From South Korea to Niger, musicians from around the globe to perform at TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival
Sweden’s Fire! and Switzerland’s Gerry Hemingway are among the acts and artists from all four corners of the map coming to the 2022 fest
Post Sponsored by coastal jazz
Youn Sun Nah.
After two long years of a pandemic-imposed pause on touring, the TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival is thrilled to be hosting top musicians from all around the world for 2022.
Like The Mind is just one act that is keeping the TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival true to its name. Among those involved in the collective of award-winning musicians are Lisen Rylander Löve on saxophone, Emma Augustsson on cello, and pianist Lisa Ullén, all from Sweden. Along with local music-makers Peggy Lee (cello), Elisa Thorn (harp), and Meredith Bates (violin), the artists create wildly creative sound works. Inquisitive musical minds won’t want to miss this performance. Like the Mind plays June 28 at 9 pm ($29) at The Ironworks as part of the Innovation Series.
Also hailing from Sweden is Fire! Blending free jazz, psych rock, and noise, the trio of saxophonist Mats Gustafsson, bassist Johan Berthling, and drummer Andreas Werlin will bring their mix of heavy, dark, and intensely burning music to Vancouver audiences, offering what Rolling Stone once described as “a pulse-quickening sonic shock to the system”. Fire! plays The Ironworks on July 2 at 9 pm ($29) as part of the fest’s Innovation Series.
South Korea’s Youn Sun Nah has the kind of voice that needs to be heard in person, deeply affective and expressive. Here’s how All About Jazz once summed up her style: “Sun Nah possesses the sensuousness of Melody Gardot, the quirky, theatrical air of Björk, and the blues of a Parisian chanteuse.” Her 2022 release, Waking World, is a milestone for the artist who has three decades of performing to her name: It’s her first record comprised entirely of her own song writing. Catch Sun Nah in the Jazz at Granville Island program on June 27 at 7:30 pm at Performance Works ($45).
Led by guitarist/vocalist Fatou Seidi Ghali, Les Filles de Illighadad offer sublime sounds from central Niger. The artists perform a hybrid of two distinct sides of Tuareg music: the hypnotic, polyphonic rhythms of tende—performed exclusively by women—and the newer, dreamily melodic guitar-based “desert blues” that, until Ghali, had been made only by men. With trance-inducing singing, chanting, clapping, and the centring low rhythm of the askalabo, a partially submerged calabash, the ground-breaking group’s communal spirit is celebratory, mournful, and healing all at once. Jazz at Granville Island hosts the group at Performance Works on July 3 at 7:30 pm ($37).
Drummer Gerry Hemingway is on the faculty of Hochshule Luzern in Switzerland, where he teaches drumming, improvisation, composition, song-writing, and more. He is part of clarinetist François Houle’s RECODER 4tet, along with bassist Mark Helias and Houle’s long-time collaborator, Juno-winning guitarist Gordon Grdina. RECODER 4tet hits The Ironworks as part of the fest’s Innovation Series on July 1 at 9 pm ($29).
For more information, see Coastal Jazz.
Post sponsored by Coastal Jazz.