2 weeks Ago By By Tom Huntington Arts Correspondent
Calling Burlington “the perfect setting for an amazing jazz festival,” Burlington Discover Jazz Festival curator Anthony Tidd along with Flynn Executive Director Jay Wahl announced the full lineup for the festival’s 42nd edition on Wednesday. “Having played many jazz fests around the world, the ones I admire are the ones that retain the personality of the place where the jazz festival happens,” said Tidd, the London-born, Harlem-based jazz artist and producer, who is serving as the festival’s fourth curator. “My vision for this festival is to create a space where diverse audiences can explore the expansive and inclusive universe of jazz,” he said of this year’s soirée — which will once again run for five days June 4-8 — calling it “a celebration of both jazz history past and the journeys that still lie ahead.
” The ticketed opening and closing events on the Flynn main stage — the only two ticketed shows at the fest — were announced last month. On June 4, Tidd will present the world premiere of “Origins: Sounds and Stories of the African Diaspora,” a collaborative affair featuring performances by Fred Wesley, Camille Thurman, Cedric Burnside, Sa-Roc and Duke Amayo, among others. Closing the festival on June 8 is “Translinear Light: The Music of Alice Coltrane,” featuring Ravi Coltrane with special guest Brandee Younger.
All other events are free of charge, including two Waterfront Park shows that will feature a variety of compelling performers. On June 6, New Orleans funk-fusion institution Dumpstaphunk headlines with a celebration of legendary Crescent City band The Meters, featuring founding member George Porter Jr. The Friday bill also includes Toronto-based Afro-Cuban roots and jazz duo OKAN, standout Burlington singer-songwriter Kat Wright and the Roy Hargrove Big Band — a sizable ensemble consisting of mostly original members of the late trumpet great’s groups.
The New Orleans vibe continues June 7 with a headline set that will feature the vibrant Big Easy brass band the Soul Rebels performing with hip-hop heavyweights Rakim and Talib Kweli. The eclectic Richmond, Virginia-based band Butcher Brown, which blends jazz, hip-hop, funk, R&B and soul, performs in support of its stellar new album, “Letter from the Atlantic.” Also performing lakeside on Saturday are Tidd’s jazz band Quite Sane and Burlington Afro-funk ensemble Sabouyouma.
The intimate FlynnSpace returns as a festival performance venue for the first time in years. Free shows at the black box theater under the Flynn feature standout Vermont instrumental trio Vorcza and Brooklyn electro-funk duo Paris Monster (June 5), acclaimed saxophonist Immanual Wilkins (June 6) and Marshall Allen’s Ghost Horizons (June 7), featuring 100-year-old Sun Ra Arkestra member Marshall Allen. And after-hours action can once again be found at Big Joe’s at the Vermont Comedy Club, where a rotating roster of primarily Burlington area jazz artists will include the likes of UVM grad Rachel Ambaye, Jon McBride’s Big Easy with special guest Ryan Montbleau, and acclaimed Chilean tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana, among many others.
“The jazz festival continues to be such a powerful force in bringing our community together,” says Wahl in a press release. “Each year, Burlington comes alive with music, and you can truly feel the joy and energy building as the city fills with people celebrating these incredible artists.” thomaswhuntington@hotmail.
com.
