TORONTO JAZZ FESTIVAL KICKS OFF

MIKE MURLEY AT THE REX

The TD Toronto Jazz Festival kicked off on Friday June 24th and there seems to be a reoccurring theme with the two major Canadian jazz festivals, Toronto and Montreal. Not enough big talent shows but a lot of very good club bands. Sure there are some big names like Wynton Marsalis and the JLC Orchestra, Chick Corea and even Joe Alexander (who is only 13 by the way), but it seems nothing like the past years of block buster A-list artists.

What we do have is a whole lot of very good jazz artists who have been at it for a while and have amassed their own fame and following. I’ll be hitting up some of these clubs, bars and jazz venues to check out this year’s offerings and I’ll be letting you know what I find.

Last night I dropped by The Rex Jazz and Blues bar to check out Mike Murley and his septet. I was pleasantly surprised to see trumpeter Kevin Turcotte was on hand. Dude can blow a horn.
This group was tight. The front four (two sax, trumpet and trombone) were fantastic in those tight unison parts and hair raising solos. The rhythm section fueled by the very energetic drummer Ted Warren was smokin. These guys put on a fantastic show, with a great mixture of standard-inspired originals and funky jazzy brassy power grooves.

This was a great way to start off my jazz fest season. See you in a bit.