September 11th & 12th, 2021 to feature community, restaurant, and Koerner Hall acts
BRAMPTON, ON, Sept. 1, 2021 /CNW/ – With the ongoing provincial and municipal decisions to cancel event permits and large gatherings due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the World of Jazz Festival, presented by B-Jazzed, is proud to celebrate its 5th anniversary by continuing to offer a first-class event which will maintain a LIVE performance portion, as well as a LIVESTREAM concert, taking place on September 11th and 12th. Featuring 17 ensembles over 2 days, local audiences can participate in a jazz jam session as well as enjoy free performances throughout Brampton and at restaurants in the downtown core on Saturday, September 11th. World-wide audiences can watch a live virtual concert from the internationally acclaimed, extraordinarily beautiful Koerner Hall, within the TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning, on Sunday, September 12th.
By continuing to present the World of Jazz Festival over the last two years, B-Jazzed stands out as one of the only organizations in the world that found pivots for its annual programming that include live and virtual performances, without cancelling.
“Jazz is the music of freedom and democracy, through the art of collaborative performance in improvisation”, says Carmen Spada, Artistic Director of B-Jazzed. “This pandemic has challenged both of those human dignities, as well as the creative output and financial security of artists all around the world. Just as the blues did over 100 years ago, jazz music, as its closest descendant, can lift the suffering human condition to positivity and prosperity. The opportunity to deliver that hope was one that we could not deny at B-Jazzed and it is our sincere pleasure to deliver this year’s World of Jazz Festival.”
From 2017 to 2019, thanks to an enthusiastic local audience and growing appetite for jazz music, the World of Jazz Festival attracted large crowds to Brampton by presenting live music, cultural diversity, and family activities in Garden Square and at the Rose Theatre. In 2020, due to the everchanging pandemic, its constant uncertainties, and the festival and entertainment industry being plagued with cancellations, the festival adopted the current hybrid approach. As it remains the top priority for the team at B-Jazzed that the festival continues to take place, 2021 will maintain its successful momentum to offer hope and uplift spirits through music, as well as ensure compensated performance opportunities for musicians and technicians who have gone without, since the beginning of the pandemic.
Though the physical footprint of the 2021 festival may be smaller, this year the opportunity to present the livestream concert in the spectacular and acoustically superb Koerner Hall, within the TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning, is a milestone for the event. Continuing to extend its reach virtually, a world-wide audience will be able to enjoy a program of diverse interpretations of jazz music, including bebop, swing, funk, blues, fusion, and a 13-piece Latin Jazz orchestra.
The weekend schedule showcases the festival’s annual mission and commitment to highlighting multicultural influence in jazz music, while featuring award-winning artists, Brampton-based ensembles and emerging talent. More than 60% of the bands performing over the festival’s two-day schedule are ensembles and musicians based in Brampton.
Live Community & Restaurant Performances
The admission-free World of Jazz Festival kicks off on Saturday, September 11th with 11 bands playing live at 7 different Brampton locations, including Gage Park from 8:30am-12:30pm and Long & McQuade Musical Instruments from 1pm-5pm. Acts include Brampton-based ensembles such as Frank Adriano Quartet, Enviro Drum, The Sidemen and Tonefusion, playing jazz standards and original music. In addition, there will be live restaurant performances for lunch from 10am-12pm at Segovia Coffee Co or dinner from 6pm-9pm, where festival-goers can enjoy food and drinks at, Mt. Vesuvio’s Ristorante, Fanzorelli’s, J.Red & Co. and Keenan’s Irish Pub, in Downtown Brampton, while listening to salsa, funk, swing, and soul, as well as participate in a jazz jam session.
Livestream Concert from Koerner Hall (TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning)
With the option of watching from the World of Jazz Facebook page, YouTube, or website at www.worldofjazz.ca on Sunday, September 12th , from 1pm-7:30pm, audiences can enjoy an amazing lineup of six back-to-back performances, streaming live from the extraordinarily beautiful Koerner Hall. The virtual concert, which can be enjoyed from the comfort of your own home, will feature performances by JUNO nominated blues band Samantha Martin & Delta Sugar, smooth guitarist Rob Tardik, a tribute to John Coltrane featuring Canadian Jazz legends and JUNO award-winning saxophonists Kirk MacDonald and Pat LaBarbera, and Son D’Aqui, a 13-piece Latin jazz orchestra playing the hits of the Fania Label.
“We have an audio and visual team of more than twenty professional technicians delivering this year’s livestream of the World of Jazz Festival,” says Joe Asensio, Executive Director of B-Jazzed. “Though livestreaming can never replace the in-person experience, we wanted to ensure a production of the highest quality, employing multiple camera angles and lighting options, in order to give both the musicians and the audience as authentic an experience as possible, amidst the challenges of COVID-19, while never sacrificing quality.”
Community Support
Key to the festival celebrating its fifth anniversary has been the renewed support of the City of Brampton’s Marquee Festivals & Events Fund. This annual municipal investment has allowed the event to grow in capacity and has demonstrated the city’s commitment to the existence of an annual jazz festival. Along with new federal grant support from Canadian Heritage, FACTOR, SOCAN and local sponsors such as the Downtown Brampton BIA, Paradise Developments, JN Realty, Long & McQuade Musical Instruments, and Jazzamco, who advocate for the arts in Brampton, B-Jazzed and the World of Jazz Festival are grateful for their support, which ensures that both a live community-based offering and a virtual event can take place in tandem. “There is nothing that can compare to an audience listening to musicians performing live, and Phase 3 has allowed the festival to maintain both a live performance option, as well as move into the future with livestreaming,” says Spada.
For the full lineup of musicians and performances please visit www.worldofjazz.ca.
*The virtual performances will be streamed live, as well as archived on the World of Jazz YouTube page once the Festival has finished.
Subscribe to the B-Jazzed newsletter at worldofjazz.ca, and follow @worldofjazzfest on Facebook and Instagram to stay up to date on the latest Festival news.
SOURCE B-Jazzed (World of Jazz Festival)
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