17 hours ago
The cat's meow, Edmonton Jazz Festival wraps up this weekend
A band performs outdoors as part of the Edmonton Jazz Festival on June 27, 2025. (Cam Wiebe/CTV News Edmonton)
The Edmonton Jazz Festival is wrapping up nine days of sultry songs and riffs this weekend.
Organizers hope to promote jazz music with more than 150 musicians and shows at nine venues including La Cité francophone, Yardbird Suite and the Winspear Centre.
The last headliner of the festival is Stargazers, a progressive rock band from Brooklyn, which has a show at the Starlite Room on Friday night. Edmonton-based band, Pure Octane, will open the show.
It's the pairing of local talent with international artists that organizers hope will draw more people to jazz music.
'It helps not only to bring out folks to see locally, but also these bands that you may not have heard of but you get to experience,' Joshua Semchuk with the Edmonton Jazz Festival told CTV News Edmonton at La Cité francophone on Friday.
He said the acoustics at the patio outside Café Bicyclette are 'amazing' as a live band performed for a crowd enjoying the warm weather and some food with the music.
Edmonton Jazz Festival (Cam Wiebe/CTV News Edmonton)
People enjoy some live music at La Cite francophone. A band performs outdoors as part of the Edmonton Jazz Festival on June 27, 2025. (Cam Wiebe/CTV News Edmonton)
All-local musicians are playing at La Cité francophone, with three bands set to play on Saturday afternoon. Spiral Flamenco, Brett Hansen's Confluence, and Audrey Ochoa on trombone are scheduled on the outdoor stage starting at noon.
'If you want to sit, go to Yardbird Suite,' Semchuk said, promoting shows at another venue too.
'(It has) two shows with the fabulous Lorraine Desmarais Trio. She's got to be one of Canada's best jazz pianists,' he said, adding that shows will be at 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on Friday.
Marquis Hill, a trumpeter from Chicago, will perform at Yardbird Suite on Saturday night. Kepler, a trio from Paris, will close out the venue on Sunday night.
Semchuk said a family-friendly jazz show will take place at the Winspear Centre on the last day of the festival.
'It's the second iteration of the Edmonton Jazz Orchestra meets the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra,' he said. 'They're doing jazz Broadway songs for the entire family.'
The show will start at 2 p.m. on Sunday and it will feature songs from Disney to classic jazz songs from Porgy and Bess.
The Edmonton Jazz Festival has been running for 20 years.
Information about tickets and the full show schedule can be found online.
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Cam Wiebe
