2012 Brampton Global Jazz and Blues Festival

Art of Jazz & The City of Brampton Present the 2nd Annual
Brampton Global Jazz and Blues Festival
Thursday, August 9 – Sunday, August 12, 2012

Featuring: Branford Marsalis, Shemekia Copeland, Charlie Musselwhite, Funkadesi, Vijay Iyer & more! Tickets on Sale Now!

From Thursday, August 9, through Sunday, August 12, 2012, the 2nd annual Brampton Global Jazz and Blues Festival takes over downtown Brampton with a formidable weekend of music, film, workshops and children’s programming. Legendary jazz saxophonist Branford Marsalis will not only headline and perform at the Brampton Global Jazz and Blues Festival, but will offer teaching workshops as the first artist to participate in the festival’s Artist-in-residence program.

Grammy Award®-winning saxophonist and recent Tony Award nominee Branford Marsalis is one of the most revered instrumentalists of his time. This August, he will perform and teach at the Brampton Global Jazz and Blues Festival. An NEA Jazz Master, Marsalis has performed and recorded with a who’s-who of jazz giants including Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Herbie Hancock and Sonny Rollins. A frequent soloist with classical ensembles, he has been featured with such acclaimed orchestras as the Chicago, Detroit, Düsseldorf and North Carolina Symphonies and the Boston Pops. He spent two years touring and recording with Sting, was the musical director of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and has collaborated with the Grateful Dead and Bruce Hornsby. Dedicated to changing the future of jazz in the classroom, Marsalis has shared his knowledge at such universities as Michigan State, San Francisco State, Stanford, and North Carolina Central University where he is currently an artist in residence.

Nonprofit presenter Art of Jazz has earned a reputation of building and maintaining world-class festivals over the last seven years, with top-flight touring artists and cleverly themed programming. And this year’s Brampton Global Jazz and Blues Festival is no exception.

Programming highlights for the 2nd annual Brampton Global Jazz & Blues Festival include:

SHEMEKIA COPELAND
Friday, August 10 – Rose Theatre – 8:00 p.m.
Tickets $25-$35 

Blues phenom Shamekia Copeland performed at the White House in February 2012, has opened for the Rolling Stones, headlined at numerous festivals around the world, scored critics choice awards on both sides of the Atlantic (The New York Times and The Times of London) and shared the stage with such luminaries as Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Taj Mahal and John Mayer. Heir to the rich tradition of soul-drenched divas like Ruth Brown, Etta James and Koko Taylor, Copeland’s shot at the eventual title of Queen of the Blues is pretty clear. By some standards, she may already be there. www.shemekiacopeland.com

CHARLIE MUSSELWHITE
Friday, August 10 – Rose Garden Square Stage – 9:30 p.m.
Admission is free

Blues legend and harmonica master Charlie Musselwhite’s life reads like a classic blues song: born in Mississippi, raised in Memphis and schooled on the South Side of Chicago. A groundbreaking recording artist since the 1960s, Musselwhite continues to create trailblazing music while remaining firmly rooted in the blues. Over the last 43 years Musselwhite has released over 30 albums, and has guested on numerous recordings, including Tom Waits, Eddie Vedder, Ben Harper, John Lee Hooker and Bonnie Raitt. DownBeat calls him, “the undisputed champion of the blues harmonica.” With his most recent offering,The Well, Charlie Musselwhite returns with the strongest, most intimate album of his career – a powerful, personal collection of songs. www.charliemusselwhite.com

BRANFORD MARSALIS QUARTET
Saturday August 11 – Rose Theatre – 9:00 p.m.
Tickets $35-$49

Legendary saxophonist Branford Marsalis is the leader of one of the finest jazz Quartets around today, and a frequent soloist with classical ensembles. Marsalis recently recorded Four MFs Playin’ Tunes with his Quartet, recently released on vinyl and available digitally and on CD in August. On this new album, the song takes center stage, with the band members bringing their considerable musical expertise to bear, as they focus on each tune as an important musical entity unto itself and not merely a vehicle for showcasing individual talent. Please join us for an astounding performance of one of the most innovative and forward-thinking jazz ensembles around today. Marsalis will also conduct two workshops over the weekend and will  perform with the Art of Jazz Orchestra on Sunday, August 12 at the Garden Square Stage. www.branfordmarsalis.com

BRANFORD MARSALIS with THE ART OF JAZZ ORCHESTRA
Sunday, August 12 – Rose Garden Square Stage – 1:30 p.m.
Admission is free

Branford Marsalis performs with the Art of Jazz Orchestra, featuring some of the finest jazz instrumentalists in Canada The mandate of the Art of Jazz Orchestra (AJO) is to promote Canadian repertoire, commission new works, and feature Canadian and international soloists. Drawing on talent from across the country, the AJO offers new professional opportunities to Canadian performers, composers and arrangers and serves as a creative outlet for some of Canada’s foremost artists.

ALTOIST RUDRESH MAHANTHAPPA & SAMDHI
Saturday, August 11 – Rose Garden Square Stage – 1:00 p.m.
Admission is free

Rudresh Mahanthappa performs with Samdhi, his electro-acoustic quartet. One of the most original composers in his field, altoist Rudresh Mahanthappa’s prolific contributions to contemporary jazz have earned him a Guggenheim Fellowship, commissions to create new work from the likes of the Rockefeller Foundation MAP Fund, Chamber Music America and the American Composers Forum, and a win in the 2011 Downbeat international Critics Poll. His rare ability to synthesize South Indian music concepts with a seemingly boundless range of unexpected influences frequently characterizes him as one of the most important artists in the music today — a distinction the Jazz Journalists Association recently echoed by naming him Alto Saxophonist of the Year three consecutive times from 2009-2011. www.rudreshm.com

SACHAL VASANDANI QUARTET
Saturday, August 11 – Rose Garden Square Stage – 4:15 p.m.
Admission is free

Born in Chicago, Sachal Vasandani listened to his parents’ modern jazz records, pop music, and the East Indian music of his heritage. After attending college where he studied economics, he headed to New York City to become a Wall Street investment banker, but soon discovered the lure of music was too strong and began performing as a jazz vocalist. Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra gave him a chance to front a big band. With his breakthrough 2007 debut, Eyes Wide Open, vocalist/composer/arranger Sachal Vasandani established himself as one of the most promising voices in modern jazz. A 2010 DownBeat “Rising Star” poll winner, Vasandani presented his distinctive blend of jazz and pop with the critically acclaimed release, We Move in 2009.Vasandani’s third Mack Avenue release, Hi-Fly, confirms the high praise showered on its two predecessors and proves the singer is one of the freshest, most versatile artists to emerge onto the scene in recent memory. www.sachalvasandani.com

VIJAY IYER
Saturday, August 11 – Rose Theatre – 7:00 p.m.
Tickets $25 

South Asian American jazz artist Vijay Iyer, one of the most critically acclaimed jazz, pianists, composer, and bandleaders, will appear at this year’s festival. Iyer is the winner of the prestigious Greenfield prize for the field of music, and was recently named director of the Banff International Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music at The Banff Centre for 2013.  Iyer will also host a workshop perform the same day, and students will have an opportunity to participate. www.vijay-iyer.com

FUNKADESI
Saturday, August 11 – Rose Garden Square Stage – 9:30 p.m.
Admission is free

The 5-time Winner of the Chicago Music Awards, Funkadesi represents Chicago’s diverse, multi-ethnic communities. What distinguishes Funkadesi as a group is each band member’s unique and uncompromised cultural/musical contribution merging to create one unifying sound and vision. With their not-to-be-missed live shows and visible racial and musical diversity, the band’s one-world sound, roots-watering vision, and positive vibe make the band a unique and compelling musical force. Funkadesi will also host a drumming workshop same day. www.funkadesi.com

SHAKURA S’AIDA
August 10 – Rose Garden Square Stage – 7:30 p.m.
Admission is free

Born in Brooklyn, New York. Raised in Switzerland. A long-time Canadian who lives in Toronto.  That’s Shakura S’Aida, a truly international artist whose involvement in the Canadian music scene has been ongoing for almost 25 years. Along the way, he has enriched the jazz, blues and classic R&B communities with her soulful voice, enthusiastic personality and commitment to her deep soul music. Her latest release, Time, is a double CD that gives her growing international audience tastes of her different musical approaches to blues, soul and rock and roll. www.shakurasaida.com

This year’s Brampton Global Jazz and Blues Festival will also include an exciting lineup of performances by local musicians on the stage at Ken Whillan’s Square. Jazz for Juniors, the Women in Jazz series and the Jazz ‘n Film series will take place throughout the weekend. Information about Artist Workshops will be announced shortly. For updates, a full calendar of events and further information visit www.artofjazz.org.

***Please note that all times are subject to change. All outdoor performances go ahead, rain or shine.

 TICKET INFORMATION

Tickets for the Brampton Global Jazz and Blues Festival can be purchased by telephone at 905-874-2800, online or in person at the Rose Theatre ticket office (Monday to Friday 10am – 6pm, closed Sunday).

For further information, and learn more about the Art of Jazz,  please visit: www.artofjazz.org