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ARTS & CULTURE 10 | OPTIKZ
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Toronto-based headliner Witch Prophet engages the crowd at Guelph Jazz Festival. PHOTO PROVIDED BY LILY RAMSEY
Guelph Jazz Festival paints the town with sax, snares and strings This multi-day music festival gathers people worldwide with all that jazz ANDREEA BURLACU
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nce September rolls around in Guelph, you can expect changing leaves and new fall flavours at local cafés. One more thing to look out for is the Guelph Jazz Festival, which has taken place mid-September for over 30 years. This is the place to be if you enjoy sax and the (Royal) City. This year, the Festival took place from Sept. 14-18. On the Friday, Market Square came alive with a street music party that went until midnight. The main stage featured the groovy Samba Squad, the high-energy Big Smoke Brass, the West African
percussion group Alpha Rhythm Roots, and the Eastern-European group Lemon Trubaci. “That was a big hit this year”, said Scott Thomson, Artistic and General Director of the Festival. “Once again, it’s a perennial crowd favourite.” The beat went on till Saturday, where beer, food vendors, and family activities accompanied astounding shows on the main stage. This was a full day of music leading up to the 11 p.m. headliner, which was neo-soul “trip-hop” vocalist Witch Prophet. Apart from Market Square, the Guelph Jazz Festival part-
THE ONTARION
13 | FUTURE FOOD VISIONS
Lemon Trubaci Band perform at Friday Night Street Party. PHOTO PROVIDED BY LILY RAMSEY
nered with local venues to offer additional concerts across town. Performers included jazz band Lina Allemano Four at Art Bar and pianist Cory Smythe at River Run Centre. A fan-favourite from the ticketed concert series was Josh Zubot Strings, a quintet from British Columbia who “knocked it out of the ballpark." These series brought together jazz aficionados from across the world. “They often travelled very far, very long distances to be here,” Thomson said. “There were people from Europe, from the United States, from around Canada, who made a pilgrimage to hear the artists that they admired.” Even before the main weekend, performances were held in local parks. From Sept. 9-10, you could enjoy birds singing alongside magnificent musicians. On Saturday and Sunday, Libation Street Band, Alpha Rhythm Roots, and Lemon Trubaci performed in Norm Jary Park and York Road Park. So many emerging and established artists from across Canada come to perform at Guelph Jazz Festival. This year, there were musicians from Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and British Columbia. As Artistic Director, Thomson selected a wide
variety of acts that spanned many musical genres. This ensured that everyone could resonate with something different. “I think about different kinds of representation so that the programming reflects the world that we live in,” Thomson said. Planning an event of this scale takes years. “For some of the artists that presented this year, I started discussions in 2019,” he said. This was Thomson’s last year with the Guelph Jazz Festival, as he will become Artistic Director of a Quebec festival next year. He enjoys the experience of listening
to music and the way it brings people together. “It makes my life better and I believe it makes the lives of other attendees better,” he said. Thomson is already anticipating the 2024 Festival. “I’m looking forward to next year’s Guelph Jazz Festival as a patron or possibly even as a musician,” he said. Next autumn, as the sun starts setting earlier and colours begin changing, you might find yourself looking for a change in your music taste. Perhaps you’ll find the soundtrack to your September at Guelph Jazz Festival.
Alpha Rhythm Roots bring Mandingue percussion to Market Square. PHOTO PROVIDED BY LILY RAMSEY