The Festival International de Jazz de Montréal is pulling out all the stops for its 45th edition, with a genre-bending lineup that reads more like a dream Spotify shuffle than your dad’s vinyl shelf. Running June 26 to July 5, the fest promises more than 350 shows — most of them free — right in the heart of downtown Montreal.
Headliners include hip-hop icon Nas, Afrobeats breakout Ayra Starr, cosmic jazz wizard Thundercat, crate-digger fave Madlib, and ‘80s alt legends Violent Femmes. Also on deck: psych-funk trio BALTHVS, Brit DJ Bonobo, and jazz’s reigning queen, Dianne Reeves. Local standouts like Elisapie and Salin are repping hard, while left-field picks like masked grindcore-jazz duo Clown Core keep things spicy.
This year’s fest doubles as a centennial tribute to Montreal jazz titan Oscar Peterson, with a gala, an outdoor exhibit of his photography, and even a new vinyl release featuring archival performances. It’s not all jazz, either — Quincy Jones gets a nod with film screenings, and Trombone Shorty, Esperanza Spalding, and Tiny Desk darling Yasmin Williams will shred the festival’s outdoor stages.
If that’s not enough, Jeff Goldblum is coming. Yes, with a jazz band.
More surprises are promised. In the meantime, dust off your lawn chair. Montreal’s turning the volume way up.
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