Dunlevy: Esperanza Spalding wraps 45th Montreal jazz fest with a breathtaking bang
As programming director Maurin Auxéméry reminded the audience beforehand, Spalding had not performed at the festival in several years. A quick Google search traced her last performance in our city back to — could it be? — 2013. Putting her on the main stage on the final evening was a generous gift to fans and curiosity-seekers alike.
'It's pretty cool the jazz festival got her here for us to listen to, for free — it's amazing,' said Teo Spencer, 37, based in Montreal, but originally from Vermont.
'She's politically informed,' he said of Spalding. 'She understands the jazz canon and can subvert it when she wants to. She's playing an interesting game and playing it well.'
With him was Avery Shoemaker, 29, originally from Minneapolis. The two had been sharing their appreciation of the jazz fest as a symbol of all that Canada has to offer in these turbulent times.
'We've been talking about public good, art being celebrated and beautiful things provided to people for free that you can just show up and enjoy,' Shoemaker said.
Jan Lawrence had been showing and enjoying the offerings on the jazz festival's free stages all week. The Tampa native caught three to four concerts a night for seven nights straight. Among her highlights were New Orleans showman Trombone Shorty, Nashville-based Montreal native Allison Russell, and Arkansas-born, Chicago-based queer singer-rapper Wic Whitney.
'It's been phenomenal, considering it's all free,' Lawrence said. 'The people, the atmosphere, and the quality of the shows — I would definitely do it again. It's so easy navigating the site, so clean for such a big event, and everything starts on time.'
With her was Montrealer Peter King, who accurately called the festival 'one of the highlights of summer' in the city.
It was a week of unpredictable weather and memorable performances. Among this critic's standouts were the opening free outdoor concert by soul legend Mavis Staples; Canadian country-rock heroes Blue Rodeo bringing the hits on the first Friday night; New York rapper Nas performing his classic 1994 debut Illmatic with an orchestra of Montreal musicians; actor Jeff Goldblum telling stories and playing piano for an enrapt crowd at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier; Brazilian jazz fusion throwbacks Azymuth jamming up a storm; Montrealers Russell and Men I Trust, the former in an impassioned homecoming and the latter casting a spell after thunder and lightning delayed their set by 30 minutes while a massive crowd of diehard fans stuck it out; Nigerian Afrobeats star Ayra Starr turning the festival grounds into one big pop party; and 101-year-old saxophonist Marshall Allen leading the legendary Sun Ra Arkestra.
And then there was Spalding. A musical phenomenon, she sang, played and bantered with the crowd, exuding joy, mischief and a strong moral compass.
She opened not on bass, but on piano, pounding out a barrage of dissonant chords on I Want It Now as she listed behaviours we could do without in this world, 'all kinds of things that need to be burned up to invite you into the beautiful, loving things that inspire.'
An informal poll conducted by this reporter earlier in the evening found many in attendance did not know Spalding's music, but it didn't take her long to pull everyone on board. People cheered as she started to sing in astonishingly nimble fashion while her fingers fluttered across her bass on I Know You Know, off her self-titled second album, from 2008.
This was jazz of the highest order — challenging, yet accessible, eminently entertaining and arrestingly beautiful. Goosebumps were felt.
Two modern dancers joined her on stage throughout the evening, enhancing the craft of the songs with evocative choreographies that tapped into other levels of perception.
Her voice soared, loud and clear, far and wide on Touch In Mind near set's end, eliciting a roar from the audience.
And that was the impressive thing on this perfect night. As out-there and otherworldly as Spalding got, people followed her every step of the way.
She closed the 90-minute performance with her rousing, rootsy 2018 ode to Black men, Black Gold, and a wish 'that one day this song won't be necessary.'
When she introduced her band, after, then introduced herself, a heartfelt cheer erupted. People kept cheering, and cheering, until she came back for an encore, proving on top of closing out the 45th Montreal International Jazz Festival with a breathtaking bang, Esperanza Spalding had just made herself tens of thousands of new fans.
This story was originally published July 6, 2025 at 11:31 AM.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Toronto Sun
15 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
Seattle boy's million-dollar idea steers his Lamborghini dream
Seattle's Alex Butler, at age 9, is show with his parents, Leslie Pierson and Mark Butler. Photo by HANDOUT / Leslie Pierson A Seattle teen played his cards right at a young age — and now he's a millionaire. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Alex Butler, now 15, and his parents, Leslie Pierson and Mark Butler, sold his original card game Taco vs. Burrito, to Wisconsin-based PlayMonster last month, the Seattle Times reported, per the U.K. Daily Mail . Butler was just seven years old when he invented the game and sold it. 'It was never something that I've been attached to or anything,' the teenager said, per the Daily Mail. 'It's not super important to me. I just kind of wanted to get the most money out of it.' In the game, players compete to make the most valuable meal. It's not clear how much the game sold for, but the teen is working with his parents to invest the money. He plans to have some fun with the fortune, too. Butler said he would like to buy 'a Lambo' as he moves away from the gaming industry that has been a big part of his and his parents' lives for the past eight years. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Their idea for the game came 'randomly,' Alex said, noting that he didn't even like tacos or burritos at the time. However, he spent time playing card games such as Exploding Kittens with his family, which sparked his desire to create one of his own. Initially, his mom, who calls herself a 'serial entrepreneur' and has been involved in various projects including GoodHangUp — which she promoted on Shark Tank in 2016 — was simply trying to appease her young son. Alex regularly took his parents to the local coffee shop where he would test out a prototype for his game. On the way home, he would often plot new twists or ideas to add to the game, Leslie said, and he eventually started playing with his friends. Recommended video This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. It was at that point when the mom started an online fundraiser to help cover costs of production. They raised more than $1,000 in one day. 'He lost it, mind blown,' the mom said. The family ultimately raised $25,000, helped by some promotion at Seattle Comic Con. As demand for the strategy game grew, the parents decided to create their own business, Hot Taco Inc., with Alex owning the majority share. They joined forces with a manufacturer that the parents said 'treated Alex like an adult' and put $25,000 to $30,000 worth of the product on Amazon. By the end of the year, they made just under $1.1 million. Alex has since sold 1.5 million copies of his card game. It was once ranked Amazon's No. 1 bestselling game and it now has two expansion packs. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Read More Ultimately, the family decided to sell to PlayMonster, which also owns games such as Farkle and 5 Second Rule. Jonathan Berkowitz, CEO of PlayMonster, also told the Seattle Times he was interested in the game because the 'characters are amazing' and it provides fun competition for all ages. 'It's always fun when kids can beat their parents in a game, but the parents can still truly enjoy playing,' he said, sharing how shocked he was to learn that the popular card game was created by a seven-year-old. Columnists Columnists Toronto & GTA Sports Canada
Winnipeg Free Press
a day ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Thunderous approval for pop star Tate McRae at Canada Life Centre
Even if you think you've never heard of Tate McRae, you've definitely heard Tate McRae. The 22-year-old Calgary-born pop star is having a supernova moment. Her 2023 single Greedy continues to have a chokehold on pop radio. She is one of the Top 50 most-listened-to artists in the world on Spotify. She has had 21 (!) songs chart on the Billboard Top 100. People might know her better — or at least first — as a dancer. McRae also has the distinction of being the first Canadian finalist on the American reality series So You Think You Can Dance. She started posting songs to YouTube in 2019 and the rest, as they say, is history. Now, McRae's out on her three-continent Miss Possessive Tour — in support of her third album, this year's So Close To What — which brought her to Canada Life Centre on Saturday night. Starting with plenty of pyro and smoke right out of the gate, McRae let the anticipation build before taking the stage in a teeny white outfit for a slinky, sexy performance of Miss Possessive, flanked by a crew of impressive dancers. For an arena pop show, the stage set up was surprisingly spartan: a large T-shaped catwalk with a circular B stage, backed by three giant screens that had a few video interstitials but mostly showed what was going on onstage (her videographers were absolutely excellent). This allowed McRae to be the focus — her face, her voice, her choreography. And her hairography, of course; McRae's honey-coloured mane is a main character, and she loves an expertly-timed hair flip. McRae draws a lot of comparisons to Britney Spears, perhaps because she's a pop star who can actually dance and perhaps because, like Spears, McRae's also big into the breathy baby voice, or so-called cursive singing — a term that describes a vocal style in which certain vowels are elongated while the consonants are clipped. (It gets its name because it sounds like cursive writing.) Both qualities were on full display on Saturday night, though her vocals had far more power behind them live than their recorded counterparts might suggest, especially on Siren Sounds, for which she commanded the stage. The show mostly felt like a relentlessly paced, 95-minute Y2K-era music video: a lot of crawling around the stage on all-fours, plenty of head snaps, a full-on stripper pole for the R&B-inflected Uh Oh. But she offered glimpses of her other sides as an artist, too, taking the mic on the B-stage in a black gown for performances of Greenlight and a soaring Nostalgia before sitting down at a keyboard for a little medley that threw back to her YouTube days. A note here on the crowd: I don't think even the Winnipeg Whiteout games got this loud. CHRIS PIZZELLO / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES Tate McRae's vocals had far more power behind them live than their recorded counterparts. CHRIS PIZZELLO / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES Tate McRae's vocals had far more power behind them live than their recorded counterparts. The energy ramped back up before the show ended with a bang: an explosive rendition of Just Keep Watching, followed by the definitely Britney-indebted Sports Car (which featured a waterfall of sparks) and, of course, Greedy. A lot of culture critics (especially Elder Millennial ones) have spent the past couple of years dedicating a lot of pixels and podcast air to parsing the 'why' of McRae's fame. For my part, I think it simply comes down to the idea that not everything is for everyone, and that's fine. She's part of a rich tradition of generic pop music that people like because they can dance and sing along to it. Don't overthink it. Swedish pop star Zara Larsson opened the show with a set stepped in clubby early-aughts dance pop — right down to a cover of Britney Spears' Gimme More that gives the original a run for its money. But as a vocalist, Larsson evokes Christina Aguilera more than Britney. She's got a big, acrobatic voice, which was given a workout on the 2015 banger Lush Life and this year's Midnight Sun, the title track from her forthcoming fifth studio album, due out in September. The latter is a sweet ode to Sweden's long summer days, but it's also yet more proof that the Swedes sure know how to write a pop song. Larsson closed with her titanic 2017 hit Symphony, which had big headliner energy. Wednesdays What's next in arts, life and pop culture. Jen ZorattiColumnist Jen Zoratti is a columnist and feature writer working in the Arts & Life department, as well as the author of the weekly newsletter NEXT. A National Newspaper Award finalist for arts and entertainment writing, Jen is a graduate of the Creative Communications program at RRC Polytech and was a music writer before joining the Free Press in 2013. Read more about Jen. Every piece of reporting Jen produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print – part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Vancouver Sun
2 days ago
- Vancouver Sun
Giant Pacific octopus shoots video of itself after claiming camera from B.C. divers
When it comes to cinematography, a giant Pacific octopus that borrowed a camera from two divers earns a solid '10 out of 10.' Underwater videographer John Roney said he and his longtime diving buddy Chris Mullen went out on Aug. 5 to Nanoose Bay on the east side of Vancouver Island, a renowned spot for large octopus. Roney said they came across several, but one 'particularly large' octopus _ as large as three metres wide, arm to arm _ caught their attention. It was resting under a ledge, but immediately showed interest in them after they passed by, he said. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. 'It sort of approached us directly, hopped, and explored my camera, and then I just let go of my camera and I let it have it for a couple of minutes,' said Roney. The resulting video was a mesmerizing display of the creature's pink underbelly, its sucker-covered arms fanned out like an umbrella over the camera. 'It was carrying the camera around for a little bit, aiming it at a wall and stuff. It was doing some filming on its own,' laughed Roney, 'It was even kind enough to use its suckers to turn it off after (the camera) was running for about three minutes.' Roney, a Vancouver Island-based underwater videographer who has been working as a documentary filmmaker for many years, said the animal's camera work was excellent. 'Ten out of 10 underwater videographer for the octopus,' Roney said 'Honestly, the best footage of inside an octopus' web I've seen an octopus take.' 'Better than me by far,' Mullen quipped. Roney later posted the video online, giving the octopus a credit. The footage has received thousands of likes and comments. After the animal was done with the camera, it jumped onto Mullen with its arms around him and suckers on his mask. Roney said he was able to capture the 'hug.' Rather than being aggressive, the octopus appeared curious, using its suckers to explore its environment, Roney said. 'And so you could see it was holding on to him, but it wasn't grabbing him,' said Roney, 'Chris looked like he was having a good time.' 'It was a very gentle hug,' recalled Mullen about the close encounter, 'This is what I was hoping for, this was what I wanted.' Roney said he has done about 1,500 dives over the years, but has only had two close interactions with an octopus. Giant Pacific octopuses are fascinating, interactive animals, and every single time he encounters one, he can't get enough of them, Roney said. Victoria-born marine biologist Jennifer Mather has watched the video, and said the octopus wasn't deliberately taking a selfie even though its work was beautiful. Mather, an octopus expert with the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, said when an octopus finds something interesting and potentially edible, it will pick it up and put it underneath the arm web, which is exactly what we see in the video. 'And the person who had the camera, of course, got pictures because the camera was still running. But it doesn't have anything to do with the octopus taking selfies. Sorry,' said Mather. Mather said the animals are very smart in other ways, likening their personalities to cats. In most situations, when they see divers who crowd around them, they'll sneak away or hide, but an underwater camera with shiny, fresh lights could be quite interesting to them, making them wonder what they can do with it. 'Because octopuses do play — not social play, but object play,' said Mather. Roney said the community response to the video has been incredible. 'You really see that people are fascinated by these animals because they're so intelligent and they're so curious, and they're also so otherworldly, right. They're so different from anything that you'd see on land,' he said. 'And it makes me happy to see people seeing our local marine life here.'
