Live baby live: June jazz reviews
Khalid El Zabar, Myk Freedman, Setting, Sullivan Fortner, more
The last ten days have been stuffed with an embarrassment of musical riches in Toronto. For me, that meant a lot of jazz and jazz-adjacency at the Toronto Jazz Festival, the Tone festival, and also the kind of gigs this city is blessed with all year round.
Earlier this month, on June 11, I ran into a fellow critic at the Polaris Prize longlist launch — well, I mean, the room was obviously full of fellow critics, but this was an acquaintance from out of town who was excited to catch some acts at NXNE, the big industry “discovery” festival which was kicking off that evening. He asked me who I was going to check out. I honestly forgot it was happening; I haven’t been in years, for a variety of reasons professional and personal, but mostly because of indifference. I just don’t care anymore about the kind of music I’m most likely to encounter there.
I’ll stick to the eclectic folk festivals, or Wavelength or Project Nowhere, or, increasingly in my middle age, the jazz festivals.
It started with a monster of a show that wasn’t associated with any festival, just a tiny supper club bringing in two legends.
