My wife and I went to the 21st Annual Toronto Beaches Jazz Festival and we just fell in love with this event! Imagine, 2 km of closed street with 50, yes you read that correctly, 50 bands playing on street! They were at just about every other corner. Each band that night played 3 sets from 7:00 pm to 11:00 pm. They all staggered their performances so as not to drown out each other.
It really was a magical night! We quickly found some parking, walked along the boardwalk and got to the beginning of the street fest faster then I thought we would.
We were first greeted by the sounds of a jazz fusion band with this fabulous violinist graciously blasting out solo with all he had! Then came the smell of the Beaches Festival, the FOOD! Note: if you plan to attend next years event, GO HUNGRY. Too many types of food to mention in this post.
The atmosphere was really electrifying. The relaxing buzz, that seemed to be coming from everywhere, was quite family friendly. Kidz, dogs and everything in between where out there last night. There weren’t all that many people walking around at first, but that certainly changed 2 hours later.
The styles were very diverse. We first witnessed a fusion band, then a Dixie land band, followed by Salsa/flamenco guitar players, a BIG BAND (all were really tight) then a blues band. The organizers were trying to highlight Big Band’s, Swing, Dixieland, Smooth, Post-Bop, Afro-Cuban, Fusion, Funk, R&B and Soul sounds. Wow, is to put it lightly.
This video captures the sounds of this band correctly. The Visual well …
At the end of the night the band we both found the most intriguing was a band called Project Phoenix. We were so impressed that we bought one of their CD’s titled Milestone. Go and listen to the song called “Jump for it” on their site. It was the last song they played last night and it was purely brilliant!
So if you love any of the styles that the Beaches Jazz Festival provides us at their event, then this is a must see for next year! See ya then!
Beaches Jazz Festival, Keep on Jammin’