‘We’re very excited about this lineup’: Montreal Jazz Festival director says

Thursday marked day one of the 46th edition of the Montreal International Jazz Festival, with big acts like Diana Krall and Ranee Lee in this year's lineup.

The 46th edition of the Montreal Jazz Festival is currently underway, with organizers anticipating large crowds drawn by this year’s lineup of musical performers.

“We’re very excited about this lineup, a lot of names to discover for everyone,” Maurin Auxéméry, the festival’s director of programming, told CTV News.

In addition to performers like Diana Krall, Melody Gardot, Pink Martini, Kamasi Washington, Los Mirlos and Naïka, the festival is also welcoming Quebec’s rock duo Angine de Poitrine.

‘Pride in Quebec’

Auxéméry believes Angine de Poitrine will be a fan favourite.

“They are the biggest name of the lineup this year,” he said. “They are a band from Quebec, so we should be extremely proud to have a band that has exploded on the world stage come play here.”

“I think they will be the biggest pride in Quebec.”

The band played at last year’s festival, but Auxéméry says their set-up this year will be much bigger.

“I think it’s going to be their biggest show as of now. They have not played in such big crowds so far, and it’s going to be a great moment for them.”

One-of-a-kind festival

The goal of the festival, which runs this year between June 25 and July 4, is to bring music to people, Auxéméry says.

“And what I mean by ‘bring music to people,’ I mean two-thirds of the programming is free, and we have incredible names playing on all stages,” he said.

“All this makes the festival very, very unique because it’s a celebration of music and I don’t think there’s another festival like this in the world.”