Local original bands at the jazzfest: 2025

Here are some informal, personal notes on ten shows by local groups at the 2025 Vancouver International Jazz Festival. These are in chronological order:

1

Feven Kidane Sextet

Georgia Street Stage, June 21

My time with this band was far too short: I missed the guests Feven brought out, including Missy D and Jeffrey Dawson. But I had to witness her moment on the Georgia Street stage. It was her first of three festival shows as a leader and the third of nine billed appearances overall, which spanned from the pre-fest Band on a Boat all the way to July 1st. The lineup for this show was identical to Feven's Ocean show at last year's festival, where I sat on the floor in the dark, drinking Bublys in a circle with many friends. The couple tunes I heard this year were introspective and delicately harmonized, like I remember that show to have been. The force of Noah Franche-Nolan's keys solos is a fascinating counterpart to Feven's playing. The band opened with one of bassist Milo Johnson's tunes; he may only be known by most of the scene for his sideman role in this group, but he's a thoughtful composer in his own right who will likely emerge more in the coming year.

2

Julian Jayme's City Folk

Ocean Artworks, June 21

When I made it in time from the downtown stage and saw my old friend Julian's seven-piece band get going, what hit me right away was that drummer Nicholas Bracewell is a great match for him. I'm surprised they haven't played more together; Nick moved from rock beats to contemporary jazz washes with all the same fluency and energy that Julian brings as a guitarist. Kria Wall sang lyrics like John Mayer's "Stop This Train" as well as a bunch of wordless vocals together with Ardeshir's saxophone, while Emilio Suarez added colour to the ensemble via the cello chair. David Caballero was a bit of an odd duck here as the gut strings of his bass punched in and out. Keyboardist Quincy Mayes' playing implied a loyalty from his own long history with Julian, going back to when many of us jammed at the Jayme family home and shot the breeze about where we were going to university.

3

Dean Thiessen's Stranger Friends 4-tet

Ocean Artworks, June 22

Dean's quartet with Thad Bailey-Mai, Wynston Minckler, and Ben Parker rang in a new digital album release on a Sunday where the rain just barely held off. In Dean's big band, I think of him as a tailor of parts to individuals, an Ellingtonian enabler, probably having people's names on the paper instead of their instruments. However, his small group congeals behind the literary and personal references that inspire the tunes, not placing the spotlight too long or bright on any one person. My favourite tune is probably the title track, "Thank You, Friend".

4

Chris Fraser Quartet

Tyrant Studios, June 23

Chris' band was almost the same as John Nicholson's below, just minus the pianist. He brought originals including one called "Crooked Windows", which he said drew from the Millennial jazz-school anthem "Crooked Creek" by Jon Cowherd plus Chick Corea's "Windows". But there's another Chris who was on my mind during this saxophone-and-guitar quartet set: Chris Cheek. I knew that Fraser had long been inspired by Cheek's 1997 release I Wish I Knew, which has that instrumentation: Kurt Rosenwinkel, Chris Higgins, Jorge Rossy. Cheek also just released a new record where the guitar trio joining him is a Bill Frisell trio of sorts. I'm including it next week in my big new release roundup I call Outside the Change, and I already recommended it to my pal Chris. [Update from the future: here it is!]

5

Forever Stories Of: Moving Parties

Revue Stage, June 25

Peggy Lee & Cole Schmidt closed their set with "For Ron Miles", like I hoped they would. The sprawl of their bandmates on record ended up boiling down to JP Carter, Brian Horswill, Meredith Bates, and Mili Hong. It was Mili at her softest, starting her festival run by listening sensitively to the band as they floated and weaved. Having Horswill on a real piano was a nice change from the many other shows in this list where people played keys. It often came across like the Meredith Bates band to me, though maybe that's because my seat faced straight onto the Fender amp that powered her violin. That was a lot of fiddle!

6

John Nicholson Quintet

Ocean Artworks, June 26

The saxophonist has been a top sideman for a few years and is entering a long-anticipated season of bandleading, having played at Frankie's pre-fest and also having a Fort Langley festival set coming up in two weeks. One of my favourite subtleties about the arrangements of his original tunes was watching Chris Fraser and Brad Turner sort out comping duties. They handled it with apparent ease, even taking turns for Conrad Good's bass solos. Of course, the group also presented itself as John and Chris on the frontline with the piano trio behind them. Todd Stewart hit the drums hard.

7

Raagaverse

Ocean Artworks, June 26

I didn't hear special guest Cassius Khan, because he only joined in the second set, but I did hear Raagaverse play their first set to a full house. Shruti Ramani had time to laugh with the audience, put "Khaabon Ke Parindey" from the band's first record in context both for Bollywood-heads and the uninitiated, and play "Storms and Oceans", their latest single which Jodi Proznick and Noah Franche Nolan co-wrote. They sped up and amped-up the song versus the Ostara Project's prior version; Nicholas Bracewell continued to be one of the Ocean stage's most powerful drummers. Raagaverse plays tomorrow night on a double bill with the Jeremy Ledbetter Trio at Pyatt Hall, presented by VIM House.

8

Josh Zubot Octet

Revue Stage, June 26

It's wild that I got to hear the two shows above and this one back-to-back-to-back on the same day. Anyway, the most outrageous local band I heard all festival in terms of noise and fun was this improvising group, different from the Josh Zubot Strings album: Josh and Jesse Zubot plus Peggy Lee on strings, yes, but also Gordy Li and François Houle on reeds, plus James Meger and Dan Gaucher stoking the flames. And why were there so many well-behaved jazz students, back home from places like McGill, in the front row of this gnarly 9:30pm improv show? Right, the eighth member was Josh's son Klee Zubot on shredding guitar, and they all wanted to hear their friend Klee play with dad and unc. I hope this group can make a new record!

9

Suin Park Quartet

Ocean Artworks, June 27

The pianist who has shined in groups from Feven and Gordy's Rush Hour to the Dean Thiessen Stranger Friends Orchestra emerges as a leader. She brought Wynston Minckler and Kevin Romain, like she did at her Frankie's After Dark trio set back on March 8; and added Feven on trumpet. Suin augmented her otherwise straight-ahead pieces with piano interludes, sometimes unaccompanied and elaborate. The Korean children's song she sang at the end revealed her very-under-the-radar vocal prowess. I'll always remember how it felt to stand at Ocean's tall side tables, hear Suin's soft composition "Spring Rain", and let the immediate moment of the festival wash over me.

10

Thad Bailey-Mai Quartet

Ocean Artworks, June 28

I first wrote about my friend Thad's music at arguably the most naive moment of Rhythm Changes' history: right after the first gig back from covid, right before the gig list began. My writing style was like ChatGPT before ChatGPT. And yet here we are, and what I claimed would happen by the time Thad turned thirty didn't quite happen. Tale as old as time, right? Well, it's no secret that Thad's band with David Blake, Eli Davidovici, and Mili Hong is the most familiar group to me out of those on today's list. Thad still played that tune I love, "Nidoto". He's still patient, and he's still on his way. Was this the show before his breakout season finally commences? The segue from 15 years of I-knew-him-when? I believe he's preparing a debut album, so quite possibly.

Hopefully this roundup serves as a memento of all the great music we enjoyed a couple weeks ago, and as a reference for what these artists do in the years to come.