 |
OTTAWA - It's no secret the Jazz Festival has been going after a younger audience for a long time, but this time, programmer Jacques Emond might have gone too far.
"What," the veteran jazz programmer can already hear the purists demanding, "does Juno Award-winning Kingston trio Bedouin Soundclash have to do with jazz?"
Even if the answer is nothing, Emond defends the festival's need to book music a younger crowd might find less intimidating than traditional jazz standbys the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, gospel legend Marvis Staples or pianist McCoy Tyner.
But in between the two extremes, a healthy supply of jazz's next generation -- including swing revivalists Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and hot acid-jazz pianist and vocalist Jamie Callum -- theoretically at least, make this year's "Concerts Under the Stars" headline series the sexiest, and most controversial, it's ever been.
"It is quite an eclectic lineup," Emond says. "We've covered all the bases. But this year we're focussing on the young people, to make them a big part of the festival experience and make a couple of new fans, too."
If the $2.1-million festival is to continue to survive and grow, it has to market itself to people who aren't fans of jazz, says festival general manager Catherine O'Grady.
"We want the festival to not be about what you know, but what you don't know," she says. "We want people to see the festival as a chance to experience new music. We want to push the festival experience with a new look and a more uptown feel that's more than just the music."
In Ottawa's swelling mainstream jazz circles, that's playing with fire. But Emond isn't about to sell his beloved jazz orgy out to the highest bidder. He's playing the percentages and banking on the numbers that with almost 120 concerts -- 90% of them with Canadian jazz talent performing at the festival's 10 venues -- even hard-core jazz purists won't mind a little funk break.
"When you have one of the great ones like Mavis Staples, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and McCoy Tyner, who recorded with John Coltrane, you have a festival right there," he remarks.
To wit, he's added a second concert with piano wiz Brad Meldau on Tuesday to accommodate the huge demand for pure piano improvisation. But as much as he likes the old stuff, Emond still gets a thrill turning people on to new talent.
"I love the old standards," Emond says assuringly, "but at this point in my career, it's exciting when someone who's never done jazz before sees Servantes Flamenco Jazz or Sonny Fortune for the first time."
Individual tickets and passes are on sale at the festival office at 61A York St., all Ticketmaster outlets, CD Warehouse outlets, the Ottawa Folklore Centre, by phone at 241-2633 or 755-1111, or online at www.ottawajazzfestival.com.