The Artistic Director's Guide is our way of taking you "beyond the bio". Here you'll find audio and video clips, and I'll describe what I like about each artist and suggest why he or she is important to the scene. So dive in—use the menu options above to find an artist, and let's seek to answer "What's so good about...?"
Josh Grossman, Artistic Director
Toronto Downtown Jazz
There are a lot of female vocalists out there. A lot. Each year we're inundated with submissions from female vocalists looking for gigs. So, it’s always a treat when a vocalist sticks out for all of the right reasons – and Angelique Kidjo falls firmly into that category.
When I was in university, we used to joke around about the musicians we enjoyed. If someone would say, for example, "Hey, do you like Miles Davis?", we would respond by saying "Yeah, he's not bad if you like that amazing melodies, innovating composing and forward-thinking stuff." Well, John Scofield is not bad if you like that amazing guitar player thing.
John's bio speaks for itself - stints with Charles Mingus, Gary Burton, and three years with Miles Davis; more than 30 albums as a leader; and collaborations with all of the biggest names on the international jazz scene.
Bebop, Acid Jazz, Hard Bop, Dixieland, Fusion, Swing, Straight-Ahead, Post Bop, Cool...HUH?
Learn the 1-2-3's and do-re-mi's of jazz with our in-house expert and get prepped for this summer's TD Toronto Jazz Festival.