The 2007 edition of the TD Canada Trust Ottawa International Jazz Festival came to a close with a choice collection of Canada Day acts
This year, the conclusion of the TD Canada Trust Ottawa International Jazz Festival coincided with Canada Day (for the record, it usually occurs midway through the programme, inconveniently violating the momentum of the Fest.)
As a result, organizers devoted the bulk of the final day to mostly homegrown Canadian acts, available free to any reveler traveling the happy, crowded byways of the downtown core.
The choicest offerings of the day were Ottawa's own Souljazz Orchestra and the Jazz Youth Summit, both primo samples of the music's rising stars.
Souljazz took to the Confederation Park main stage a little after noon. Almost instantly, these punchy purveyors of sincere, straight-ahead funk had the sparse crowd in a limb-loosening frenzy.
Souljazz, with its meaty horns, unabashed vocals, and strong social conscience, is at once fiercely political and doggedly danceable. They played a number of catchy originals and some recognizable R&B. James Brown, Bob Marley, Tito Puente, and other world music giants came to mind as they expertly extended grooves while decrying contemporary politics.
The Jazz Youth Summit, a cross-Canada collection of 17 to 22 year olds, represented the other face of jazz, playing a program composed exclusively of charts - though each player was given the opportunity to solo. Under the direction of Jim Lewis, they played tight, punchy, largely Canadian arrangements. The alto section distinguished itself above all others, though there was also some fine tenor and soprano work. No doubt the Jazz Fest (thanks to a recent infusion of youth-designated cash) will continue this worthy and highly listenable initiative.
Both presentations were fine codas to one of the most successful festivals in recent history (though final numbers are not yet available.) The cross-over acts - Pink Martini, the Neville Brothers, Bebel Gilberto - brought in the biggest crowds, of course (a major blip in programming necessitated by the gale-force drawing power of Bluesfest, a catch-all festival which with every other Ottawa-based festival has to compete) but the pure jazz acts fared well, too. Both Branford Marsalis and Dave Brubeck drew close to capacity crowds, and shows in smaller venues, like Toots Thielmans, sold out instantly.
The food concessions were a bit of a disappointment this year (much less variety than years past), and the weather more erratic than in recent memory, but the programme was all that it was advertised to be: weighty, varied, and of a generally high calibre.
Like a virtuoso ripping inexhaustibly through his umpteenth encore, the 2007 edition of the TD Canada Trust Ottawa International Jazz Festival will be a tough act to follow.
