TD Toronto Jazz Festival FREE-FOR-ALL-FRIDAY June 21 2013

From a media release:

THE TD TORONTO JAZZ FESTIVAL  LAUNCHES ITS 27TH ANNIVERSARY
Including FREE-FOR-ALL FRIDAY, free concerts and the complete lineup
June 21, 2013

• The complete schedule of events for FREE-FOR-ALL-FRIDAY

Toronto - On Friday, June 21, the TD Toronto Jazz Festival will present its first-ever FREE-FOR-ALL FRIDAY where admission to the entire Festival is on us! Visit any participating club, venue or restaurant that day and enjoy the music free of charge.

Motown's legendary Smokey Robinson brings his classic hits to the TD Toronto Jazz Festival with a FREE concert! Feel the Motown sound move through the tent as it powers up the downtown core on Friday, June 21, at 8:00 p.m., at Nathan Phillips Square. Renowned for such hits as "Shop Around," "You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me," and "Baby That's Backatcha" and for his work as founder and frontman of the popular Motown vocal group, The Miracles, Robinson is not to be missed. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee will bring his catalogue of Motown hits with him as he kicks off summer.

Motown vocalists Martha Reeves and the Vandellas will join Robinson for the "Heat Wave," with a hot show that will have Festival-goers "Dancing in the Street" to a blend of jazz, blues, R&B, pop, doo-wop, rock and roll and soul!

Jazz will play throughout the city on June 21st for FREE, with various locations playing host to many talented performers throughout the day and late into the night. From the clubs, to the patios, to Nathan Phillips Square, travel the city and get your jazz on without a ticket.

• The complete schedule of events for FREE-FOR-ALL-FRIDAY

FRIDAY, JUNE 21 FREE - some of the highlights:
Martha Reeves & The Vandellas / Smokey Robinson - Nathan Phillips Square 8pm
An Evening with Molly Johnson - Jazz Bistro 8pm          
Sondheim Project - Distillery District, Pure Spirits Patio 6pm            
Michael Dunston / Dave Young - Shops at Don Mills 8pm        
An Evening with Molly Johnson - Jazz Bistro 10:30pm

TD Toronto Jazz Festival June 20 - 29, 2013 - Highlights

From a media release:

KICK OFF SUMMER WITH THE TD TORONTO JAZZ FESTIVAL
Featuring Willie Nelson, Steve Martin, Sharon Jones, Trombone Shorty, David Sanborn
June 20 - 29, 2013

• Check the website for a complete listing

Toronto – Turn up the jazz and explore the TD Toronto Jazz Festival as it plays nonstop for 10 days, from June 20 – June 29, 2013. Uniting half a million fans at more than 60 locations across the city, the Festival is the ultimate destination for music lovers. Make the Festival your meeting place this summer and take in a breath of fresh jazz.

More than 1,500 musicians will entertain in over 350 concerts this summer. Some of the highlights the 27th edition include:

WILLIE NELSON & FAMILY - Thursday, June 20, 2013
Massey Hall – Purchase tickets online or call 416.872.4255
Tickets go on sale Thursday, February 14, 2013

NIKKI YANOFSKY – Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Tickets on sale now at Koerner Hall – online or call 416.408.0208

MAINSTAGE MARQUEE CONCERT SERIES AT NATHAN PHILLIPS SQUARE
100 Queen Street West - Concerts start at 8pm
Tickets on sale now at Ticketmaster or by calling 1.855.985.5000
Mavis Staples / Dr. John – Saturday, June 22, 2013
John McLaughlin & Fourth Dimension – Sunday, June 23, 2013
Bob James, David Sanborn featuring Steve Gadd – Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue – Wednesday, June 26, 2013
The James Hunter Six / Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings – Thursday, June 27, 2013
Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers featuring Edie Brickell – Saturday, June 29, 2013

Festival International de Jazz de Montréal June 28 - July 7, 2013

From a media release:

10 stages, 300 concerts, 3000 artists…and it’s all free!
The free outdoor program of the 34th edition of the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal
June 28 - July 7, 2013

• Find out more
• Jazz Fest website

Montreal — It’s finally time to unveil the free outdoor program of the 34th edition of the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal, presented by TD in collaboration with Rio Tinto Alcan! In keeping with its formula, now an artistic and entertainment signature unique to Montreal, the world’s biggest jazz festival offers over 2/3 of its program free of charge!

From June 28 to July 7, this unique event sets up shop in the heart of the Quartier des Spectacles, on a site perfectly conceived to offer an unparalleled entertainment experience, drawing 2 million visits to its 10 stages and hundreds of concerts and entertainment activities in a convivial and safe atmosphere.

10 days and nights of discoveries, delights and surprises arrayed for aficionados of jazz, but also fanatics of blues, rock, world music, folk and other music genres born in the spectrum of jazz influence. In this vast range of formulas and formats - you’re guaranteed to discover a wealth of hidden treasures, gems of the next generation and essential legends, thousands of musicians invited from some thirty countries, playing electric guitars alongside balafons, double bass next to turntables, in intimate musical rendezvous and large-scale concerts in the heart of downtown, from noon into the wee hours… Yes, it’s free music at its absolute summer best!





Three major free outdoor Grands événements
The TD Stage on the Place des Festivals hosts three absolutely essential massive outdoor events to gather and delight Fest fans at 9:30 p.m. Feist gets the ball rolling on Friday, June 28 in the TD Grand Opening Event in collaboration with SiriusXM. At the midpoint of the festival, Tuesday, July 2, brilliant French songwriter-composer-producer-manager and DJ Wax Tailor ignites the party. After burning up the Métropolis in 2010 (opening for Caravan Palace) and L’Astral last year with his invigorating and cinematic blast of orchestral trip-hop and hip-hop, this leading light of the international electronica scene invites in an array of super special guests: Jennifer Charles, Charlotte Savary, Mattic, A.S.M. and Voice. On Sunday, July 7, the 34th edition of the Festival closes under the colours of Mali with 2 of its most brilliant stars, Amadou & Mariam, our Antonio Carlos-Jobim Award honorees this year! The Rio Tinto Alcan Closing Event welcomes this magical, vibrant duo, who throw a party wherever they appear and unleash a refreshing joie de vivre as powerful as their funky rhythms. Their irresistible musical chemistry reaches full potency on their 7th album, Folila, which they’ll unveil here accompanied by another luminous figure from the inexhaustible Malian music scene: Fatoumata Diawara.

Theatre Double Bill: The Way of All Fish & Miss Fozzard Finds Her Feet June 19 - 23 2013 in Toronto

From a media release:

Kourage Theatre, Cric Crac Collective & Crazy Folk Productions Present
A Double Bill Featuring Three Seasoned Actors
Previews June 19; Runs June 20-23, 2013 at Tarragon Theatre Extra Space

The Way of All Fish
By Elaine May

Miss Fozzard Finds Her Feet
By Alan Bennett

• Tickets

TORONTO - Kourage Theatre, Cric Crac Collective and Crazy Folk Productions (an Equity approved cooperative) present two plays for five days:  The Way of All Fish by Elaine May, and Miss Fozzard Finds Her Feet by Alan Bennett.

This entertaining double bill previews Wednesday, June 19.  It opens Thursday, June 20 and runs to Sunday, June 23, 2013 at Tarragon Theatre’s Extra Space, 30 Bridgman Avenue, Toronto.  Evening performances are 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Tickets are $20 - $25, including HST; with a Pay-What-You-Can matinee Sunday, June 23, and are available from the box office at (416) 531-1827 or by visiting www.tarragontheatre.com.  Preview tickets are $15. More info on the double bill is at Kourage Theatre on Facebook.

The Way of All Fish is directed by Dian Marie Bridge (Aneemah’s Spot, Clicking Venus, Da Kink in My Hair) while Miss Fozzard Finds Her Feet is directed by Terry Tweed (Blood Brothers, Bonjour là, Bonjour, Salt-Water Moon).   Casts include three seasoned actors: Elva Mai Hoover and Tracy Rankin in Fish, and Nonnie Griffin in the solo role of Miss Fozzard.  Ms. Rankin is also producer of both plays.

The Way of All Fish by Elaine May

“It’s time for us to measure.”

A self-absorbed executive and her devoted secretary spend an unexpected evening together.  Things are suddenly not as they appear and we find one of them may have other plans in mind.  A challenging game of cat and mouse ensues.  But who's the cat and who's the mouse?  And more importantly, who is strong enough to be ...the biggest fish?

Gemini and Genie nominated, Elva Mai Hoover (Road to Avonlea, Mama, Murdoch Mysteries) stars as Ms Asquith. In 2012, Now’s Jon Kaplan named hers as one of the eight outstanding performances at the Toronto Fringe Festival.

Tracy Rankin (Three Sisters, Flashpoint, Joan Macleod’s Jewel – *****, one of the top six shows at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival) stars as Miss Riverton.

Miss Fozzard Finds Her Feet by Alan Bennett
“If you want to open the door to a lifetime of hard skin, I can’t stop you.”

Miss Fozzard, an aging store clerk, regularly has appointments with a foot care specialist.  When Miss Fozzard's chiropodist moves away, she finds herself playing footsie with a new doctor who has a foot fetish.  A saucy adventure of the feet.

Nonnie Griffin (Sister Annunciata’s Secret at the 2012 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, The Flying Avro Arrow, and the memoir Show Biz & Other Addictions) stars as Miss Fozzard.

New Jazz Releases: Coming June 18th 2013 from Capri Records - Mike Wofford's It's Personal & Chip Stephens Trio's Relevancy

From a release:

New Releases: Two fine new discs coming June 18th from Capri Records

* Pianist Mike Wofford's solo piano masterpiece, It's Personal
On this terrific CD, the acclaimed pianist and composer interprets originals, Ellington, Gillespie, Bricusse, Talking Heads and more.

Having appeared on over two hundred recordings as a sideman, pianist Mike Wofford now continues to record and perform primarily as a leader.  He has received critical acclaim for his “Live at Maybeck” volume 18 in the Concord Records solo piano series, and his 2004 CD “Live at Athenaeum Jazz” on Capri Records features bassist Peter Washington and drummer Victor Lewis. In 2007, Capri released “Live at Athenaeum Jazz, Vol. 2”, a duo CD with flutist Holly Hofmann.

In 1989, he became pianist and music director for Ella Fitzgerald until her retirement in 1992. He was also house pianist during this time at San Diego’s two national jazz clubs, Elario’s and the Horton Grand Hotel. At these venues he performed with many legendary jazz figures from Art Farmer and Charlie Haden to Slide Hampton and Ray Brown, among many others.

Wofford currently performs and tours with his own groups and as co-leader in a quartet with his wife, flutist Holly Hofmann. He is also now performing with and arranging for their string orchestra configuration focused on the music of Antonio Carlos Jobim, and Ellington/Strayhorn. He continues to be one of the most in-demand pianists in jazz, working with such artists as Charles McPherson, Kevin Mahogany, Houston Person, James Moody, Phil Woods, Kenny Burrell and Benny Golson.

Benny Golson has said, “I could sum up Mike in one word: quintessential. He is the essence of a jazz pianist in his purest and most concentrated form.” Of Mike, Shelly Manne said, “[He] is outstanding…a musician’s pianist….He inspires as he plays.”



* Chip Stephens Trio's Relevancy
Stephens, with trusted teammates Dennis Carroll on bass and Joel Spencer on drums, takes on a spectrum of material that touches on outstanding work by Carla Bley, Bill Evans, Sammy Cahn, and the acclaimed songwriting teams of Rodgers and Hart, and Van Heusen and Burke, as well as three Stephens originals that reveal his gift for lyricism and vivacious swing. The result is an album that celebrates the durable joys of the mainstream piano trio tradition while also asserting the in-the-moment creativity and intensity that can be brought to it.

Born in Ashland, Ohio, in 1964, Chip is one of the best jazz artists of “generation x”. A protegé of legendary pianist and cult figure Pat Pace of Akron, he is a veteran of the Glenn Miller, Woody Herman, and Maynard Ferguson bands. Now settled in Cleveland, he is part of a growing number of musicians demontrating that geography need not be destiny, namely that pianists far removed from the east coast can put together great trios and play convincing music. Possesing formidable technique, an advanced harmonic sense, and a restless mind, Chip’s playing combines strength with whimsy and solidity with surprise.

Chip Stephens is an anxious, energetic, and uncommonly talented pianist and composer whose work displays an impressive command of a widely varied palette of compositional and improvisational styles. It will be interesting to follow his growth pattern as he assumes a leading role among pianists heading into the 21st century.

Music, Dance and Bacon: Canada Day Weekend 2013 at Harbourfront Toronto

From a media release:

Canada Day Weekend Celebrations
June 28 to July 1, 2013

TORONTO - This Canada Day weekend, celebrate a new chapter in our history as we officially open the brand new Canada Square with music, dance (lots of dance!), food and spectacular 'Canada Eve Fireworks' presented by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, on Sunday, June 30.

• Check the link for a full listing of events

HIGLIGHTS:
· Urban All-Styles Dance Battle
Saturday, June 29 from 2-3:30 p.m. – WestJet Stage
Be apart of the largest outdoor dance competition by the water this summer that features a multitude of urban styles showcased by the best of Canada's dance community. Hosted by Benzo of Bag of Trix
· Spectrum - Raagini Dance Company and Jasmyn Fyffe Company
Saturday, June 29 and Sunday, June 30 from 3-5 p.m. – Redpath Stage
Spectrum is a programming initiative by Pratibha Arts that highlights common themes amongst different cultural dance and music styles. Sacred Dances highlights the spiritual nature of African and contemporary dance traditions and will be performed by the Jasmyn Fyffe Company. Rhythmic Feet highlights the rhythmic emphasis in Indian classical and urban dance and will be performed by Raagini Dance Company. Hands-on workshops on African, Indian and contemporary dance will also be featured.
· Elliott BROOD
Saturday, June 29 from 9:30-11 p.m. – WestJet Stage
Elliott BROOD's Juno-winning album Days Into Years is their third full-length recording, the follow-up to 2008's Polaris Prize short-listed Mountain Meadows. Since forming in 2002, the group has become a Canadian music institution. With Days Into Years they will bring their music, and of one of the greatest Canadian stories, to the world.
· Viex Farka Toure
June 30 from 7 to 8:30pm - WestJet Stage
Often referred to as "The Hendrix of the Sahara," you won't want to miss this rare Canadian appearance by Malian singer/guitarist Vieux Farka Touré. Vieux released his third studio album, The Secret, in 2011. The album was produced by Soulive guitarist Eric Krasno and features Dave Matthews, Derek Trucks and John Scofield. It also features the last collaboration between Touré and his late father. The album reached the #1 spot on CMJ's New World chart.
· Alex Cuba
Monday, July 1 from 2-3 p.m. – WestJet Stage
Alex Cuba is a Latin Grammy and Juno Award winner, singer-songwriter who is not tied to tradition. His melodies, pop-soul hooks and powerful guitar riffs, reflects primarily Latin and African influences, but with a mix of funk, jazz and pop.
· The World’s Largest Dance Freeze (Guinness World Record Attempt)
Monday, July 1 at 5 p.m. – Redpath Stage and surrounding area
Harbourfront Centre is attempting to set a world record by doing the largest dance freeze at our Canada Day Celebrations. Practice runs will be held throughout the weekend before the grand finale on July 1.
· BACONATION Marathon
Monday, July 1from 1-8 p.m. –Zone 5
All things Bacon will be explored for everyone to sample, we are partnering with the best Restaurants in town that specialize in Bacon.

Toronto Dance Premiere: Cloud 9 / 7e Ciel June 27 to 29 2013

From a media release:

Cloud 9 / 7e Ciel announces Inaugural Performance
An Evening of Exceptional Dance Featuring Two World Premieres
by Award-Winning Choreographers Susie Burpee and Tedd Robinson

Performed by Seasoned Canadian Dance Artists
Sylvie Bouchard, Karen Kaeja, Claudia Moore
and guest artists Michael Sean Marye and Ron Stewart
in partnership with Young Centre for the Performing Arts
June 27 - 29, 2013

(Toronto) Cloud 9/7e Ciel is a new endeavor that promotes and incubates a new kind of future for seasoned Canadian dance artists. In partnership with the Young Centre for the Performing Arts, Cloud 9/7e Ciel presents its inaugural performance evening featuring two world premieres by acclaimed choreographer Susie Burpee and Tedd Robinson. These stunning works will be performed by Cloud 9/7e Ciel founders/co-artistic directors Sylvie Bouchard, Karen Kaeja and Claudia Moore with guest artists Michael Sean Marye and Ron Stewart on June 27-29, 2013 in the Young Centre's Tank House Theatre.

Tedd Robinson, one of Canada's most esteemed dance smiths, has created a thirty-minute ensemble work for Cloud 9/7e Ciel to the music of Chopin featuring all five dancers. Sylvie Bouchard, Karen Kaeja and Claudia Moore will also perform a twenty-minute trio choreographed for them by Susie Burpee.

These commissions are rife with the complexities of human relationship. They encompass both the humour and the darkness of life in compelling physical language. The senior performers of Cloud 9/7e Ciel - brave, bold and exquisite - bring years of experience and artistry to their uplifting and courageous performances in the intimate setting of the Tank House Theatre.

Cloud 9/7e Ciel promotes accomplished Canadian dance artists who are passionate, award winning and highly driven. As the founders and co-artistic directors of this new collective, Sylvie Bouchard, Karen Kaeja and Claudia Moore have joined forces to bridge a void in the Canadian dance scene - the creation of a senior dance ensemble. Throughout their long and distinguished careers, they have founded MOonhORsE Dance Theatre, Older and Reckless, CORPUS, Dusk Dances, Kaeja d'Dance, and Festival of Interactive Physics. With Cloud 9, they commission brilliant choreographers for dancers over 45 years old, to perform masterful dance works on the world stage.

Cloud 9 / 7e Ciel
June 27 - 29, 2013 at 8pm Preview: June 26 at 8pm | Matinee: June 29 at 2pm
Young Centre for the Performing Arts
Distillery Historic District, 50 Tank House Lane, Toronto
For tickets call 416-866-8666 or visit www.youngcentre.ca
Regular Admission - $25 | Student, Senior CADA - $18 | Preview - $15
Information: 416-504-6429 x 24

Images by Cylla von Tiedemann