There were tears, Saturday afternoon, at the closing press conference for the 40th Montreal International Jazz Festival.
There were tears, Saturday afternoon, at the closing press conference for the 40th Montreal International Jazz Festival.
Organizers had just shown a short video of interviews with different performers at this year’s event — from veterans Richard Galliano and Eric Truffaz to new schoolers Charlotte Cardin and Elisapie — singing the praises of our city’s premier music fest and the two men who put it together, saw it through its first four decades and are now taking their final bow as they settle into retirement: Alain Simard and André Ménard.
During the applause that followed, Ménard, a few seats away from this reporter, wiped his eyes dry then collected himself as he and his old partner in good times stepped up to the front of the room to bid a final farewell in their official capacities.
“These things are not easy,” Ménard began. “How do you say…”
He stopped, overcome by emotion.
“I think we were facilitators of a nice love story between music and Montrealers.”
A few more tears escaped, and applause filled the room.
“I’m someone who believes in persistence, and spirit,” he picked up. “I’m convinced the festival is here forever. I have that conviction: as long as Montreal exists, there will be a jazz fest. That’s the nicest gift. To all the politicians, our sponsors, musicians and friends, all I can say is, thanks.”
It was perhaps Ménard’s shortest post-mortem in the history of jazz fest wrap-up pressers. Simard took over, expressing disbelief:
“I’m sure André has more than that to say,” he said, before going on to recount that he has just spent one of his most carefree jazz fests ever, moving freely from venue to venue as a regular music fan (albeit one with an all-access pass), “without worrying about any problems, or panicking because the room isn’t full and we’re going to lose money.”
Simard then harkened back to his days as a young music promoter with a crazy dream.
“And thanks to André, we built this together over 40 years.”
This year’s understated yet vibrant 40th edition opened and closed with jam-packed free outdoor blowout concerts by Montrealers Charlotte Cardin and Matt Holubowski, respectively, both of whom came ready, willing and able to carry the weight of their headliner statuses in front of sizeable hometown crowds (with healthy sprinklings of tourists).
Matt Holubowski performs during the closing blowout of the 40th Montreal International Jazz Festival in Montreal, Quebec July 6, 2019. Christinne Muschi / MONTREAL GAZETTE
In between were some 500 concerts, 350 of them free, running the gamut from pure jazz to pop, rock, blues, electro, hip-hop and soul, and from grizzled veterans to fresh-faced young pups.
Attendance was “extraordinary,” according to jazz fest CEO Jacques-André Dupont.
Ticketed shows were at 80 per cent capacity, while the warm weather brought throngs of music fans, which Dupont said should fall comfortably within the annual average of 1.5 to 2 million entries to the festival site. The fest’s first satellite site, in Verdun, was a hit, paving the way for more to follow in coming years.
Among this critic’s musical highlights were jazz singer Melody Gardot, maintaining her aura of mystery over two nights at Place des Arts; Cuban pianist Roberto Fonseca, impressing in a three-night stint at Gesù; Indigenous tenor and pianist Jeremy Dutcher, spellbinding at Club Soda; classically-inspired pianist Flying Hórses casting a warm spell at L’Astral; blues legend Buddy Guy, hamming it up at Place des Arts; and grunge rocker Courtney Barnett, with charisma to burn at MTelus.
There are always surprises. Among this year’s were Puerto Rican Afro-Latin percussion ensemble Ifé, and American soul singer P.J. Morton, both at L’Astral; Nigerian rapper Mr. Easi, lighting a fire inside MTelus; and freaky fly New Yorker Michael Mwenso & the Shakes, on the Rio Tinto Stage.
Montrealers more than held their own, including: party band The Brooks, getting down in a pre-opening night funk-soul shakedown at Place des Festivals; saxophonist Christine Jensen, dazzling with her all-female New York Quartet, at Gesù; the Urban Science Brass Band, creating jubilant havoc in their daily parade around the fest site; Arcade Fire’s Richard Reed Parry, taking fans on a psychedelic audio-visual journey into nature, at the SAT’s dome; South African ex-pat Lorraine Klaasen, full of spirit on the Rio Tinto Stage; metalheads Voïvod, bringing the fury at Club Soda; and soul-jazz singer Dominique Fils-Aimé, smooth as butter at Théâtre Maisonneuve.
There were more — too many to mention and too many to see. Thankfully, there’s always next year.
On that note, the 41st edition of the Montreal International Jazz Festival takes place June 25 to July 4, 2020.