McCoy Tyner was announced, the crowd stood and applauded, a heroes welcome. Many in the audience worship the keys that Tyner dances upon. Bassist, Charnett Moffett, many including myself, worship the keys he plays in and drummer Eric Kamdu Gravatt took to the stage. Tyner was not with them, regroup, locate McCoy Tyner and take two. The audience breathed a collective sigh of relief, thankfully nothing had gone awry and all were on stage shortly. Tyner gazed out over the audience and affirmed h

About Last Night Jazz festival time is a great time in Toronto; clubs that I normally wouldn’t attend lure me out with the promise of great music. After taking in a concert what better way to end the night than with a night cap at a near by club featuring trumpet master Marcus Belgrave and his quartet. Marcus Belgrave is best known as a teenage virtuoso trumpet player for the Ray Charles band; he joined the band in 1954 (at the age of 18) and according to

TD Canada Trust Toronto Jazz - Festival June 23 July 2 The festivals 20th anniversary celebration commenced with 27-year-old jazz piano phenom Robi Botos. Botos was joined on stage by his brother Frank on drums and Attila Darvas playing bass. Robi Botos was the winner of the prestigious 2004 Montreux Jazz Festival solo piano competition. Botos, who was born in Nyiregyhaza-Hungary into a musical Romani (Gypsy) family, immigrated to Canada in 1998. Shortly after arriving

Art Of Jazz Performance, Education, Cultivation Review by Paul J. Youngman Jazz Advocate Advertised as, 5 days, 50 jazz greats. A lifetime of memories. This spring jazz festival in Toronto’s Distillery Historic District, took place over the commonly known May 2-4 weekend, officially known as the Victoria Day long weekend, May 17- 21, 2006. Mother Nature was working against the outdoor component of the festival, that’s a shame for the local acts t

The Art of Jazz - Spring Festival A Tribute To Don Thompson May 19, 2006 - 9:30 PM The Distillery Historic District - Toronto On., Canada By: Paul J. Youngman, Jazz Advocate What better way to kick off the inaugural Art of Jazz Toronto Spring Jazz Festival than with a tribute to an icon of the Canadian jazz scene. Don Thompson, award winning multi instrumentalist, (piano, bass, vibraphone and percussion) composer and educator, was born in Pow