It’s going to be a major fusion of jazz, world music, hip-hop and other genres of music at the 44th edition of the Montreal International Jazz Festival, which will take place from July 27 to July 6.
At the press conference that took place recently to unveil the line-up, this year’s festival will boast over 350 shows — in which 2/3 of them will be free of charge — that will overtake downtown Montreal this summer.
“Jazz constantly takes its cues from current music types, and it in turn seeps into rock, pop and hip-hop, to name a few,” said Maurin Auxemery, the festival’s program director. “This interdependence is really exciting, as it testifies to the relevance of jazzin our soundscape.”
Some of the progframming highlights for this year’s edition includes ANDRE 3000 (June 30), Norah Jones and Martha Wainwright (July 2 and 3), the Preservation Hall Jazz Band (June 28), Stanley Clarke (June 27), Al Di Meola (June 29), Pink Martini (July 4 and 5), Jordan Officer (June 27), Kid Koala (June 27, 28 and 29), Dawn Tyler Watson (June 28), as well special tribute shows honouring Montreal jazz legend Oliver Jones on the occasion of his 90th birthday (July 6) and the music of the movies directed by Jean-Marc Vallee (June 27).
Further programming announcements will take place in the next few weeks. Tickets for the jazz festival’s indoor shows go on sale as of April 12. For more information, go to montrealjazzfest.com.
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Some of the greatest names in the world of figure skating will gather at Place Bell in Laval for the Stars on Ice show, which will take place on April 30. Scheduled to dazzle figure skating fans include newly crowned World Pair Champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps, 2024 World Men’s Champion Ilia Malinin, three-time world medallists Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier. two-time world medallist Loena Hendrickzx and two-time Canadsian champion Madeline Schizas. Also added to the line-up are legendary Canadian figure skaters and popular fan favorites such as Elvis Stojko, Patrick Chan, Keegan Messing and Satoko Miyahara.
Tickets for Stars on Ice are now on sale, including special category Pre-Show Stargazer and Post-Show Meet & Greet passes. To purchase tickets and Stargazer passes, go to ticketmaster.ca; for Meet & Greet passes, go to store.starsonice.ca.
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