Montreal jazz festival is for big music names -- and medium-to-small ones, too

By CONWAY DALY, Canadian Press

MONTREAL -- It's a jazz festival with big names like Prince, Diana Krall, Wynton Marsalis and Oscar Peterson.

But the not-so-famous like Montrealer Eduardo Pipman, Toronto's Don Ross and Marc Atkinson of Victoria, B.C., say they're delighted to perform and get better known.

"There's a different kind of energy at festivals," says Pipman, whose band played the 2001 Montreal International Jazz Festival, an 11-day blowout that ends this coming Sunday.

"It's a chance to reach a wider public," says Pipman, who left Argentina in 1973 to work in Europe and joined Montreal's music scene nine years later.

Pipman's accessible-sounding Latin-flavoured quartet won last year's competition as the top Canadian group at the festival.

He's firmly on the side of those who can't afford pricey tickets -- up to $75.50 (plus taxes) for Prince. Instead, they cruise free shows, saving their money to spend on CDs.

In fact, he'd rather see lower prices for CDs by local artists, who face tough competition against the flood of bargain-priced releases by stars like the late trumpeter Miles Davis.

"The customer says, 'I can pay $11 for a sure value, a reissue of Miles Davis from the late '60s, or I can experiment and buy a record by someone not famous. But it costs more.'

"That's the way the market functions. It's hard."

The 2001 festival's major freebie was set for Tuesday night, a giant outdoor concert featuring a band called Groove Alla Turca, a blend of funk, jazz and traditional Turkish music.

The summer festival season is fun but the rest of the year can be "slim pickings", says Ross, a guitarist whose distinctive playing has made him a two-time winner of the U.S. National Finger Style Guitar Championships.

"I improvise a lot and my music is very modern," says Ross, who was interviewed after a pair of concerts -- musically and technically dazzling -- that drew thousands of enthusiasts.

"It's wonderful to do these shows. It's maximum exposure. But away from festivals, you often have to scrape to find venues. I wish there was more support for the music throughout the year that would make it a little more viable."

Free outdoor performances provide a chance to connect with a wider audience, says Atkinson, whose group is on the jazz festival circuit.

"We've played Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Medicine Hat," he says. "After here, we play Ottawa and Halifax.

"You get a chance to play for all types, not just people who go to clubs. I think there are a lot of closet jazzers who come to festivals.

"I get the feeling that jazz is becoming more popular," added Atkinson, whose acoustic trio -- two guitars and a bass -- specializes in the upbeat, catchy rhythms of the legendary gypsy guitarist Django Rheinhardt (1923-1953).

Unlike rock stars, the jazz musicians working on the festival's outdoor stages don't travel in stretch limousines or have money to burn.

But Pipman said he doesn't complain about the life of a professional jazz musician.

"It's a tough business. But the guy who plays jazz certainly doesn't do it to make millions of dollars. It's a personal choice."