Vancouver International Jazz Festival unveils 2023 dates and first summer shows

Summertime may be a ways off, but we’re in a sunny mood thanks to one of our favourite music fests announcing this year’s dates.

The 38th annual Vancouver International Jazz Festival is returning to stages all over the city from Friday, June 23 to Sunday, July 2.

The full lineup of events will be shared by Coastal Jazz & Blues Society over the upcoming weeks. And to get music lovers jazzed about this year’s fest, organizers announced the first two performances in this summer’s lineup.

 

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“This year will look a little different for the Vancouver International Jazz Festival,” said Nina Horvath, Coastal Jazz & Blues Society executive director, in a statement. “But what stays the same is our festival programming.

“We’re working hard to bring local, Canadian, and International artists to Vancouver, introducing some new music and hosting past favourites. We’re announcing new shows and schedules over the next few months, and we encourage you all to come out and support live music.”

Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer, and Shahzad Ismaily of Love in Exile (Ebru Yildiz/Submitted

First up is the trio of Grammy-winning vocalist Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer, Shahzad Ismaily performing as their new project Love in Exile on Monday, June 26 at the Vancouver Playhouse. At their 2018 debut performance, Aftab, Iyer, and Ismaily discovered a chemistry that powers their spontaneous co-creation and complete immersion in the present. Their 2023 self-titled debut album, Love in Exile features a weaving of bass, piano, and otherworldly vocals.

Also performing at the Vancouver Playhouse is the American Jazz quartet, The Bad Plus, on Tuesday, June 27. Founding members Reid Anderson (bass) and Dave King (drums) are joined by Ben Monder (guitar) and Chris Speed (tenor sax). The Bad Plus’s 15th album was released in the Fall of 2022, and is described as a “self-titled debut for the sonically adventurous new dynamic.”

The Bad Plus (Cory Dewald/Submitted)

Tickets for both shows are on sale now at coastaljazz.ca.

This year’s Vancouver International Jazz Festival will offer a variety of free and ticketed performances in June and July, starting with the free Downtown Jazz concert series outside the Vancouver Art Gallery and šxʷƛ̓ənəq Xwtl’e7énḵ Square and culminating on Canada Day weekend on Granville Island with events happening at Performance Works, Ocean Artworks and the Revue Stage.

@coastaljazz/Instagram

Coastal Jazz shared that it has opted for a smaller, more sustainable festival in 2023 due to a variety of challenges it had to face since the start of the pandemic. These include rising site infrastructure and artist touring costs, as well as the closure of a previous title sponsor relationship due to changing priorities.

38th Annual Vancouver Jazz Festival

When: June 23 to July 2, 2023
Time: Various times
Where: Various venues across Vancouver
Tickets: Free and ticketed events. More information available online

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