The Toronto Jazz Festival’s big move to Yorkville means something decidedly un-Yorkville-like: low-cost entertainment. And by low-cost, we mean free. In addition to ticketed events all over town, there are over 100 free shows in Yorkville. The neighbourhood’s plentiful outdoor spaces have allowed programmers to expand the variety of artists and jam-pack the schedule. For the first time, shows will run throughout the day, every day of the festival’s Friday (June 23) to July 2 run.
With Yorkville being made so accessible, rush this space and (re)introduce yourself to just how borderless jazz has become. Here are 10 must-see shows, including some ticketed headliners worth shelling out for.
Gregory Porter
The influence of Porter’s late mother, a minister in Bakersfield, California, presides over his Southern gospel-tinged sound. His latest, Take Me To The Alley, is Amazing Grace music: songs you can collapse into after being broken and wearied by life.
Wednesday (June 21) at Koerner Hall (273 Bloor West), 8 pm. $50-$60. performance.rcmusic.ca.
Xenia Rubinos
Rubinos is the kind of much-needed singer whose mashup of Pan-American sounds will keep you sweating on the dance floor. You then go home and realize you also received an education on imperialism, selfie culture, brown worker’s rights and Black boys being gunned down by police.
Saturday (June 24) at OLG Stage on Cumberland (115 Cumberland), 8:30 pm. Free.
Maneli Jamal Trio
Sometimes the value of a gig is in how much the artist’s technical brilliance makes you want to step up your game. Be mesmerized by the dexterity of the acclaimed guitarist, then go home and practise your craft.
Sunday (June 25) at OLG Stage on Cumberland, noon. Free.
No BS! Brass
One intense brass solo blasting from the stage can find you catching the Holy Ghost. Now try 11 pieces of brass. This acclaimed band from Richmond, Virginia, infuses hip-hop and funk in their spirit-of-New-Orleans sound.
Monday (June 26) at OLG Stage on Cumberland, 8:30 pm. Free.
Mavis Staples
As part of the Staple Singers, Staples’s freedom songs of the civil rights era remain indelible. Nowadays, she sings with a heartfelt wisdom born of experience. Songs from 2016’s Livin’ On A High Note have the feel of self-care anthems after a day of protest.
Tuesday (June 27) at Koerner Hall, 8 pm. $59.50-$79.50. performance.rcmusic.ca.
Robert Glasper Experiment & Kandace Springs
Glasper is a gateway drug for hip-hop heads who haven’t realized that the genre owes much to jazz. His active list of collaborators includes Yasiin Bey, the Roots, Erykah Badu and Little Brother’s Phonte.
Tuesday (June 27) at the Concert Hall (888 Yonge), 8 pm, $40-$50. ticketpro.ca.
Phronesis
Moods and ideas shift dynamically – three sometimes four times in a single song by the Scandinavian/British piano, bass and drum trio. The musical ride is like living inside the feverish mind of a Renaissance thinker.
Tuesday (June 27) at Heliconian Hall (35 Hazelton), 7 pm. Free.
Matthew Stevens
Stevens collaborated with Esperanza Spalding to shape the radical departure she took on Emily’s D+Evolution. His own sound is full of expansive atmospherics to get lost in before being guided back by his angular, experimental guitar.
Thursday (June 29) at OLG Stage on Hazelton (at Scollard), 4 pm. Free.
Joy Lapps Project
Lapps enlivens genres like calypso, zouk, mazurka and salsa with her crisp steel pan playing. She’s also been empowering youth across the city as an arts educator. Her latest, Morning Sunrise, is an EP of original compositions.
Friday (June 30) at OLG Stage on Cumberland, 2:30 pm. Free.
Joanna Majoko Quintet
Majoko’s song Softly As A Morning Sunrise can also describe the experience of listening to her sing. Her voice ascends gracefully up a horizon and then bathes you in its glorious light. The Toronto-based newcomer is one to watch.
Saturday (July 1) at OLG Stage on Cumberland, 5:30 pm. Free.
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