Mar 30, 2026 10:30 PM
Flea Finds His Jazz Thing
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This year’s Grand Événement General Motors at the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal will feature the vibrant Venezuelan ensemble King Changó in a megashow entitled Fiesta Nuevo latino, which translates as “one gigantic dance party.” With their joyous ska and Latin rhythms stirred up in a sizzling reggae/funk/hip-hop/drum ‘n’ bass sauce, the seven members of this alternative Latin combo, coming to Montreal expressly to take part in the Festival, are determined to spread the festive spirit through
the crowd like a powder trail. This gigantic musical happening with a decidedly latino feel will take place midway through the Festival, on Tuesday, July 2, starting at 9:30 p.m. on the General Motors stage.
A joint creation of programming vice-president Laurent Saulnier and artistic consultant Michel G. Barrette, Fiesta Nuevo latino is designed as a bubbling show in which the celebrated energetic performers of King Changó will perform a string of fiery songs with a sizzling, infectious beat.
King Changó, whose members evoke the exuberance of La Mano Negra, will serve up a cocktail comprised of such traditional musical forms as mariachi, mambo and cumbia combined with pulsating roots, rock and trip-hop sounds.
“You’ve got to come up with something really special to keep the entire audience - people of all ages - in a state of euphoria for an hour and a half!” exclaims group leader Andrew (Blanquito Man) Blanco.
With its spotlights playing upon the nearby skyscrapers, its 125,000-watt loudspeakers, its delayed-sound tricks, its giant screens and its stupendous visual effects, including maximum use of video technology (on a larger scale than at any previous Grand Événement), this urban extravaganza is without compare. Le Grand Événement General Motors will be broadcast live on both TV5 and Global. In addition, TV5 Monde plans to show it on a delayed basis across Canada and, days later, worldwide.
“Cerebral and academic thought is a different way to approach music,” Flea says of his continuing dive into jazz. “I’ve always relied on emotion and intuition and physicality.”
Mar 30, 2026 10:30 PM
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