Vive la différence!
L'Off Festival de Jazz de Montréal - third edition
There sure has been some wonderful, even revolutionary I'd say, jazz music played in the city over the last few days. You're not going to find it, though, at the Scène Louisiane; it isn't happening over at the Labatt Blue stage or parc Hydro-Québec; and you can crane your neck all you want among the massive crowds outside Carrefour General Motors or sit solemnly in a cushy chair at Place des Arts—all Montreal International Jazz Festival venues—you still won't find it.
You'll have to head over to the East-end Lion d'Or—a place (at last) that looks and feels like a real jazz club—or cram yourself into a chair at the Cheval Blanc pub, or find a bar stool at the funky Casa del Popolo on the Plateau. Then, when you see what L'Off Festival de Jazz de Montréal has put together, you'll find out that, despite the best efforts of our city's festival industry to package and commodify it, jazz is still alive in Montreal.
"It started with a group of musicians in the scene," says François Marcaurelle, jazz pianist and L'Off Festival co-founder. Marcaurelle, bass player Norman Guilbeault, pianist Pierre St-Jak, and vibraphonist Jean Vanasse—all veterans of the jazz scene here—looked around at the deplorable situation for Montreal jazz musicians. "It was just getting worse and worse," Marcaurelle continues. "From the '90s onwards, less and less clubs were offering the possibility to play jazz year-round, or even to get a four-night gig."
As for summertime, with every café and club in the city an instant jazz spot for a couple of weeks, the situation is hardly better for the local players trying to find work. "Though only 10 to 12 percent of Montreal jazz musicians play at the festival international de jazz de Montréal," says Marcaurelle, "it completely absorbs the budget of the average fan."
Why? Because crowds at the festivals and clubs aren't comprised of hard-core jazz aficionados—the type who'll see the music anywhere and at any time of the year. Along with the many out-of-towners who save up for a jazz pilgrimage to Montreal during the summer, it's a shifting number of casual local fans who fill up the venues. And the "really big show" in town aims to grab every cent from them.
So, with a zeal common to all revolutionaries, the group that would soon become the Off-Festival's executive committee planned their alternative campaign. With a budget of zero dollars and the participation of the Casa del Popolo, the Off was born—running exactly concurrent with that "other" jazz festival. "We have the greatest musicians in the world, here," says Marcaurelle. "We wanted to affirm something—to create a network for jazz artists ... to position ourselves as the alternative."
The alternative, though, means more for them than competing with the international jazz fest. The idea is to sustain the interest of fans and maintain work for the musicians year round: mini-festivals and series are already in the works for this fall until the following spring.
In many ways then, it is mission accomplished. Where else can you see jazz legends like Skip Bey or Nelson Symonds play? Or some of the great younger players like Jessica Vigneault? Or get to see Yannick Rieu, one of our best tenor saxophonists, playing a small club for only eight bucks?
The Off Jazz festival has come into its own in a huge way, with this third edition a real turning point. The music—and ideas—drifting out of this festival are the sweetest breeze in jazz this city has felt in years. But fellow writer Janet Coutts, longtime follower of the Montreal music scene and another "friend of jazz", summed it up perfectly: "The reason the Off Fest is great is that it is run by musicians, not people making money off musicians."
Info: 514-525-8786, or on the L'Off Festival de Jazz web site.
Tickets available at L'Oblique, 4333 Rivard (514-499-1323), or at Billeterie Articulée, 1182, boul. Saint-Laurent ((514-844-2172).
Ticket prices include all taxes and services charges.
L'Off Festival de Jazz wraps up on Sunday, July 7.
Venues
Lion d'Or 1676 Ontario EastCheval Blanc 809 Ontario East
Alizé 900 Ontario East
Le Va-et-Vient 3706 Notre-Dame West
Casa del Popolo 4873, boul. Saint-Laurent
L'Escogriffe 4467-A, rue Saint-Denis
[ Photos couresy Pierre Crépô. Top to bottom: François Marcaurelle, Jean Vanasse, Pierre St-Jak, Normand Guilbeault ]
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