#Xavier rudd montreal jazz fest free#

In 1982, bassist Jaco Pastorius couldn't find guitarist Metheny in their hotel, so he set off the fire alarm to 'smoke out' Metheny from his room, according to the book Album souvenir, Festival international de jazz de Montréal : 25 ans by Alain Denis. The festival offers plenty of awards, but the longest-running is the TD Grand Jazz Award, whose first winner was Montreal bassist Michel Donato in 1982.

#Xavier rudd montreal jazz fest free#

Held in Complexe Desjardins’ Grande-Place, La Petite École du Jazz is free and open to all from June 27-July 6 this year. Denis in 1982, and finally settled into Place des Arts in 1988. It first took place on Île-Sainte-Hélène, briefly moved to Rue St. Over the years, the festival's site has moved a few times.If history isn't your thing, you can experience an afternoon jazz cocktail workshop at Le Lab this year before hitting the festival site. This year, you can take a free guided Montreal jazz history walking tour on June 29, June 30 and July 6 that highlights the city's association with the music all the way back to the 1920s. Metheny has since referred to that gig in front of more than 100,000 people as ' the scariest night of life.' Montrealers love the guitarist, famously coming out in droves for his outdoor concert on McGill College Avenue in 1989. Pat Metheny has appeared at the festival a staggering number of times over the years. The festival's first edition in 1980 was put on in part through the help of CBC's Alain de Grosbois, a producer who sweetened the deal for international artists by offering them money to do live recordings at the festival that were later aired on radio. The festival touts that 60,000 litres of beer and 2,500 kilograms of fries are consumed on a yearly basis. Incredibly, about two-thirds of the events at the festival are free and open to the public every year. In 2004, the festival got the Guinness World Record for the largest jazz festival after attracting almost two million visitors over the course of the festival's run. Tickets to this 1980 concert cost a whopping $7.

The first notes ever heard at the festival were played by Ray Charles at the Expo Theatre on Île Sainte-Hélène.