The Festival International de Jazz de Montréal ( en, Montreal International Jazz Festival) is an annual

jazz festival This is a list of notable jazz festivals around the world. Historic jazz festivals Jazz festivals by country The following is an incomplete list of notable jazz festivals, including both current and defunct festivals of note. Africa Angol ...

held in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

, Quebec, Canada. The Montreal Jazz Fest holds the 2004 Guinness World Record as the world's largest jazz festival. Every year it features roughly 3,000 artists from 30-odd countries, more than 650 concerts (including 450 free outdoor performances), and welcomes over 2 million visitors (12.5% of whom are tourists) as well as 300 accredited journalists. The festival takes place at 20 different stages, which include free outdoor stages and indoor concert halls. A major part of the city's downtown core is closed to traffic for ten days, as free outdoor shows are open to the public and held on many stages at the same time, from noon until midnight. The "festival's Big Event concerts typically draw between 100,000 and 150,000 people", and can occasionally exceed 200,000. Shows are held in a wide variety of venues, from relatively small jazz clubs to the large concert halls of

Place des Arts Place may refer to: Geography * Place (United States Census Bureau), defined as any concentration of population ** Census-designated place, a populated area lacking its own municipal government * "Place", a type of street or road name ** Often ...

. Some of the outdoor shows are held on the cordoned-off streets, while others are in terraced parks.

History

Rouè-Doudou Boicel founded the Rising Sun Festijazz, Montreal's first blues & jazz festival in 1978. There were also other previous jazz festivals in Montreal, including the 3-day Jazz de Chez Nous festival in 1979, created by Montreal bassist Charlie Biddle. The Montreal Jazz Festival (later: Montreal International Jazz Festival) was conceived by Alain Simard, who had spent much of the 1970s working with Productions Kosmos bringing artists such as

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...

, Dave Brubeck, Chick Corea,

Bo Diddley Ellas McDaniel (born Ellas Otha Bates; December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, inc ...

, John Lee Hooker,

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post-war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago ...

, and others to Montreal to perform. In 1977, Simard teamed up with André Ménard and Denys McCann to form an agency named ''Spectra Scène'' (now known as ''L'Équipe Spectra''), with the idea of creating a summer festival in Montreal that would bring a number of artists together at the same time. They planned their first festival for the summer of 1979. Unable to secure sufficient funding, their plans were scuttled, but they still were able to produce two nights of shows at Théâtre-St-Denis featuring Keith Jarrett and

Pat Metheny Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works, and other side projects. His style incorporates elements of progre ...

. Starting on May 10, 1980, a Montreal Jazz Festival was staged, with funding from Alain de Grosbois of

CBC Stereo CBC Music (formerly known as CBC FM, CBC Stereo and CBC Radio 2) is a Canadian FM radio network operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It used to concentrate on classical and jazz. In 2007 and 2008, the network transitioned towards a ...

and Radio-Québec. With

Gary Burton Gary Burton (born January 23, 1943) is an American jazz vibraphonist, composer, and educator. Burton developed a pianistic style of four-mallet technique as an alternative to the prevailing two-mallet technique. This approach caused him to be he ...

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

, Chick Corea, and Vic Vogel on the bill, and an attendance of 12,000, the event was deemed a success and has continued to grow since then. In 2000, the Festival teamed up with Distribution Select to release its 4-CD box set called ''Over 20 years of music – Plus de 20 ans de musique''. The box includes a 13-page booklet with the artists' biographies and complete liner notes about the music. In 1999, a group of Montreal jazz musicians disenchanted with the Montreal International Jazz Festival's lack of support for and showcasing of Montreal jazz musicians created an alternative festival called L'OFF Festival de Jazz de Montreal. The alternative festival continues as an annual, week-long jazz festival in Montreal, programmed largely by musicians. In 2020, for the first time in its 40-year history the International Montreal Jazz Festival was cancelled, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, in what would have been its 41st edition. In 2021, because of the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, it was announced that the 41st edition would be postponed until the autumn, and would be reduced to 5 days, with limited outdoor performances, whilst indoor shows would be put on hold until 2022. The possibility of outright cancellation remained.

Recordings

A number of albums have been recorded live at the festival, including: *'' Live at Montreal International Jazz Festival'' – New Air (1983) *'' Live at the Montreal Jazz Festival 1985'' – Ahmad Jamal (1985) *'' After the Morning'' –

John Hicks Sir John Richards Hicks (8 April 1904 – 20 May 1989) was a British economist. He is considered one of the most important and influential economists of the twentieth century. The most familiar of his many contributions in the field of economi ...

(1992) *'' Live at the Montreal Jazz Festival'' –

Diana Krall Diana Jean Krall (born November 16, 1964) is a Canadian jazz pianist and singer known for her contralto vocals. She has sold more than 15 million albums worldwide, including over six million in the US. On December 11, 2009, ''Billboard'' maga ...

(2004) *''Live from the Montreal International Jazz Festival'' –

Ben Harper Benjamin Chase Harper (born October 28, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae, and rock music and is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, live perfo ...

& Relentless7 (2010) The Montreal Tapes –

Charlie Haden Charles Edward Haden (August 6, 1937 – July 11, 2014) was an American jazz double bass player, bandleader, composer and educator whose career spanned more than 50 years. In the late 1950s, he was an original member of the ground-breaking ...

*'' The Montreal Tapes: Tribute to Joe Henderson'' (Verve, 1989 2004) *'' The Montreal Tapes: with Geri Allen and Paul Motian'' (Verve 1989 1997) *'' The Montreal Tapes: with Don Cherry and Ed Blackwell'' (Verve, 1989 1994) *'' The Montreal Tapes: with Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Paul Motian'' (Verve 1989 1997) *'' The Montreal Tapes: with Paul Bley and Paul Motian'' (Verve, 1989 1994) *'' The Montreal Tapes: Liberation Music Orchestra'' (Verve, 1989 1997)

Concours de Jazz

Established in 1982, the Concours de Jazz is an annual competition held at the Montreal International Jazz Festival. The competition takes place between Canadian groups performing original music, and is part of the festival's outdoor program. Throughout its history the prize has been awarded to many of Canada's most prominent jazz musicians. Name changes *1982-1986 – Concours de Jazz *1987-1992 – Prix de Jazz

Alcan Alcan was a Canadian mining company and aluminum manufacturer. It was founded in 1902 as the Northern Aluminum Company, renamed Aluminum Company of Canada in 1925, and Alcan Aluminum in 1966. It took the name Alcan Incorporated in 2001. During t ...

*1993-1999 – Prix de Jazz du Maurier *2000-2009 – Grand Prix de Jazz General Motors *2012–present – TD Grand Jazz Award, sponsored by

Toronto-Dominion Bank Toronto-Dominion Bank (french: links=no, Banque Toronto-Dominion), doing business as TD Bank Group (french: links=no, Groupe Banque TD), is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. T ...

(TD Bank) Winners *1982 – Michel Donato *1983 – Quartz *1984 – Lorraine Desmarais Trio *1985 – François Bourassa *1986 – Jon Ballantyne Trio *1987 – Hugh Fraser Quintet *1988 – Edmonton Jazz Ensemble *1989 – Fifth Avenue *1990 – Creatures of Habit *1991 – Steve Amirault Trio *1992 – James Gelfand Trio *1993 –

Chelsea Bridge Chelsea Bridge is a bridge over the River Thames in west London, connecting Chelsea on the north bank to Battersea on the south bank, and split between the City of Westminster, the London Borough of Wandsworth and the Royal Borough of Kens ...

*1994 – Normand Guilbeault Ensemble *1995 – Jean-François Groulx Trio *1996 – Roy Patterson Quartet *1997 – Joel Miller Quintet *1998 –

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 ...

Trio *1999 – Chris Mitchell Quintet *2000 – Eduardo Pipman Quartet *2001 – Nick Ali and Cruzao *2002 – Andrew Downing and The Great Uncles of the Revolution *2003 –

Nancy Walker Nancy Walker (born Anna Myrtle Swoyer; May 10, 1922 – March 25, 1992) was an American actress and comedian of stage, screen, and television. She was also a film and television director (lending her talents to ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'', on wh ...

*2004 – Odd Jazz Group *2005 – Alex Bellegarde Quartette *2006 – David Virelles Quintet *2007 – Félix Stüssi and Give Me Five *2008 – Arden Arapyan *2009 – Amanda Tosoff Quartet *2010 – Parc X Trio *2011 – Alexandre Côté Quintet *2012 – Robi Botos *2013 – Hutchinson-Andrew Trio *2014 – Pram Trio *2015 – Rachel Therrien Quintet *2016 – Brad Cheeseman Group *2017 – Allison Au Quartet

References

External links

* {{Authority control Music competitions in Canada Music festivals in Montreal Jazz festivals in Canada Summer festivals Music festivals established in 1980 Quartier des spectacles Summer events in Canada