Jazz Fest July 4

In my mid to late teens I attended the Montreal International Jazz Festival on numerous occasions with my group of friends. Since then I attended perhaps only once or twice.

I went last night, just on my own, and I really enjoyed two of three shows I saw, all free which is the great thing about this festival.

First show I saw was Laila Baili with her double-bass and drummer accompany.

She has a delightful voice, great piano playing and stage presence and excellent rhythm section. From where I was standing there were moments when it seemed like she was looking directly at me when she would look out to the audience; that was neat.

Next was Melissa Laveaux:

She has a sultry voice, fantastic clear riffs, a rock-jazz-fusion with some songs with tempo changes and some songs fully in an odd time signature like 5/4 or what I think might have been 7/4.

I really enjoyed both of the above shows; here is a photo from the second one, looking back from where I was at the front.

The last show I attended was Lee Fields.

Motown sounding, trumpet, sax, keyboards, drums, bass guitar and electric guitar mostly as rhythm, charismatic singer with frequent audience interaction. Some good songs, but not really to my taste.

I quite enjoyed going, so I'll try going again this week.