The jazzfest in 10 songs: 2026

These ten pieces come from shows I heard at the 2026 Vancouver International Jazz Festival. They're not the performers' own compositions, rather pieces they chose to include in their shows.

1

"I Want to Talk About You" (Billy Eckstine)

Played by the Todd Stewart Trio, June 25

When Todd Stewart got halfway into their opening trio set for Tomoki Sanders at the Birdhouse, they made sure to note that Tomoki's father Pharoah Sanders had recorded the standard they were about to play. It was a chiller number than the rest of their high-energy set. With Ru Ha on soprano saxophone and Cole Woodland on electric bass, the trio held space for the intimacy of the non-binary artists' double bill in a favourite Vancouver queer arts venue.

2

"Smiles Remembered" (Norma Winstone / Kenny Wheeler)

Sung by Tess Meckling, June 26

Tess Meckling performed this vocal version of the CapU classic "Kind Folk", composed by Kenny Wheeler, in her Friday night band set at Tyrant to a packed house. Joining her were Josh Krushel (subbing for Ben Millman), Bella Fedrigo, and Jamison Ko. Though a recording of "Smiles Remembered" only came out in 2024 on Norma Winstone & The North's Wheeler with Words, just before I interviewed the renowned English singer, Meckling sought and received the lyrics from Winstone personally years ago.

3

"This Side of Sunrise" (David Binney)

Played by the Marcus Abramzik Sextet, June 27

In a sense hidden from the crowd on the Downtown Jazz Saturday, electric bassist Marcus Abramzik delivered an impressive and fun set of fusion down at Guilt & Co's early show. His sextet with Christopher Berner, Connor Lum, Dean Thiessen, and Eliot Doyle had chops for days across diverse covers and originals. Binney composed this track on the Donny McCaslin album Fast Future, which he produced for Greenleaf Music (a client of mine at Chernoff Music) in 2014.

4

"Blues in a Quandary" (Richard Williams)

Played by the Julian Borkowski Quintet, June 28

Julian Borkowski represented the straight-ahead scene in an afternoon set at Downtown Jazz Sunday with Steve Kaldestad, Tilden Webb, Conrad Good, and Graham Villette. He used a polished educator's voice to speak thoughtfully about his influences and the inspirations behind his originals, and he made a particular point of telling the audience to check out the trumpeter Williams. Despite playing with Charles Mingus, Gigi Gryce, and many more household names, Williams (1931-1985) ended up with only one record as a leader to his name, New Horn in Town.

5

"You Go to My Head" (J. Fred Coots)

Played by the David Blake Quartet, July 1

A standard that guitarist David Blake holds close set the scene at Performance Works for a beautiful unaccompanied intro by the guitarist, then one of many thoughtful sessions of interplay amongst him and his quartet: New York's Dabin Ryu on piano, Warren Louie on bass, and Jonas Esser on drums. They sounded like they'd been on the road because they had, finally arriving back in Blake's home city after a west-coast run of dates in support of their album Radio Casual (released on Cellar Music, whom I work for).

6

"Ain't That Easy" (D'Angelo / Q-Tip / Kendra Foster)"

Played by Voodoo: the Music of D'Angelo, July 1

One of the most wonderful, entertaining, and tight performances I've heard around the scene in years happened at Performance Works on Canada Day, featuring three vocalists: Timothy Fuller, Karina Morin, and Dawn Pemberton. The band was Gavin Youngash, Jay Esplana, Feven Kidane, Jocelyn Waugh, Darren Parris, Mike Ardagh, and Kai Basanta. My generation is the Black Messiah generation more so than Voodoo, so when the band segued into cuts like this one (or "Sugah Daddy"or even "Betray My Heart"), we kept dancing, wondering how we could ever leave to go to the next thing.

7

"I Remember You" (Victor Schertzinger / Johnny Mercer)

Played by Lisa Cay Miller, July 2

Lisa Cay Miller sat at the piano to play her solo half of that afternoon's Zameen Series entry, which paired her with Wendy Eisenberg. This standard was the main launching point for her extended improvisation, along with one of Chick Corea's Children's Songs and "Prelude to a Kiss". She had sung recently as a member of Nebyu Yohannes' nebyoha project, but it was a pleasant surprise for me to hear her sing at the show.

8

"Menino Das Laranjas" (Théo de Barros)

Sung by Sofia Avelino, July 4

Sofia Avelino's Brazilian music project nailed this highly-involved arrangement of a song that Elis Regina recorded. She spoke in detail about each number, enjoying the chance to perform many of her favourite songs with a band of Rory Hislop, Vicente Regis, Julia Farry, and Jordy McIntosh. They were all attentive and stylish on the bandstand throughout. The title of this song, she said, translated to "the orange-selling boy".

9

"Teyim" (Aster Aweke)

Sung by Haleluya Hailu, July 4

Before successfully summoning us from the seated Performance Works audience to dance at the front, Haleluya Hailu introduced this song as one from "the queen of yearning", Aster Aweke, who happens to have a show in Surrey later this month. This concert, billed as Ethiopia, featured Hailu on vocals with Feven Kidane as bassist and musical director, a horn section of Nebyu Yohannes and John Nicholson, Suin Park on keys, and Miles Wong on drums. Shewit Kidane then took the stage to add the krar instrument and launch the show into extended dance-oriented pieces.

10

"Standing in the Rain" (Bessie Smith)

Played by Amina Claudine Myers, July 4

Pianist and organist Amina Claudine Myers, who released a meditative album called Solace of the Mind last year, had the Revue Stage's full attention from the moment she walked out to begin her solo concert. After doing some songs and instrumentals at the piano but before switching to organ, she sang this blues song by Smith. With only one day of the festival remaining, Myers created a century-spanning moment of unity at the festival like no one else could.

Bonus tracks

• "First Song (For Ruth)" [Charlie Haden], played by Jillian Lebeck's Starlight, July 2.
• "Witch Hunt" (Wayne Shorter), played by Erika Chow's General Assembly, July 2.
• "Ghosts" (Albert Ayler), played by Flowers for Tone, July 3.