If the last five days was the appetizer, the next five days is the main course!

The SaskTel Saskatchewan Jazz Festival main stage opens it’s ticketed lineup Wednesday and it’s filled with music of all kinds ready to get you groovin’. As always, there are too many concerts to list them all – these are just a few of my personal picks. Click on the artists’ name below to sample their sound.

For the full program guide, follow this link.

WEDNESDAY

There’s huge buzz around Allison Russell’s performance in Victoria Park. The Grammy award winning artist just had a huge year on the All Returners Tour and I can’t wait to hear her live. I’m just as excited to see Juno Award winner William Prince on the stage. The folk-country singer from Peguis First Nation in Manitoba has a voice that could melt you in just a few notes.  The main stage will also welcome Regina alt-country act Wolf Willow and roots artists Julian Taylor. This evening will also feature a huge collaborative celebration at The Broadway Theatre. The Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra and the Saskatoon Jazz Orchestra join forces to take us on a musical journey to Paris. Paris on the Prairies will feature multiple Juno Award winning composer and pianist David Braid and Saskatoon chanteuse Alexis Normand.

 

THURSDAY

It’s just what the doctor ordered for blues fans! Four time Grammy award winner Jimmie Vaughan is coming to the main stage with the Tilt-A-Whirl Band to perform. Vaughan has toured and collaborated with the likes of Bonnie Raitt and will be hot off the road and coming straight to us for this show. Warming the crowd up throughout the day will be Saskatoon’s The Blue Mules, 23 year-old B.C. blues man Garret T. Willie, and famed Canadian singer-songwriter Barney Bentall.

 

FRIDAY

If you were a child of the 90s and witnessed the explosion of female pop talent first-hand, this is the night for you. The lineup for the main stage is like a mini Lilith Fair. One of my favourites, American singer-songwriter Sophie B. Hawkins will take the stage with her hits. The program also includes one for the Dawson’s Creek fans in all of us… American singer-songwriter Paula Cole. I Don’t Want To Wait for that one! Manitoba singer, songwriter and composer Chantal Kreviazuk will close out the night. Kreviazuk shot to fame with hits like Far Away, Surrounded… And who didn’t fall in love to her rendition of Leaving on a Jet Plane from the Armageddon soundtrack? The evening opens with Regina’s Marissa Burwell.

 

SATURDAY

If you’re looking for R&B grooves, you’ll want to check out Day 4 in Victoria Park with headliners Lake Street Dive. The Boston quintet is a festival circuit favourite blending pop hooks with infectious melodies. The jazz festival’s Shannon Josdal said this week that Lake Street Dive is one of the acts that you’ll be glad you got to see live in our city right before they blew up. The lineup also includes Saskatchewan’s own Nick Faye who just released his latest single Undone. Vancouver “art-pop” guitarist Ayla Tesler-Mabe and Saskatoon’s own neo-soul musician Katie Tupper will hit the stage for a full day of incredible music.

 

The Neighbourhood Pop-Up Series Continues…

Music is still popping up all over Saskatoon and just outside the city for the duration of the festival. Acts include The Daisies in KW Nasser Plaza (Thursday), Cupid’s Heart at the Capitol Music Club (Friday), Wires & Wood at the Dakota Dunes Resort (Friday, and Jake & The Kid at High Key Brewing Co. (Saturday).