The jazzfest in 10 originals: 2026

Here is original music by 10 artists I heard live at the 2026 Vancouver International Jazz Festival:

1

"The Third Eye"

Tomoki Sanders Quartet, June 25

Tomoki Sanders electrified a fresh venue for the festival, playing the Birdhouse with keyboardist Ian Finkelstein (who came up in Detroit under Geri Allen), bassist Paul "Papa Bear" Johnson, and drummer Christian Napoleon. Their performance could be club music, it could be heady modern jazz, and it could also come down to levels where the key-presses on Sanders' saxophone become sound effects at close proximity to the mic. This single from Sanders' coming debut album is more of the first two things.

2

"Beat Beat Drums"

The Ex, June 26

As soon as the Dutch band opened their Hollywood Theatre set with this track from a recent album, I knew that The Ex were going to be a lot more fun (and less noisy or angry) than I expected. Among the three guitarists, one had crazy dance moves and a penchant to put his gear into the crowd, one had a crazy tuning, and one held it down in his own odd vocal charisma while playing rhythm parts. Drummer Katherina Bornefeld kept it moving brilliantly and came up to perform an intricate double-shaker pattern, too. Every song was an unpretentious invitation to rock out in a jazzfest way.

3

"Ultimate Prescription"

Leenalchi, June 27

With four vocalists, two electric bassists, and a drummer, Leenalchi are one of the most different bands I've heard in a long time. The Korean vocals overlapped in rhythmic rap and folk-chanting. The grinding of the rhythm section, combined with the new-wave outfits, transcended decades of art-pop. Despite an overlong soundcheck that delayed the start, none of it was too weird to engage a crowd in the art gallery plaza, even those of us who didn't understand the lyrics. The above video documents the same show I heard, so you can see for yourself.

4

"Yes Mama"

Missy D, June 28

Missy D played her downtown set with a band of Nebyu Yohannes, Dave Taylor, Feven Kidane (on bass), and Yato Noukoussi, but for this song – when she either videocalls or takes an on-stage video for her mother – she welcomed up ten additional horn players who had performed earlier with Space Elevator. Her party moment was the response to a less obvious invitation: Missy had been a featured guest for Space Elevator at prior shows by Mike WT Allen's prog-metal big band. The crowd-pleaser status of "Yes Mama" in the sunshine wasn't matched at the plaza throughout the weekend.

5

"Imouha"

Étran de l'Aïr, June 28

From Agadez, Niger, Étran de l'Aïr played the Vancouver Folk Music Festival in 2024. They've likely retained a solid fanbase here since then, because their Downtown Jazz show brought the plaza its largest crowd. Their unrelenting desert blues-rock, good humour, and impeccable outfits raised the mood to a peak. Many songs have just two chords, or not even chords: two alternating positions in one mode, rolling forward forever across the Sahara as the drummer drops ever-larger rock fills.

6

"Shoes"

Great Aunt Ida, June 30

In my Tortoise / Fond of Tigers story this year, I described writing about Great Aunt Ida's album Unsayable back in 2021. It was like naively turning over a rock and finding a whole generation beneath. Five years later, actually knowing what the Sugar Refinery was, I heard Ida Nilsen open for Caley Watts at the China Cloud. She was accompanied by her own keyboards and at times by Kenton Loewen. She performed the same piece that caught my attention back then, "Shoes". I still think of it as an outstanding use of major-to-minor, a memorably haunting song in a deep book of such songs.

7

"Starlight"

Jillian Lebeck's Starlight, July 2

In an unassuming afternoon set at Performance Works, Jillian Lebeck's Starlight quartet with Jon Bentley, Conrad Good, and Bernie Arai played one of the most stunning shows of the whole festival. Out of standards, Elliott Smith, and Charlie Haden, I'll pick this original titular piece for the band, which Lebeck recorded on her album Songs and Melodies almost two decades ago. Her live rendition on acoustic piano reaffirmed the oversimplistic analogy I hold in my mind for her: she's a Brad Mehldau-like figure in Vancouver.

8

"The Walls"

Wendy Eisenberg, July 2 & 3

At the end of the day, I'll remember this festival as the Wendy festival: a short synchronization with someone out there in the big world who's like one of us, or whom one of us could potentially be. When we first spoke, the only song played was a new piece written in memory of Susan Alcorn. But at each subsequent stop along the artist residency, Wendy was sure to include this closing song from their self-titled album – even at the show themed around their prior album Viewfinder. "I want to be acknowledged," Wendy sang at Zameen, leaving an extended pause afterward to scan the room for reciprocal winks.

9

"Silence World"

Brad Turner Quartet, July 3

The original Brad Turner Quartet reunited at Performance Works this year, delivering a decades-spanning setlist. With a nod to the soccer tournament and a flugelhorn in hand, Turner introduced this piece from 2011's It's That Time via an anecdote about Science World. "Silence World" was what his kids said when trying to say the name, he said. He recounted playing his first-ever Vancouver gig there as a grade 12 student and discussed the tunes he brought to the dome. "One of them was the theme from Sesame Street, I'm not kidding, because it was swinging!"

10

"No Time to Loose"

Stranger Friends Orchestra featuring Fredrik Ljungkvist, July 5

Dean Thiessen's large ensemble played chestnuts from its repertoire alongside their featured guest, saxophonist Fredrik Ljungkvist, to entertain the festival's final Performance Works audience. Then Ljungkvist got a turn as the band director-composer, bringing his own more aggressive or improv-minded pieces like this one and another called "Oslo". Later, Thiessen introduced a new piece he wrote while inspired by the music of Judee Sill, which seemed to integrate the two approaches. The music of my generation is now in primetime, ready to be a key object of international exchange at the festival every year henceforth.

Bonus tracks

• "Yolk", Wallgrin, June 28.
• "Is", Tom Wherrett Trio and Cuong Vu, June 30.
• "Dragonfly", Sharon Minemoto Quartet, July 2.

And instead of picking music by Tony Wilson for this story, I'll link the video about him I watched first during his lifetime, again just after his passing, and once more at the Revue Stage together with the Flowers for Tone audience.