The Vancouver International Jazz Festival is an annual summer event in

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The ...

, Canada. The festival grew out of a local jazz scene that centred on Vancouver Co-op Radio (

CFRO-FM CFRO-FM, licensed and owned by Vancouver Co-operative Radio, is a non-commercial community radio station in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is a legally registered co-operative and is branded as ''Co-op Radio''. The station broadcasts on 100.5 Her ...

), a community radio station, in the early 1980s. The Pacific Jazz and Blues Association was formed in 1984 and hosted the Pacific Jazz and Blues Festival, which showcased regional jazz and blues artists in addition to some international jazz musicians. By 1986, the group had changed its name to the Coastal Jazz and Blues Society, secured corporate sponsorship, and partnered with

Expo 86 The 1986 World Exposition on Transportation and Communication, or simply Expo 86, was a World's Fair held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from May 2 until October 13, 1986. The fair, the theme of which was "Transportation and Communicat ...

to produce the first annual Vancouver International Jazz Festival. The inaugural festival included performances by

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...

Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, teacher, and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has promoted classical and jazz music, often to young audiences. Marsalis has won nine Grammy Award ...

Bobby McFerrin Robert Keith McFerrin Jr. (born March 11, 1950) is an American folk and jazz singer. He is known for his vocal techniques, such as singing fluidly but with quick and considerable jumps in pitch—for example, sustaining a melody while also rap ...

Tito Puente Ernest Anthony Puente Jr. (April 20, 1923 – June 1, 2000), commonly known as Tito Puente, was an American musician, songwriter, bandleader, and record producer of Puerto Rican descent. He is best known for dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz ...

, Tony Williams,

Albert Collins Albert Gene Drewery, known as Albert Collins and the Ice Man (October 1, 1932 – November 24, 1993),Skeely, Richard. "Albert Collins: Biography" Allmusic.com. was an American electric blues guitarist and singer with a distinctive guitar style. ...

, and John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers. Many Vancouver jazz artists have also performed at the festival including Brad Turner,

Jodi Proznick Jodi Proznick (born October 23, 1975) is a Canadian jazz bassist, composer, educator and producer. In 2019, she was named Jazz Artist of the Year at the Western Canadian Music Awards and has been nominated for three Juno Awards. She was a recipi ...

Laila Biali Laila Biali (born 3 October 1980) is a Canadian jazz singer and pianist. She has been nominated for and won a Juno Award and has worked with Chris Botti and Sting. Career Born in Vancouver, Biali began playing piano at a young age. She studi ...

John Stetch John Stechishin, better known as John Stetch (born 1966 in Edmonton, Alberta) is a Canadian jazz pianist. Stetch's family was ethnically Ukrainian, and as a boy, Stetch played in ensembles at Ukrainian weddings and sang in community choirs. He stu ...

, Cory Weeds, Vince Mai, Bill Coon,

Oliver Gannon Oliver Gannon (born 23 March 1943) is an Irish-born Canadian jazz guitarist. Early life The eldest son of Irish jazz pianist Joe Gannon, Oliver Gannon was born in Dublin, Ireland, and emigrated with his family to Winnipeg, Canada, in 1957 ...

Daniel Hersog Daniel Hersog is a Canadian jazz trumpeter and band leader. He is a member of the faculty at Capilano University and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra School of Music. Hersog graduated from New England Conservatory in 2016. Hersog's first albu ...

Steve Kaldestad Steve Kaldestad is a Canadian saxophonist and music educator. Early life and education Originally from Saskatchewan, Kaldestad attended McGill University, where he received both his bachelor's and master's degree in music. During this period ...

, and Alan Matheson. The jazz festival has been held every year since, becoming the largest such festival in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...

. Over 1,000 volunteers help in producing the event, which includes performances in parks, community centres, concert halls, clubs, public plazas, and in streets of various neighbourhoods. In total, the festival includes 400 individual performances, including 130 free concerts, and it draws 460,000 people each year.

Sounds of Youth Stage

During the annual festival, the Sounds of Youth stage features big bands from local high schools including

Semiahmoo Secondary School Semiahmoo Secondary School ( ) is a public high school in South Surrey, British Columbia, and is part of School District 36 Surrey. Founded in 1940 as the first senior secondary school in South Surrey, Semiahmoo spans grades eight through twelve. ...

St. Thomas Aquinas Regional Secondary School St. Thomas Aquinas Regional Secondary is a Catholic school, under the administration of CISVA (Catholic Independent Schools of the Vancouver Archdiocese) school board. The school is co-educational, offering academic, fine arts, and business progr ...

St. Thomas More Collegiate St. Thomas More Collegiate, commonly abbreviated as STMC, or just STM, is an independent private school located in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. The school is co-educational, offering academic, fine arts, and business programs, as well as ...

, and

Langley Fine Arts School Langley Fine Arts School is a public elementary school and secondary school in Fort Langley, British Columbia, Canada, and is part of School District 35 Langley. It serves the Fort Langley area and its arts program attracts many students from acro ...

Past Lineups

2019 - 2020 *

Melissa Aldana Melissa Aldana (born 3 December 1988) is a Chilean tenor saxophone player, who performs both as a soloist and with her band Melissa Aldana & Crash Trio. Life and career Early life and training Aldana was born in Santiago, Chile. She began playin ...

Jacob Collier Jacob Collier (; né Moriarty; born 2 August 1994) is an English singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. His music incorporates a combination of jazz with elements from many other musical genres, and often features extensive use of reha ...

* Hiromi Uehara *

Jazzmeia Horn Jazzmeia Horn (born April 16, 1991) is an American jazz singer and songwriter. She won the Thelonious Monk Institute International Jazz Competition in 2015. Horn's repertoire includes jazz standards and covers of songs from other genres, incl ...

Brad Turner (musician) Brad Turner is a Canadian jazz trumpeter and pianist. He has won three Juno Awards and six Canadian National Jazz Awards for categories including Jazz Trumpeter of the Year, Jazz Composer of the Year, and Musician of the Year. Career Turner gr ...

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he hel ...

The Roots The Roots are an American hip hop band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy F ...

Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop group formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its original members include RZA, GZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, and Masta Killa. Close aff ...

Too Many Zooz Too Many Zooz is an American music group based in New York City, consisting of Leo Pellegrino (baritone saxophone), Matt "Doe" Muirhead ( trumpet) and David "King of Sludge" Parks ( drums). Formation and viral fame Pellegrino and Muirhead met ...

2018 - 2019 *

Donny McCaslin Donald Paul McCaslin (born August 11, 1966) is an American jazz saxophonist. He has recorded over a dozen albums as a bandleader in addition to many sideman appearances, including on David Bowie's final studio album, '' Blackstar'' (2016). Early ...

Julian Lage Julian Lage ( ; born December 25, 1987) is an American guitarist and composer. Career A child prodigy, Lage was the subject of the 1996 short documentary film ''Jules at Eight''. At 12, he performed at the 2000 Grammy Awards. Three years later ...

Kamasi Washington Kamasi Washington (born February 18, 1981) is an American jazz saxophonist, usually playing tenor saxophone. Archived July 9, 2015. Career Washington was born in 1981 and raised in Los Angeles, California. He is a graduate of the Academy of ...

Cherry Glazerr Cherry Glazerr is an American rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 2013. The current lineup consists of guitarist and lead vocalist Clementine Creevy, bassist Sami Perez and drummer Tabor Allen. The band's sound has transitioned from lo-fi and ...

* Ghost-Note (band) *

Nels Cline Nels Courtney Cline (born January 4, 1956) is an American guitarist and composer. He has been the guitarist for the band Wilco since 2004. In the 1980s he played jazz, often in collaboration with his twin brother Alex, a percussionist. He has w ...

Dirty Projectors Dirty Projectors is an American indie rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2002. The band is the project of singer-songwriter David Longstreth, who has served as the band's sole constant member throughout numerous line-up changes. The ...

References

External links

* Jazz festivals in Canada Music festivals in Vancouver 1986 establishments in British Columbia Music festivals established in 1986 {{vancouver-stub