis and drummer Justin Faulkner, Marsalis has one of the few bands that can tackle John Coltrane’s legendary suite A Love Supreme and not be overshadowed by its challenges and legacy.
Dave Douglas & High Risk
June 26, 7 p.m., NAC Studio
When the U.S. trumpet star last visited Ottawa, his group played resolutely in the swinging acoustic jazz tradition. This year, Douglas does a 180 to present a hard-hitting, invigorating quartet that fuses jazz with the beats and atmospherics of electronic dance music. With Douglas’ galvanizing horn at the centre of the trippy storm created by electronics expert Shigeto, bassist Jonathon Maron and one-of-a-kind drummer Mark Giuliana, this should be a fascinating, forward-thinking show.
Kyle Shepherd Trio
June 26, 8 p.m., NAC Fourth Stage
The largely self-taught 26-year-old Cape Town pianist is one of several South African artists who ought to be seen at the festival since their trips to perform in North America are so infrequent. Shepherd quickly made his name with spirited original music steeped in the folkloric sounds of his homeland. But Shepherd, a student of South African greats such as Abdullah Ibrahim, who plays the NAC Studio on June 30, also keenly appreciates jazz as it’s been played outside South Africa by greats such as Keith Jarrett, Jason Moran and Brad Mehldau. This concert could suggest that jazz and world music are one and the same.
Antonio Sánchez and Migration
June 26, 9 p.m., NAC Studio
The virtuosic drummer kept his composing and bandleading abilities under wraps for many years, especially when non-stop tours with guitarist Pat Metheny were keeping him busy. But in recent years, Sánchez has come into his own as a writer and leader, notably contributing the arresting score to last year’s Oscar-winning film Birdman. His hard-hitting group Migration quartet includes saxophonist Seamus Blake, pianist John Escreet and bassist Matt Brewer, and their just-released album The Meridian Suite is a long electro-acoustic work that Sánchez calls his most ambitious yet.
Louis Moholo-Moholo Quartet
June 27, 7 p.m., NAC Studio
In the mid-1960s, drummer Louis Moholo-Moholo was one of several leading South African musicians who fled the evils of Apartheid to live in exile in Europe. There, they helped put the freedom in free jazz, loading the music with almost visceral political meaning. Now in his mid-70s, Moholo-Moholo remains a roaring, unpredictable iconoclast who makes fearless, go-for-the-heart music.
Christine Jensen Jazz Orchestra with Ingrid Jensen
June 28, 7:30 p.m., Laurier Avenue Music Stage
Montreal composer bandleader and saxophonist Christine Jensen has made many trips to Ottawa to play with small groups. But her Juno Award-winning big band, consisting of up to 20 musicians, is the most enthralling vehicle for her stirring and contemporary original music that can take its inspirations, in the best Canadian style, from the beauties of nature or even the struggles of First Nations people. The bandleader has a world-class soloist in her trumpet-playing sister, Ingrid, and the many talents in the group are no slouches either.
GoGo Penguin
June 28, 8 p.m., NAC Fourth Stage
Among the jazz-for-a-new-generation offerings at the festival, GoGo Penguin ranks near the top of the list. Acoustic electronica might seem like some kind of impossible oxymoron, but the youthful piano trio from Manchester, U.K., manages to pull it off. The group’s 2014 album v2.0 is a compelling, lucid listen that bring dubstep and other made-in-London musics into the jazz fold.
Kneebody
June 29, 6 p.m., NAC Fourth Stage
Three years ago, the audacious and unique quintet that calls itself Kneebody gave one of the 2012 Ottawa Jazz Festival’s most exhilarating and expansive concerts, filling the Fourth Stage with its protean blend of jazz, rock, funk and more. Beyond its wide stylistic embrace, the group is revered for its near-telepathic rapport its members share, abetted by the fact that they famously teach each other their intricate originals without using sheet music. Keep your fingers crossed that saxophonist Ben Wendel, trumpeter Shane Endsley, keyboardist Adam Benjamin, bassist Sam Minaie and drummer Nate Wood storm the festival’s jam session after their own gig, sitting in and socializing as they did in 2012.
Abdullah Ibrahim Mukashi Trio
June 30, 7 p.m., NAC Studio
The 80-year-old elder of jazz from South Africa and beyond is a jewel-in-the-crown booking for the Ottawa Jazz Festival. Another celebrated musician-in-exile who left his homeland in the 1960s, Ibrahim found an early patron in no less than Duke Ellington. Ibrahim’s elegant, spiritual music usually blends Ellington, Monk and South African sounds but his Mukashi trio also brings the influence of refined Japanese esthetics to bear.
Lynn Saxberg’s Picks
Huey Lewis and the News
8:30 p.m., June 24, main stage, Confederation Park
If you missed Huey Lewis and the News when they were last in town four years ago, the show may surprise you. The charismatic harmonica-playing frontman and his band make their vintage 80s-era hits sound fresh and punchy, helped out by a horn section comprised of musical luminaries from hometown San Francisco. Adding to the energy is the fact that everyone knows the words to songs like Power of Love, I Want a New Drug and The Heart of Rock & Roll.
Beirut
8:30 p.m. June 28, main stage, Confederation Park
It’s been four years since the orchestral American pop band Beirut released an album, a delay that was partly due to the personal turmoil experienced by leader Zach Condon. After going through a divorce and suffering from exhaustion while touring, Condon took some time to regroup, eventually falling in love again and resurfacing with new songs that reflect a sunnier perspective. The new album, No No No, is scheduled for release in September.
Wood Brothers
10:30 p.m. June 28, Laurier Avenue Music Stage, Marion Dewar Plaza, Ottawa City Hall
Medeski Martin and Wood bassist Chris Wood teamed up with his singer-songwriter brother Oliver a decade ago to play music together, and the results were magical. With Jano Rix rounding out the trio, they honed a batch of rootsy, songwriter-based tunes, finding a nice balance between improvisation and melody. In fact, some say they have the best musicianship and singing of any band since The Band.
Snarky Puppy
8:30 p.m. June 27, main stage, Confederation Park
Led by bassist/composer Michael League, Snarky Puppy is an instrumental collective of musicians from black and white America who came together to devote themselves to playing music on their own terms, declaring their potent mix of jazz, funk, soul and world music to be suitable for both brain and booty. After winning a Grammy award in 2014, the ensemble signed with a major label and went to work on an ambitious new album, Sylva, recorded with the Metropole Orkest. It was released May 26.
Peter Simpson’s Picks
The Roots
9 p.m., June 20, Main stage
There can’t be many tighter, better or more versatile bands than the Roots out there. For 20 years now the Grammy-winning (three times) band from Philadelphia has thwarted hip-hop conventions and defied categorization. These days the Roots are best known as the house band on Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show, where they have recently performed with Barry Gibb and A-Trak — and diverse range of styles that demands a band built on versatility.
Kat Edmonson
7:30 p.m. June 24 Laurier stage
If Amy Winehouse had been from Texas, she may have been Kat Edmonson. Edmonson’s raspy voice is distinct and a perfect match for the “vintage pop” songs she sings. The high points from her background — honed on the Austin, Texas club scene, a semi-finalist on American Idol — don’t prepare the listener for the complete package, which is neither Texas twang, nor reality TV cheese. Whatever one calls it, it’s catchy as can be.
Lindi Ortega
7:30 p.m., June 25, Laurier stage
“You don’t know me, I’m a nobody,” sings Lindi Ortega, disingenuously. The Toronto musician answers the question, what if John Hiatt and Dolly Parton had a child? She’s sassy, sharp and broadly talented, and has a gumption and personality that fuel her rocking country sounds. “You said you’d love me to the end of time,” she sings, and it’s a pledge we all should make to her. Ortega deserves the biggest of stages.
Tanya Tagaq
7:30 p.m., June 30, Laurier stage
Tanya Tagaq may be that rare performer who earns mainstream success while making music that could hardly be further from it. The Polaris Prize and Juno-winning Canadian has, with her drummer, violinist and DJ, turned traditional throat singing into an avant garde extravaganza — words mixed with growls and wails and other sounds from her extraordinary range. Tagaq is a vocal shape shifter, and is truly unique.
The Heavyweights Brass Band
6 p.m., July 1, Main stage (free show)
One of the great thrills in music is to see and hear a brass band on the streets of New Orleans — blasting, soaring, bursting with sound and energy. The Heavyweights Brass Band grows out of that tradition, but also fuses that signature street sound with tastes of pop music, Latin American beats, and whatever else fits. If you don’t get up and move at this show, you may be dead.