Day 1 for me was Friday June 28. After work, I went downtown to pick up my not-quite-all-access Jazz Fest media pass. Place-des-arts was swarming with people. Jazz Fest was already in full swing. The Festival started on Thursday June 27 this year, kicking off with free shows from Hiatus Kaiyote, Yaya Bey, and Aneesa Strings. There were some shows on Friday that grabbed my interest too, but, overwhelmed, I did not stay and instead went home to get some good rest. It was the night before the concert I had been waiting months to see, after all, and there were plenty more great shows to come in the following days.

Laufey was one of this year’s Jazz Fest headliners; her and Norah Jones and Andre 3000. On the “Bewitched” tour for her recent album re-release, Bewitched: the Goddess edition, Laufey sandwiched her Montreal shows in between playing at the Ottawa Jazz Fest and Saratoga jazz Fest. She sings in an old-time pop/jazz style, often with full string orchestra backings that add a fantastical element to her dreamy love ballads and break up songs with catchy, relatable lyrics. She played two shows in Montreal on Saturday July 29th – a matinée and an evening show – both completely sold out.

So along came Saturday, and I returned to Place des Arts for my date with Laufey. I arrived a little late, not yet cognizant of just how punctual Jazz Fest shows are (seriously, they run a tight ship). I climbed the stairs to salle Wilfred Pelletier, and caught the last few songs of the opener Grace Enger, a very charming acoustic guitar player and singer. She promised to be at the merch table after the show, and even though all the Laufey merch had sold out at the matinée, she took time to take pictures with fans, which I thought was very generous.

Wandering around during intermission, I realized I was immersed in a remarkably coordinated crowd. The majority of the audience were young girls, a lot of whom were sporting bows in their hair. I got the reference of this symbol of allegiance to the fanbase, thanks to having discovered Laufey through her Tiny Desk concert (a must watch), where she too is wearing bows in her hair. It made me think of when I was as young as most of the crowd looked, and how going to a Lana del Ray concert meant wearing flower crowns and flowy skirts.

Thankfully intermission wasn’t too long, and on came Laufey, looking like the sparkling diamond princess that she is, launching swiftly into a love ballad. I love Laufey, and quickly melted at the sound of her voice. She sings like an angel, plus plays guitar, piano and cello, and added to the fantasy by dancing across the stage like a ballerina. Her band consisted of a drummer, bassist, piano player and string quartet. She played the favourites off her new album, including Second Best, Promise, California and Me, along with some of her new singles, like Valentine, Falling Behind and Let you break my heart again. The crowd sang along for many tunes, especially loudly for Bored and From the Start, and chills ran deep when she belted out the end of Goddess. Her set was interrupted by the head director of Jazz Fest at one point, who presented Laufey with the Ella Fitzgerald vocalist award. As she left the stage, Laufey tossed roses at her bandmates. It was a magical night, shared by many a ‘bewitched’ fangirl.

The next night, Sunday, I returned to Salle Wilfred Pelletier for the Andre 3000 flute show. His act was billed as “New Blue Sun Live”, so I was expecting a live performance of his album “New Blue Sun” that just came out in 2023. I totally underestimated the adventure I was about to embark on. Andre came on stage with his 4 bandmates and right away took us to the jungle rainforest with the sounds of echoing wind instruments and soft, sweeping percussion. They played for about 25 minutes before Andre took to the mic to greet the audience and reveal that everything we’d heard was totally improvised. He was charming and sincere on the mic, thanking us for the energy we brought into the room so that the musicians could capture and mirror it back to us in sound. The show went on, leaving the jungle rainforest and going to many different places – including outer space, cued by Andre’s command: “Blast Off”. I was impressed with the freedom and harmony that emerged from the experimental jam on stage, and left the show in a daze of gratitude for the once in a lifetime opportunity of experiencing anAndre 3000 flute show.

People poured out of the concert hall after the show, sharing their hot takes, right in time for the free Freddie Gibbs and El Michels Affair show. I didn’t spend long standing in the busy crowd in front of the Scene TD stage, and opted instead to watch the concert from the Club Montreal TD stage, where it was being projected on a big screen. Right from the start of his first song, Freddie Gibbs got the audience to repeat his chants of “Fuck the Police”, and repeated the chant in nearly every song of his show. Between songs off his 2014 album Piñata, Gibbs acknowledged the irony of his performance at Jazz Fest, a big corporate sponsored Festival where he could smoke weed on stage and rap about crack. He kept it classy though, dazzling the audience with his massive gold chains while criticizing the strictness of Canadian border agents who’d blocked one of his bandmates from entering the country. He brought a fresh, entertaining presence to the big stage Sunday night, accompanied by the groovy melodies from the El Michels Affair trio.

After a fun Sunday night I took Monday off, but dutifully headed back downtown Tuesday evening for some more music. This night was the first that I was seeing people I had never heard of before: Térez Montcalm, a quebecoise rock singer, and Protoje, a reggae artist from Jamaica, with support from Tippy I Grade. I discovered their music while browsing the Jazz Fest lineup, so had only heard skipped-through snippets of their albums, and was excited to see what they had to offer.

Térez Montcalm took to the stage at the Gesu, an intimate venue protected by a moat of construction on Bleury. She totally blew me away, with her unique raspy voice, soulful sound, and charming crowd banter. She played guitar alongside another guitarist, bass player and drummer, who complimented each other with a playful ease that hinted of years of family-level closeness. The crowd was clearly full of fans, mostly a couple generations my senior, and frankly I felt honoured to be there.

In between Térez Montcalm and my next ticketed show, I hung out at the Espace Tranquille, my new favourite spot downtown. I relaxed on the balcony while listening to Theo Crocker and his soft melodic jazz band. Then at 9pm, I headed over to Club Soda for the Protoje show.

The Protoje and Tippy I Grade show at Club Soda Tuesday night was different from other Jazz Fest shows I’d seen for a few reasons. First, they gave me a stamp on my way in, which no other concert had done so far, making it feel more like a real party. The venue was already packed when I arrived, and the crowd was grooving to the live dubbing provided by Tippy I Grade. I didn’t know much about this producer going into the show; I had learnt from his hour-long sets on youtube that he does live mixing and dubbing, and after the show I learnt more about his record label, I Grade records. Diving into more research after the show, I was impressed with the chronicles on his wikipedia page of his studies at Harvard and Yale, his Olympic freestyle swimming days, and his shift into reggae and dub productions. On to Protoje.

Protoje was a total party. As soon as he got on stage, he quickly had the crowd singing along, waving their hands in the air, and dancing to Tippy’s live dubbed riddims. I was basically discovering Protoje during his concert, and was amazed by the warm groove that he delivered in his timeless reggae sound. The vibes in the venue were unbeatable – dancy, energetic, and fun. Tippy I Grade kept spinning back the track to restart or go into another tune, punctuated with “Eeea-sy!” from Protoje – some real dub DJ behaviour that I both appreciated and was entertained by. Some of the standout tracks that have been stuck in my head since the concert are Incient Stepping, Legend Legend, In Life, Who Knows and Jah Deliver Me.

After the Protoje show, my friend and I wandered over to the Club TD stage, where Marvin Caleb was keeping the energy up. We agreed it was no coincidence there was more Caribbean music in such close proximity, the Jazz Fest programming just seems so seamless like that. It felt appropriate to finish off the night with Caleb’s baile rhythms and upbeat singing, and we headed home in high spirits.

Friday came, and I was blessed with more world-class live music. My night kicked off with the free Etran de l’Aïre show, who played both at 8pm and 10pm at the #boycott Rio Tinto stage. The group from Agadez, Niger play a “desert blues” style of rock, blending the sounds of blues and psychedelic rock music with traditional Tuareg and North African styles. Their show was incredible. Composed of 2 guitar players, a bassist and drummer, Etran de l’Aïre totally rocked the stage with their repetitive melodies and upbeat rhythms. Sprinkling some singing in too, the band kept the crowd dancing with their cheerful energy. I would highly recommend checking out Etran de l’Aïre, and more music from Agadez.

The next show I saw on Friday was Chicago-based drummer Makaya McCraven, performing at the Theatre Jean-Duceppe. Local group of heroes No Cosmos opened up for McCraven, delivering a varied, captivating performance. I saw No Cosmos perform recently at another show where bandleader Scott Bevins played on trumpet, Summer Kodama on bass, Mili Hong on drums and Zach Frampton on keys. This time, Kyle Hutchins was on drums, and the other three were joined by Evan Shay on tenor saxophone and Sarah Rossy on vocals. All together, they did a great job warming up the crowd with their escapist jazz and wholesome vibes.

After a short intermission, Makaya McCraven led his band on stage, and the first thing he did after settling at the drums was introduce his band: Joel Ross on vibraphone, Junius Paul on Bass, Marquis Hill on trumpet, and none other than Brandee Younger on the harp. I saw Brandee Younger perform last year at jazz Fest, a show that changed my life, and my heart swelled to see she was back in Montreal, right in front of me no less. The band launched into action, and it was instant magic. My jaw dropped, my eyes were locked – this was jazz, an astounding burst of musical notes, led to synergy by their leader: the drummer. Makaya McCraven pours it all out on the drums, fully embodying the rhythm, and I was amazed to see his percussion drive the group to a sharp, coordinated level of energy and focus. The musicians’ individual solos gave us the chance to appreciate the masterful talent of each person on stage. It was a spellbinding performance, a rare piece of musical education that felt like history in the making. Definitely one of my highlights of this year’s Festival.

Before I could even say my first “zippity boopity bop”, it was closing night at Jazz Fest. I went downtown on Saturday July 6 night one last time, with intention to see a few different shows before going to a friend’s going-away party. I first headed to the Maison Symphonique where Ichiko Aoba was set to perform with a string quartet. I found my seat right in time for Aoba to walk onstage and whisk the audience away with her fairy-tale sound. Aoba’s music is airy, dreamy, like a comforting lullaby in the rice fields (one of her songs is literally titled, Sleeping in the Endives). Her concert provided a pleasant and relaxing break from the stress of daily life.

Next on my list for the night was the Vieux Farka Touré show at Club Soda. When I arrived, however, the opening act was still playing, so I went and said hello to some friends at the Espace Tranquille. They highly recommended that I go see Kin’gongolo Kiniata – a Congolese punk rock group that had just played a free show at 8pm, and were going to play again at 10pm. I took their advice, and headed to the #boycott Rio Tinto stage to check them out.

Kin’gongolo Kiniata blew me away. They are true rock stars. Their music is fast and punchy, with chanted lyrics, strong percussion, and wailing effects on the guitars. In fact, their instruments are remarkable; after the show I learnt the group uses recycled materials to make their instruments. This explained the odd, otherworldly shapes of the guitar and bass, and made me wonder what the musician who looked like he was playing a can-sized cowbell was actually playing (maybe it was really a can!). It was a great, energetic show that got the whole crowd dancing and smiling.

After the Kin’gongolo Kiniata concert, I forfeited my presence at the Vieux Farka Touré show so that I could make it to my friend’s going-away party before it was too late. I was sad to miss that one, but hey – can’t do it all. And after a full 10 days of world class musical discoveries, epiphanies and blessings, I had only joy and gratitude for all I got to see and hear. All good things must come to an end, including Jazz Fest, but thank goodness it’s summer in Montreal and another Festival is always right around the corner.

Check out Celia’s jazz fest report live on her radio show, Harmony Express:

Artist listening links:

Laufey: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChpKl3waLmccNeYH9LGYjUQl

André 3000 ‘New Blue Sun’ Album https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4yCboer6_xQjnIj0i9U8SsMi8bBqil_J

Protoje https://www.youtube.com/@ProtojeOfficial

Makaya McCraven:
In These Times (2022) https://intlanthem.bandcamp.com/album/in-these-times
Universal Beings (2018) https://intlanthem.bandcamp.com/album/universal-beings
Etran del Aïre https://etrandelair.bandcamp.com/album/agadez

Kin’gongolo Kiniata https://kingongolokiniata.bandcamp.com/album/moto
Tippy I Grade https://www.igraderecords.com/albums

Naïka https://www.youtube.com/@naikaofficial
Ichiko Aobo https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcwOodzn176V5S11rufTUgA
Vieux Farka Touré https://www.vieuxfarkatoure.com/

Written by Celia Robinovitch
2024-07-11