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And, of course, we highlight some shows not to miss. We chatted up Saint Michael's College associate professor of fine arts Bill Ellis about the musical dialogues he helps foster among seemingly disparate players - including composer Daniel Bernard Roumain, who also shared thoughts about the past year. We checked in with prominent local sax player Brian McCarthy, who survived COVID-19. We learned from a pair of elementary school music educators about teaching music in a pandemic. The following pages explore more of what BDJF 2021 has in store while also looking back at how some participants weathered the past year. I've lived in much bigger cities that couldn't do that." where locals can sustain a 10-day festival like this. "We're lucky to live in this absurdly musically rich community. "They are the spotlight," MacQueen said of Vermont musicians.
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The only real difference this year is that locals get to take center stage - or stages - on the Church Street Marketplace, in parks around the city and in front of the Flynn marquee on Main Street for the festival-closing block party.
QUEEN CITY JAZZ FESTIVAL 2018 FREE
The bulk of the BDJF's free programming, which accounts for hundreds of hours each year, is homegrown. The festival's lineup is composed almost entirely of local and regional talent - which, actually, isn't all that different from any other year.īig names such as Tony Bennett, Pharoah Sanders and Dianne Reeves may spice up the Flynn marquee each June, but local musicians have always been the backbone of the festival, whether they're Vermont staples such as Paul Asbell, James Harvey and Jenni Johnson or prodigal favorites such as Jennifer Hartswick, Nick Cassarino and Parker Shper. "We wanted it to be as free as possible and as outdoors as possible," MacQueen said. And, except for a few ticketed shows in the alley at Nectar's and on the back patio at Halvorson's Upstreet Café, it's free. Instead, the entire BDJF 2021 will be held outdoors. You won't be able to say you saw before-they-were-famous stars such as Ledisi or Esperanza Spalding in the Flynn Space this year. No titans like Sonny Rollins or Mavis Staples will play the Flynn Main Stage, and there will be no world-famous reggae artists such as Lee "Scratch" Perry at the Waterfront Tent. Organized by a skeleton crew on a shoestring budget and a dramatically shortened timeline, this year's festival is indeed a more modest affair than it has been in the past. He added, "This year, I feel that it's a much bigger event than usual, even as it's scaled down for all the obvious reasons." "This year's festival is about celebrating getting together, and it's sort of a gateway to that." Maybe a tuba.īDJF 2021 "is even more important, because it's about getting back to life," MacQueen said. By the middle of the festival, Burlington could look and feel as close to "normal" as it has in a long time.Ĭue the damn trumpets. The Burlington City Council is expected to vote on repealing the city's mask mandate on Monday, June 7. Phil Scott has said he plans to take that step once 80 percent of Vermonters are vaccinated, a threshold that could be reached this week. So, there's something cosmically right about the confluence of the return of the state's highest-profile music festival and the easing of the restrictions that have kept us apart.īy the time BDJF 2021 ends, those COVID-19 restrictions might even be lifted entirely.
QUEEN CITY JAZZ FESTIVAL 2018 SERIES
Still, take a moment to consider all of the music festivals, concerts and series that were canceled over the past 15 months: Ben & Jerry's Concerts on the Green, Grand Point North, the Lake Champlain Maritime Festival and Waking Windows (twice). We'll spare you the detailed recap of our miserable year without live music - you were here, and it sucked, for reasons far graver than a lack of entertainment. Running from Friday, June 4, to Sunday, June 13, BDJF 2021 will be the first major in-person cultural event held in Vermont since the pandemic hit in March 2020. In 2021, though, MacQueen's apt phrase "whole new phase of Vermont life" refers to a lot more than the changing seasons. Why "It's the gateway to summer" has never been the festival's tagline is a mystery. "It's the gateway to summer, the beginning of this whole new phase of Vermont life." "The jazz festival is my favorite event here," said MacQueen, whose first day working at the Flynn was the opening day of the festival in 2012. But it's also, with apologies to Memorial Day weekend, when a Burlington summer begins in earnest. It's the Queen City's crowning musical event, sure. "It feels metaphorically outsized." Steve MacQueen tweet thisĮven in non-pandemic years (remember those?), for 10 days in late May and early June the BDJF is as symbolically important to Burlington as it is inescapable.