Free concerts in downtown Vancouver to jazz up your summer

The highly anticipated first weekend of the 31st annual TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival is set to kick off this Friday, June 24th. With over 1,800 artists scheduled to perform at this year’s festival, navigating the many different shows and venues can feel a little overwhelming.

We’ve highlighted 5 free performances from the opening weekend of the TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival.

See also

• Your essential guide to the TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival 2016
• A parent’s guide to the TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival

Paul Keeling Ancient Lights Quintet

Image: Paul Keeling / Coastal Jazz

WCMA-nominated pianist and composer Paul Keeling’s Ancient Lights Quintet digs deeply into earthy, propulsive hard-bop with luminous melodies drawn from classical music and 70’s rock. His quintet is a dream team of Vancouver’s finest jazz musicians featuring Brad Turner in trumpet, Jon Bentley in tenor sax, Bernie Arai on drums, and André Lachance on bass.

Where: Downtown – Robson Street Stage

When: Saturday, June 25

Time: Noon

Cortex

Image: Cortex / Coastal Jazz

Given the title as, “One of the greatest bands in Norway,” by AllAboutJazz, Cortex takes cues from 60’s freebop and pushes them into uncompromisingly modern territories. Bassist Ola Høyer and drummer Gard Nilssen propel wildly, while trumpeter Thomas Johannson and saxophonist Kristoffer Berre Alberts mix strident unison lines and high-wire improvisations.

Where: Downtown – Georgia Street Stage

When: Saturday, June 25

Time: 3:45 pm

Dawn Pemberton

Image: Dawn Pemberton / Coastal Jazz

Vibrant, honest, and soulful, WCMA-nominee Dawn Pemberton’s deep musicality and powerful voice beats a soulful path from gospel and R&B, to jazz, funk, and world music. A collaborator with The Harpoonist, the Axe Murderer, and Khari Wendell McLelland, her big voice and irresistible verve leads a smoking band of Vancouver soulmen.

Where: Downtown – Georgia Street Stage

When: Saturday, June 25

Time: 5:15 pm

See also

• Your essential guide to the TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival 2016
• A parent’s guide to the TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival

Gwyneth Herbert Trio

Image: Gwyneth Herbert / Coastal Jazz

Award-winning composer, lyricist, and multi-instrumentalist Gwyneth Herbert is a strikingly original musical adventurer. With one foot in jazz and the other in the thrilling unknown, she’s collaborated with writers, choreographers, visual artists, clowns, pirates, and young people to make a huge canon of genre-defying interdisciplinary work. Switching between vocals, ukulele, and piano, Gwyneth along with Ned Cartwright on piano and Dave Price on percussion take audiences on a wild journey through her varied musical world.

Where: Downtown – Robson Street Stage

When: Saturday, June 25

Time: 6:45 pm

Cole Birney-Stewart Quartet

Image: Cole Birney-Stewert / Coastal Jazz

Bassist Cole Birney-Stewart’s pulsing and forward-thinking compositions lay out arcing melodies and sinewy rhythmic spines to be artfully interpreted by some of the Vancouver jazz scene’s most gifted creative players. Together with Tom Wherrett on guitar, Jesse Cahill on drums, and Chad Makela on saxophones, the quartet becomes an unstoppable force.

Where: Granville Island – Public Market Stage

When: Sunday, June 26

Time: noon

Founded in 1985, the Coastal Jazz and Blues Society is a community-based, not-for-profit, charitable arts organization located in Vancouver, British Columbia. From the very beginning, the society has worked diligently to establish Vancouver as a centre for the creation and exchange of sounds and ideas between the local, national, and international music communities. With major traffic closures happening across the city, music lovers are encouraged to walk, bike or use public transit to get from show to show.

Check out TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival website for more information.

Daily Hive Vancouver is a proud media partner of the TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival