by LEN DOBBIN | More Jazz Fest: Outdoor shows

If I were to pick the night of the Jazz Festival, it would have to be July 1, when indoor concerts include the Dave Holland Big Band, Viktoria Tolstoy, Blind Boys of Alabama, the Charles Lloyd Quartet (with Geri Allen), Enrico Rava and a Fred Hersch-Bobo Stenson double bill. Other ticketed events of the "not to be missed" variety are those featuring Sonny Rollins, the Bill Charlap Trio (with Ben Wolfe on bass), Dewey Redman, Claudia Acuña and the combinations of Randy Weston and Candido (in a Chano Pozo tribute), Charlie Haden and Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Toots Thielemans and Kenny Werner, Ranee Lee and Oliver Jones and Harry Manx and Xavier Rudd.

If the indoor concerts are of lesser interest to the jazz devotee than in the past, the free shows offer a plethora of talent. For the blues fan there's Eddie Shaw, Eric Bibb and Montreal's wonderful Michael Jerome Browne. Vying for the General Motors Grand Prix de Jazz are bands led by bassists Sage Reynolds and Alex Bellegarde, B-3 organ player Vanessa Rodrigues, guitarist Richard White and pianist-composers Min Rager and Stacie McGregor. In the large-ensemble category, we have Hugh Fraser's Veji, the Joe Sullivan big band and the Montreal Jazz Big Band.

Other events worth your attention are presentations by Nashville-based singer Annie Sellick, vibraphonist Matthias Lupri, Brooklyn-based pianist Jon Ballantyne's quartet, drummer Guy Nadon, pianist Julie Lamontagne, flutist François Richard and guitarist Mike Gauthier co-leading a group with B-3 player Lorrie Goodman. For some good, fun music, try Jeff Healey's Jazz Wizards and Festival favourites the Streetnix.

Taking OFF

This is year six for this musician's festival, l'OFF Festival de Jazz, continuing through July 3. Guitarist Carl Naud, reedman Frank Lozano and clarinetist Mathieu Bélanger appear at the Quai des Brumes in early-evening (5 p.m.) concerts. Nighttime shows at O Patro Vys include the large ensemble Altsys directed by Jennifer Bell with special guest Vancouver-based guitarist Bill Coon, the Alex Bellegarde-Steve Million trio and a night of Janis Steprans with pianist Eric Harding and reedman/composer Joel Miller with his wonderful Mandala project.

As in past years, the venerable Lion d'Or is the scene of most of the action, which this year includes the internationally renowned duo of violinist Mark Feldman and pianist Sylvie Courvoisier, the world-class sisters Christine and Ingrid Jensen making a "Nordic Connect" that includes drummer Jon Wikan. There's also a large ensemble led by reedman Carl Maraghi that includes Alex Côté, Roberto Murray, Miles Perkins and Jon McCaslin, the trio of pianist Marianne Trudel and, on closing night, the Guy Nadon Quintet, a combo led by tenorman Yannick Rieu and a gigantic jam session with people like Ivanhoe Jolicoeur, Bellegarde and Claude Lavergne in the host band. For details, go to www.lofffestivaldejazz.com!

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