Montreal Jazzfest ’16: Stacey Kent – July 3, 2016
Festival International de Jazz de Montreal is a honking good time! As for the talent, the ten day hootenanny draws an embarrassment of riches. For the fans, whether they be native Quebecois or the quarter of a million or so visitors from the rest of Canada and the rest of the world, a chunk of downtown Montreal turns into a pedestrian-only musical wonderland. Free outdoor shows abound on nine distinct stages while even more action unfolds inside ten concert halls. A handful of acoustically pleasing spaced are housed under the roof of the Place des Arts including the Theatre Maisonneuve which has about a 1500 person capacity. This was the venue on Sunday evening for Stacey Kent.
Like the city we were in, Stacey Kent speaks French as well as English. Like the festival she was a part of, those languages are only but two of many in play. English was a given for her as she grew up in Essex County in New Jersey. She learned French as a girl and spoke it with her grandfather who was a Russian that had emigrated to France before making his way to the United States. At Sarah Lawrence College in Westchester, Kent studied Italian, German, Latin, and most importantly for her musically, Portuguese. She and her husband, Jim Tomlinson, are passionate about Brazilian music and her fluency in Portuguese has allowed her to gain insights into the music through the culture unavailable to those with a language barrier. Kent’s latest album Tenderly is a collaboration with one of the essential figures in Brazilian music, Roberto Menescal.
Here’s a look at the performance on Sunday plus some bonus interview footage that you’ll really enjoy if you are a fan of Bossa Nova. If you are here in NYC this week, catch Kent and her fab band that features Tomlinson on sax, at Birdland through this Saturday the 9th.