LATE JUNE TO EARLY JULY.
SO THIS IS WHERE WE GO IF WE WANT SOME SMOOTH JAZZ?
That’s right. Each year, Montreal sees the largest collection of cool cats in the world. And if you don’t believe us, take the Guinness Book of World Records’ word for it – they list the festival as the world’s biggest jazz fest; with around 3000 artists from more than 30 countries performing more than 650 concerts to over 2.5 million visitors. Now those are some seriously cool stats.
HOW WILL WE FIT IT ALL IN?
There are shows in big concert halls and popular clubs, but many of the performances are free and outdoors. Part of the city’s downtown district is closed to traffic for 10 days so that shows can be staged in the streets and city parks, so no one misses out.
WHO CAN WE HOPE TO SEE?
If past line-ups are anything to go by you’ll get a who’s who of who’s hot. The festival has featured legends like Leonard Cohen, Ella Fitzgerald, Paco de Lucia, John McLaughlin and Keith Jarrett in the past, and recent headliners have included k.d. lang, Diana Ross, Chick Corea and Joey Alexander.
