“We’re always excited to present international, national, and Edmonton jazz musicians for Edmonton audiences. This summer our free streams have a variety of experiences for every music lover.”
– Kent Sangster, Artistic Director & Producer
TD Edmonton International Jazz Festival starts Monday, August 16 and runs until Friday, August 20, right here at edmontonjazz.com.
Continuing its summer jazz festival tradition, the TD Edmonton International Jazz Festival offers music lovers access to jazz talent from around the globe. 2021 will feature a variety of online presentations including exclusive performance footage and interviews, as well as the new Spotlight Sessions showcasing a handful of Edmonton-based artists sharing samplings of their current projects.
Thanks to the continued support of our arts funding agencies and partners like TD, all presentations are free to viewers.
“At a time when the power of human connection has never been more important, TD is proud to support the TD Edmonton International Jazz Festival through the TD Ready Commitment, our global corporate citizenship platform, to help increase access to affordable and inclusive events that reflect diversity, where all can participate. This year’s virtual festival promotes shared experiences, helps foster a sense of belonging and strengthens communities across our city through arts, culture, and music.” – Robert Ghazal, SVP Branch Banking, Prairie Region, TD Bank Group.
Here is what you can look forward to:
(last updated August 31, 2021)
Monday August 16
John Beasley’s MONK’estra
California
Exclusive pre-recorded performances featuring MONK’estra Trio-Beas in the Backyard as well as MONK’estra Septet.
Premiered at 7:00pm MDT
Available until 11:59pm on August 31, 2021
John Beasley is a Multi-GRAMMY® and Emmy Award-nominated pianist, composer, arranger, producer, music director. An uncommonly versatile pianist, he has backed such jazz icons as Miles Davis and Freddie Hubbard – playing in the bands of both these trumpet greats while still in his 20s. Since then, Beasley has performed with a wide range of artists from Dianne Reeves, Ivan Lins, John Patitucci, Chaka Khan, Christian McBride, Carly Simon, Steely Dan, Lee Ritenour, Somi, A.R. Rahman, and James Brown’s last concert at the Hollywood Bowl.
Good Information
Edmonton
Spotlight Session showcasing material from their latest recording, Fringes.
Premiered at 6:00pm MDT
Available until 11:59pm on August 31, 2021
Recently coming off a hiatus in Europe, Edmonton based quartet Good Information returns with a new batch of original music written in Finland. The band boasts a sound rooted in jazz that borrows from head-nodding hip-hop loops, soulful neo-soul harmonies and math-rock’s dizzying time signatures. Their unique brand of “jazz with a beat-aesthetic” shines through improvisational interplay woven over minimalist structures; one moment they’re a groove-making machine, the next, a blur of collective improvisation. All while maintaining the traditional elements of small-combo jazz, leaving room for the music to bend and take shape in the moment as they react to each other.
A Conversation with David Liebman
New York
A one-on-one conversation between saxophonist David Liebman and festival producer Kent Sangster, including exclusive performance footage.
Premiered at 8:00pm MDT
Available until 11:59pm on August 31, 2021
David Liebman is considered a renaissance man in contemporary music with a career stretching over fifty years. He has played with masters including Miles Davis, Elvin Jones, Chick Corea, John McLaughlin, McCoy Tyner and others; authored books and instructional DVDs which are acknowledged as classics in the jazz field; recorded as a leader in styles ranging from classical to rock to free jazz. He has performed on over 500 recordings with over 200 as a leader/co-leader featuring several hundred original compositions.
Tuesday August 17
Nubya Garcia
United Kingdom
Exclusive pre-recorded performance featuring music from her debut album SOURCE.
Premiered at 7:00pm MDT
Available until 11:59pm on August 20, 2021
Multi award-winning saxophonist and composer Nubya Garcia is back with her much anticipated debut album, SOURCE. Her first release on Concord Records, under the iconic Concord Jazz imprint, has been received with wide critical acclaim. Following her album release, the London-based UK jazz player debuted on Tiny Desk (Home) Concert for NPR, coming off the heels of a New York Times profile, a Pitchfork ‘Best New Music’ honor and a Rolling Stone ‘Album of the Month’ mention for the rising tenor saxophone player. The New York Times describes SOURCE as “a life’s worth of experiences into an hourlong listen,” while Q Magazine says “Elevated throughout by Garcia’s immaculate phrasing, this is music that fuses the tradition and modern with real purpose.“
“Nubya Garcia’s SOURCE is now the definitive place to hear how she applies a gorgeously refined tone — a burnished old-school cry that’s as muscular as it is romantic— toward contemporary ends. It’s Garcia’s riveting, beacon-like lines that keep the eclectic and roomy album feeling lively and focused.” – ROLLING STONE
Brett Hansen
Edmonton
Spotlight Session showcasing some of Brett’s latest compositions.
Premiered at 6:00pm MDT
Available until 11:59pm on August 31, 2021
Brett Hansen is an Edmonton based guitarist, composer, and educator. He is a graduate of MacEwan University’s Bachelor of Music program, where he studied under Juno nominated guitarist Jim Head. He has also studied under other acclaimed guitarists including Matthew Stevens, Gilad Hekselman, Julian Lage, Lage Lund, Pete McCann, and Rez Abbasi. Brett has performed with the likes of PJ Perry, Mike Rud, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, and many others as well as leading his own groups. He has performed internationally and at renowned jazz clubs across Canada. He is currently working towards his debut album as a bandleader.
Wednesday August 18
An Evening with Charlie Austin
Edmonton
Special solo piano performance, pre-recorded in The Studio of the Winspear Centre. The performance includes a special encore tribute to Big Miller and Tommy Banks.
Premiered at 7:00pm MDT
Available until 11:59pm on August 31, 2021
Charlie Austin is a former instructor or MacEwan University (now retired) and has had a playing career over many years including many assignments with Tommy Banks and was a musical leader in the TV series 2nd City TV when it was produced in Edmonton. As a teacher, Charlie has composed a series of piano pieces (450 Contemporary Piano Studies In ’15’ keys) and has published a jazz piano theory book (An Approach To Jazz Piano) which was written in the latter years while at MacEwan. He has released a number of CDs with piano solo and piano trio format that are available at charlieaustinjazz.com. Charlie’s favourite tunes include Bill Evans tunes and show tune standards, with some originals as well.
Rubim de Toledo
Edmonton
Spotlight Session showcasing material from latest recording, The Dig
Premiered at 6:00pm MDT
Available until 11:59pm on August 31, 2021
Alberta bassist and composer, Rubim de Toledo, combines the influences of his Brazilian heritage and his dedication to the jazz tradition, to create an approach to music that is refreshing and uplifting. Boasting a diverse rhythmic palette inspired by world music, jazz, and contemporary music, a lure towards improvisation and a forward-looking traditionalism, Rubim nurtures a commanding sound and style as a bassist, soloist, and composer.
A Conversation with Sunna Gunnlaugs
Iceland
A one-on-one conversation between pianist Sunna Gunnlaugs and festival producer Kent Sangster, includes exclusive performance footage.
Premiered at 8:00pm MDT
Available until 11:59pm on August 31, 2021
Sunna Gunnlaugs’ work has received significant critical acclaim since her 2000 release ‘Mindful’ was selected among the top 10 albums of the year by the Virginian Pilot. Her 2003 release ‘live in Europe’ reached top 10 on both Canadian and US jazz radio charts. Her 2010 release ’The Dream’ jumped to number 2 on the Canadian radio charts and reached number 20 on the US CMJ radio charts. Her albums have received extremely positive reviews in leading jazz magazines across the world such as Jazzthetik and Jazzpodium in Germany, Concerto in Austria, Jazzwize in the UK, Jazzman in France, Swing Journal & Tokyo Jazz Notes in Japan, Downbeat in the US, the online publication All About Jazz and many more. All her albums have been nominated for the Icelandic Music Awards and in 2015 as well as 2019 she won performer of the year.
Thursday August 19
SPECIAL LIVE EVENT !
Dan Tepfer’s Natural Machines
Brooklyn
An interactive livestream featuring a solo piano performance enhanced with integrated on-screen animation. Dan will be interacting with the audience through the show.
Livestreamed at 7:00pm MDT
Available until 11:59pm on August 31, 2021
One of his generation’s extraordinary talents, Dan Tepfer has earned an international reputation as a pianist-composer of wide-ranging ambition, individuality, and drive—one “who refuses to set himself limits” (France’s Télérama). The New York City-based Tepfer, born in 1982 in Paris to American parents, has performed around the world with some of the leading lights in jazz and classical music, and released ten albums of his own.
Bones from Underground
Edmonton
Spotlight Session showcasing material from latest recording, Quartet.
Premiered at 6:00pm MDT
Available until 11:59pm on August 31, 2021
Bones From Underground is a jazz quartet merging vintage sound with modern material to thrilling effect. Canadian composer and bassist Marc Beaudin writes jazz from the point of view of nature, urban outcasts and social misfits. Bringing a new improvisational perspective and incisive musicianship to his music are well known Western Canadian gems: Drummer Sandro Dominelli, trumpet/flugelhorn Joel Gray, and pianist Andrew Glover. With a smoky bass tone, lush horn texture, explosive drums and exuberant piano style, BONES FROM UNDERGROUND combines a vintage sound with modern material to thrilling effect.
Friday August 20
Jeremy Ledbetter Trio
Toronto
An exclusive recording of the trio in concert at Lulu’s Lounge in Toronto.
Premiered at 7:00pm MDT
Available until 11:59pm on August 31, 2021
An engaging and fiery performer whose music knows no boundaries, Canadian pianist Jeremy Ledbetter has made a career from travelling the far-flung corners of the globe in search of the most fascinating and unique musical ideas out there, then seamlessly integrating them into his work as a pianist, composer, and producer. Jeremy is the driving force behind Caribbean Latin Jazz powerhouse CaneFire, and the longtime musical director and producer for calypso superstar David Rudder. Jeremy’s newest project, the Jeremy Ledbetter Trio, released their debut album “Got a Light?” in 2018. The Trio features Ledbetter’s unique sound at the piano alongside fellow Canadian jazz heavyweights Rich Brown (rinsethealgorithm) and Larnell Lewis (Snarky Puppy).
jaimie branch
Brooklyn
Exclusive performance featuring the jaimie branch Trio, as well as an encore solo set sharing material from Jaimie’s latest FLY OR DIE Project.
Premiered at 8:00pm MDT
Available until 11:59pm on August 31, 2021
jaimie branch is a Brooklyn-based musician and artist working in the areas of improvisation and composition. Through her musical practice, her main interests lie in extending and expanding the technical limitations of the trumpet and the musical language of free jazz and improvised music. Before moving to Brooklyn in 2015, she was an active member of the Chicago and Baltimore creative music scenes as a performer, presenter, and recording engineer.
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