Celebrating The Blues is the theme for opening night. The August 7th concert at Hearthstone Inn’s Commoners Courtyard in Sydney brings together a collection of players including blues guitarist John Campbelljohn, The Guilty Party, The Carl Getto Jazz Blues Group, and from Halifax the blues piano vocalist Bill Stevenson.
The Cuban Havana Fax ensemble will play several events during the Festival beginning on Wednesday, August 12, when the Los Primos Project in conjunction with the local Island to Island group present an evening of Cuban music and art at Flavor on the Water starting at 7 pm. Legendary Cuban singer Augusto Enriquez and family will be featured along with Jeff Goodspeed and friends. For this Flavor on the Water event the cover charge will be $10.
The same Havana Fax ensemble will also perform on Thursday, August 13 at the KOC in New Waterford, and Friday, August 14, at the North Sydney Yacht Club. Local performer and Cuban music stylist Keith Mullins will open both these shows.
The Festival aims to have an eclectic presentation of various sub-genres of jazz, from traditional vocal performances in the style of Ray Charles and Frank Sinatra by Bill Stevenson and Daniel Matto to presentations by Cuban and Latin style music groups such as Havana Fax, with Augusto Enriquez and Jeff Goodspeed, to Trio Bembe, one of the top Latin music groups in western Canada.
This year’s Festival will feature New York jazz piano legend Harold Mabern and Canadian saxophone icon Kirk MacDonald. Mabern has played with jazz legends Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, Sarah Vaughan, Wes Montgomery and many others. Mabern teamed up earlier this year with Kirk MacDonald on MacDonald’s Juno Award winning jazz CD.
Also featured will be a bebop jazz ensemble, highlighted by Sydney native Ethan Ardelli who is becoming one of the top jazz drummers on the Toronto jazz scene. Ardelli is expected to attract particular interest from local fans of drumming. Others comprising this ensemble include Prince Edward Island bassist Patrick Naburrus, noted trumpeter Paul Tynan, guitarist Jake Hanlon, pianist Carl Getto, and others.
The Festival’s closing on August 15 will see a day of music beginning with a free outdoor jazz concert at Wentworth Park and concluding with an evening of music at the Hearthstone Inn in the Commoner Courtyard with shows by Havana Fax, and local jazz performers.
Most events will be held at the Hearthstone Inn in the Commoner Courtyard on Kings Road in Sydney. The majority of shows will run from 6:30 to 10 pm. Ticket prices for most events will be $15 advance and $20 at the door. Tickets are available at Governor’s Pub and at the Hearthstone Inn.
Detailed information on the Festival can be obtained from the Festival’s website capebretonjazzfestival.com.
