An MF DOOM tribute and R&B influences as Vancouver International Jazz Festival unveils Granville Island series
Artists hitting the Performance Works stage include New Jazz Underground, Nubya Garcia, and more
New Jazz Underground drummer TJ Reddick.
Nubya Garcia. Photo by Danika Lawrence.
THE COASTAL JAZZ & BLUES Society has just announced the programming for the Granville Island Jazz series at the landmark 40th-annual Vancouver International Jazz Festival.
The Richard Bona Asante Trio and the Bill Frisell Trio will headline this year’s festival with performances at the Vancouver Playhouse. Plenty more free and ticketed events will take place across the city from June 20 to July 1.
As part of the Granville Island Jazz series, five ensembles will hit the Performance Works stage: New Jazz Underground, the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, Marquis Hill: Composers Collective, Nubya Garcia, and the Christine Jensen Quartet. Shows will take place from June 25 to 29 at 7:30 pm each night.
Formed at Juilliard and in New York City parks during the pandemic lockdowns, New Jazz Underground mixes traditional jazz sounds with hip-hop, house, Afrobeat, and Afro-Cuban music. The exuberant quartet was propelled to international fame with viral videos like “Harlem to Havana”, “f**k/s**t/c**t/jazz”, and “they can hate but we still swingin..”. Vancouver audiences will hear the musicians play cool, groove-fuelled works off their EP the MF DOOM SUiTE., a tribute to the titular late rap legend.
Marquis Hill. Photo by Kenneth Leftridge
Born and raised on Chicago’s South Side, trumpeter-composer Hill infuses his contemporary and classical jazz music with everything from hip-hop and R&B to Chicago house and neo soul. He has performed as a member of the Chicago Jazz Orchestra and won the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz’s prestigious International Competition in 2014. He will perform alongside pianist Michael King, drummer Corey Fonville, and bassist Micah Collier.
London-born saxophonist and composer Garcia laces her jazz outputs with threads of R&B, broken beat, and dub. Her debut album, Source, received high praise from the likes of Pitchfork and Rolling Stone. Her latest release, Odyssey, veers into an airy, celestial realm backed by an ever-present groove.
The Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, led by self-taught virtuoso Lamarr on the Hammond organ, plays feel-good tunes that have topped the Billboard charts. Juno Award–winning Canadian saxophonist and composer Jensen, meanwhile, will take to the stage alongside drummer Jim Doxas, bassist Adrian Vedady, and pianist Gary Versace.
Tickets for the Granville Island Jazz series go on sale March 27. Keep an eye on the Stir site for more programming news over the coming weeks. 
Related Articles
