Tuesday, April 08, 2008

2008 National Jazz Awards

My first experience going to the National Jazz Awards. Something that struck me was, how small the jazz world really is. I recognised a lot of people from the last three years of volunteering at the TD Toronto Jazz Festival.

My favorite vocalist, Emilie-Claire Barlow, won in her category. Unfortunately, she wasn't performing.



I love, love, love Hilario Duran, so was super excited when he won in two categories. Sadly, he wasn't performing either.



I wasn't able to see all the acts, but here's a few I did catch:

Nikki Yanofsky



Sly Juhas, doing double duty with both Brandi Disterheft and Elizabeth Sheppard:



The Brandi Disterheft quartet, including her vocalist, Sophia Perlman, whom I really enjoy after listening to Autobeauties on Brandi's CD, Debut:



It's a type of event that's better to go to with other people, so you have someone to talk to during the speeches! Some were very, very long, especially Jim Galloway's introduction of a lifetime achievement award for Geoff Chapman.

The tributes to Doug Riley, Jeff Healey and Oscar Peterson were extremely moving. Video clips, family member speeches and musical tributes were lovely, especially Reg Schwager's guitar tribute to Jeff Healey.

A nice evening out, although it would have been much better on the weekend!

No comments: