Jun 3, 2025 11:25 AM
In Memoriam: Al Foster, 1943–2025
Al Foster, a drummer regarded for his fluency across the bebop, post-bop and funk/fusion lineages of jazz, died May 28…
Romero Lubabmbo and Dianne Reeves provide a study in chemistry and artistry on June 29 at this year’s Montreal Jazz Festival.
(Photo: Victordia Zlamich)This iconic Canadian festival has, as the saying goes, “a little something for everyone,” with some 350 acts performing over 10 days. As the 45th Montreal Jazz Festival rounded out its first weekend, that was a lot of something for everyone.
On Friday, June 27, Club Soda was the first stop for a killer double bill featuring Theon Cross, who’s becoming the best-known tuba player in jazz, swinging in from the U.K. to open for Makaya McCraven, a star drummer on Chicago’s vibrant scene.
Cross brought the thunder with selections from his latest release, Affirmations: Live At The Blue Note (New Soil x Division 81). The title track, “Affirmations,” was certainly the centerpiece of this blistering performance. Backed by guitarist Nikos Ziarkas, drummer Nadav Schneerson and tenor saxophonist James Akers, the quartet burned through the tune and the entire set, leaving the Montreal crowd wanting more.
Those who know the recording also know that the original saxophonist on that date was another Chicagoan, Isaiah Collier, a true rising star on the scene. While he couldn’t make it for this show, he did join the band for one of its two shows the next night on the Pub Molson Stage. Meanwhile, Akers filled in admirably on the Club Soda set.
This is a band to hear live, as the recording from the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York captures.
McCraven headlined the evening and had to catch up to the energy already laid down by Cross and company. Performing selections from his latest, Deciphering The Message, as well as other works, McCraven delivered a groove-worthy testament to his own brand of composition and bandleading with alto saxophonist Josh Johnson, vibraphonist (and sound sculptor) Joel Ross and bassist Junius Paul. The set delivered head-bobbing satisfaction, highlighting McCraven’s steady hands at the drumset and Ross’ ability to elevate any musical setting.
Saturday delivered a whole new range of options — from vocalist Samara Joy, Naz with a symphony orchestra and vocalist Stella Cole to Swedish singer-songwriter Jay-Jay Johanson and local saxophone hero Yannick Rieu.
But for this writer, the high points started early with a set by pianist Vijay Iyer and trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith performing as a duo at the intimate Gesù, a beautiful performance space inside a historic Catholic Church in downtown Montreal. Celebrating 20 years of performing together, this was the final stop on the duo’s summer tour (they have dates on the books for the fall) and featured two gifted improvisers in virtual conversation on their instruments. Performing compositions from their latest recording, A Defiant Life (ECM), they enthralled the audience with music that demonstrated the frustrations of the world’s current situation, but always with a glimmer of hope. Iyer shifted nimbly between an acoustic Fazioli piano and Fender Rhodes tricked out with effects, sometimes playing beautiful lines, sometimes adding digital washes behind the plaintive, spare musings of Smith, a guiding light of Chicago’s AACM and one of the more thoughtful artists in improvised music.
After having the honor of dining with these two gifted artist, it was a mad dash over to Le Studio TD to catch a newer member of the AACM, saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist Isaiah Collier, performing with his band The Chosen Few. While Iyer and Smith found light in space and minimalism, The Chosen Few revived the fire of post-bop speed and tenacity with a modern twist. Collier is a rare artist who knows how to bring it on record and in a live setting, as evidenced on the title song of his latest album, The World Is On Fire. With a backing band that featured Emma Dayhuff on bass, Theo Sunny Abellard on piano and Tim Regis on drums, Collier fired off the kind of round-after-round, never-repeating, imaginative solo magic that would make Sonny Rollins smile. And being from Chicago, when Collier plays the blues, as he did on “Amerikka The Ugly,” you could hear the spirit of Von Freeman oozing from his horn. But this is no throwback act by any stretch. It’s forward looking, and set in the here and now.
If Saturday’s choices leaned more to the “out” side of improvised music, Sunday’s selections brought things back into the mainstream of jazz and R&B with an evening of vocalists. For starters, there was 25-year-old Tyreek McDole, the 2023 winner of the Sarah Vaughan Competition. Touring on the success of his debut recording, Open Up Your Senses (Artwork Records), McDole flashed a smooth tenor voice with expansive passion and range.
With a love for the tradition, McDole breathed life into chestnuts famous and not-so famous, like Horace Silver’s “Won’t You Open Up Your Senses” and Nicholas Payton’s “The Backwards Step.” He delivered a tour-de-force version of Billy Strayhorn’s “Lush Life” with pianist Caelan Cardello and tossed in a little fun with Dizzy Gillespie’s “The Umbrella Man.”
If McDole showed the promise of jazz vocals, Dianne Reeves, in a duo performance with guitarist Romero Lubambo at Théâtre Maisonneuve, presented an artist in full as well as a level of exceptionalism for which to aim. Lubambo and Reeves turned the beautiful 1,400-seat theater into their own living room with a wide-ranging set list, an endearing camaraderie and rarified artistic expression.
Throughout the weekend, performances by American artists included messages of angst, anger and frustration with the politics of the United States government. It played well to these Canadian crowds who see tariff wrangling and suggestions of Canada as the 51st state as unacceptable bully tactics.
Collier, Reeves, McDole and Iyer & Smith all drew cheers for their comments in support of Canada’s independence and their remarks about the strange times unfolding in America. Reeves drew a knowing chuckle from the crowd when she opened her eyes wide and sang “What’s New?,” the old Bob Haggart and Johnny Burke chestnut.
The weekend closed with R&B star PJ Morton sending a crowd of some 25,000 dancing in the streets of Scène TD with a string of hits that have garnered him five Grammy Awards.
The fest runs through Saturday, July 5, with appearances by bassist Derrick Hodge, Christine Jenson, The Heavyweights Brass Band, Ben Harper, Linda May Han Oh, Holly Cole, The Doxas Brothers with Ulf Akenius, Julius Rodriguez, George Thoroughgood & The Destroyers, Madeleine Peyroux, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Fantastic Negrito, Ranee Lee, an Oscar Peterson Centenniel Gala, Steve Turre, Tommy Emmanuel, the Django Festival Allstars, esperanza spalding, Camille Thurman, the Sun Ra Arkestra and more on the schedule. For those of us who are sweltering Stateside, it might be time to sneak north of the border for a few days! DB
Foster was truly a drummer to the stars, including Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins and Joe Henderson.
Jun 3, 2025 11:25 AM
Al Foster, a drummer regarded for his fluency across the bebop, post-bop and funk/fusion lineages of jazz, died May 28…
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