Robert Glasper, Chris Potter and Lakecia Benjamin among highlights of Montreal Jazz Fest

In recent years, Montreal’s central core has become Le Quartier des Spectacles. This Festival District has matured and become a unique destination for some 40 different events throughout the year. It offers more than 100 shows a month. Perhaps the best known of these is the mighty Montréal Jazz Festival. This year some 350 performances are on offer, two-thirds of them free and outdoors.

Looking back from the half way mark, the 2024 edition of the festival has been a smashing success: nobody comes to this festival to coast through a set, and what I’ve caught has fallen on the spectrum between very good and extraordinary. Word has slowly gotten out, too: it’s no longer the case that the Jazz happens at the ticketed indoor venues and the other music is heard outdoors. There’s a huge variety of music on offer for free, and a great deal of it is Jazz by any measure.

During the first few days, Chris Potter, Melissa Aldana and Lakecia Benjamin each played for free twice a day at the delightful Pub Molson for a few hundred lucky souls who got to hear why they’re each among the most respected and admired saxophone players blowing today. Potter and Aldana delivered powerful, vibrant sets I’ll never forget, and Lakecia Benjamin’s performance was so over the top that I’m struggling to think of a time I’ve seen a more exuberant saxophone player.

There’s a little nightclub which offers performances in the building which serves as the home of The Montréal Jazz Festival. A few minutes on line gets music lovers into this intimate venue to witness world class Jazz for free, twice a day. I caught a performance by Quebec pianist Marianne Trudel in this room, because her recent recordings have been so captivating, and was delighted to find drummer John Hollenbeck and bassist Rémi-Jean Leblanc rounding out the trio.

Each evening the festival features a big crowd-pleasing outdoor show at the Place Des Festivals. So if you’re in the mood for a party under the stars, you’ll find these shows your cup of tea, night after night. Robert Glasper brought his Black Radio band last night, and a good time was had by all. The same stage is used for performances in the afternoon many of which lean more toward straight-ahead swinging Jazz. Bring the kids - they can play in the fountains built into the walkway.

I was fortunate enough to catch pianist Jason Moran’s revelatory celebration of Duke Ellington’s 125th birthday - on a Fazioli piano. At this point, I’ve heard more of Ellington’s music performed live by other people than I have performed on recordings by Ellington himself. But I’ve never heard a performer quite like Moran, whose remarks from the stage about Ellington revealed him to be a real scholar as well as a uniquely gifted artist himself. This ticketed show took place in the glorious Salle Gesù, beneath a Jesuit church. The festival offers performances in this remarkable room twice each day.

I also managed to get in to see the Icelandic singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Laufey, who I’d wanted to see out of sheer curiosity. I’d avoided hearing her, thinking I might get a chance to see her perform during Summer jazz festival season. I find her fascinating partly because she’s become a huge star (she’s presently number 1 on Billboard’s Jazz album chart) and she’s done it largely without the help of the Jazz press or Jazz radio. She’s hugely popular among teens and tweens right now, particularly girls. Her concerts can sell out in an hour and she’s bringing young people (and their parents, who often drive them to concerts) to Jazz.

She’s got a gorgeous, distinctive voice. She plays guitar, piano and cello expertly and passionately. He songwriting is nice, albeit a bit sweet. Surely there are greater sins that being a bit twee. In a word I found her charming, and I wish her success on the scale of Taylor Swift.

I wish the Montréal Jazz Festival continued success too.  I’ll look for you here in Montréal next year about this time!

David Beckett has been a friend to Jazz since 1983 and hosts a long running Jazz radio show in Burlington, Vermont, USA