Every meal is a winner in Montreal, but some of the jazz concerts bomb

Jazz piano master Kenny Barron and Elena Pinderhughes delivering a mean, low-down, dirty blues on July 4 as their encore during the 37th edition of the International Jazz Festival in Montreal. Critics call the 20-year-old singer and flutist a "prodigy" 

Editor's note: With hundreds of free and paid concerts over 11 days, you'd expect a clunker or two at the Montreal International Jazz Festival. But I was really disappointed in two of the elaborate acts I paid more than $100 Canadian a ticket to see.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

MONTREAL -- You'd have to go out of your way to have a bad meal in this sophisticated French-speaking city, but a bad concert seems unavoidable.

In attending eight days of the International Jazz Festival, I noticed the scent of marijuana was in the air at free outdoor concerts, and joints were readily available for sharing or purchase as Canada moves to legalize pot next year.

So, I'm wondering what the organizers were smoking when they agreed to stage a French opera or indulge a rap artist who didn't sing a note until two and a half hours after the scheduled start of her concert.

Singer-songwriter and composer Rufus Wainwright thanked everyone from the tailor who made his elaborately brocaded suit to his husband, who was sitting in the audience.

With nearly 3,000 seats, Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier is the biggest concert hall used during the Montreal festival, which ends on Saturday. Rufus Wainwright and rapper Lauryn Hill performed there on July 2 and July 5, respectively.

Rufus Wainwright

I didn't have much to go on a couple of months ago when I purchased three tickets for $118.75 Canadian each to Opera Primadonna & Rufus Wainwright Symphonique.

What a bomb.

The first half of the show was an opera sung in French that seemed to be a homage to soprano Maria Callas, one of the most influential and renowned opera singers of the 2oth century.

Enough musicians for two symphony orchestras appeared to be crammed onto the stage, and a large movie screen behind them showed framed photos of Callas, as well as an older actress removing her makeup in a dressing room. 

Wainwright sung during the second half of the concert, switching between a piano and a microphone stand at the center of the stage.

He also brought out a sister, nephew and niece to sing.

One of his angst-ridden songs went:

"My phone is on vibrate for you.

"Who knows what all these new drugs do?"  

Rapper Lauryn Hill finally started singing at around 10 p.m. after her disc jockey played a dozen reggae tunes and exhorted Canada to "legalize ganja." The concert started with a singer, bass-guitar player and drummer who weren't advertised. My teenage son dismissed them as a high school-level band.

The crowd waited and waited and waited for Hill to appear on stage at a concert that was scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m., and booed several times.

Ms. Lauryn Hill

After keeping the audience waiting for more than two hours, Lauryn Hill finally appeared on stage playing a guitar in front of a wailing, highly amplified  nine-piece band and three backup singers.

I couldn't understand most of the lyrics, heard only noise and soon inserted the earplugs I brought from my hotel room.

She had technical problems with the guitar and when they couldn't be solved, she put it down and just sang. But I still couldn't make out most of the words.

This concert, which also cost $118.75 per ticket, was a waste, though my teenage son enjoyed it.

The best part for me and my wife was Hill's disc jockey and his repertoire of recorded Jamaican music.

Elena Pinderhughes

I bought tickets to see the Kenny Barron Trio & Elena Pinderhuges on the strength of her being described as an accomplished jazz singer.

Unfortunately, she performed only three songs written by a friend of Barron's, and all of them sounded the same.

Why she didn't sing any of the great jazz classics eludes me.

Ticket prices

The pricey tickets to the Wainwright and Hill concerts were the exception, and most events were far more reasonable than you'd find in Manhattan or even northern New Jersey.

Most of the concerts we saw lasted 90 minutes to 2 hours, exclusive of intermissions

Our favorite this year -- jazz singer Gregory Porter and his quartet on June 29 -- cost only $54.25 Canadian per ticket or about $38 U.S.

We paid only $68.75 Canadian to see jazz singer Emilie-Claire Barlow backed by the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, which was augmented by her own quintet (her first name is pronounced "Emily").

Barlow, a talented singer and scatter,  performed Antonio Carlos Jobim, Joni Mitchell and original songs, and many of them were in French as a concession to the predominantly French-speaking audience.

And three tickets to hear jazz piano prodigy Joey Alexander, who turned 13 on June 25, cost a total of only $125.70 Canadian.

Still top festival

This was our fourth annual trip to the Montreal bash, which is widely recognized as the best jazz festival in the world.

Improvements this year include a free grandstand -- with all but 10 seats available on a first-come, first-served basis -- from where we saw and heard English jazz and pop singer Jamie Cullum.

Cullum, backed by a Montreal-based big band, dazzled the thousands of fans who jammed the plaza for his free 2-hour show with his boundless energy and great voice.

And Montreal still ranks as one of the best cities in the world to dine out.

We enjoyed sharing a big salad and two wood-oven pizzas, including this one with fresh arugula, pesto and sliced tomatoes on Wednesday at Il Focolaio in downtown Montreal. That was just one of the great lunches we had during the International Jazz Festival.

Next: Restaurant Manitoba,

 Baton Rouge,

 Pizza Il Focolaio and Brasserie T!

Joey Alexander inhabits the spirit of jazz musicians who turned to Islam

Jazz piano prodigy Joey Alexander is dwarfed by his sidemen as they acknowledge a standing ovation on Friday night at a concert in Montreal. Alexander responded with two encores.

Editor's note: In Montreal for the 37th annual International Jazz Festival, we've been eating our way around town, and going to hear and see such great musicians as Joey Alexander, who turned 13 on June 25.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

MONTREAL -- Joey Alexander was born in Indonesia -- the most populous Muslim country in the word -- learned to play jazz piano at age 6 and released his first album at age 11.

As remarkable as his story is, Alexander still can't fill the shoes of jazz great Fritz Jones, who was born in Pittsburgh, Pa., on July 2, 1930, and began playing piano at age 3.

Except it's likely you have never heard of Jones, who is among the dozens of black jazz musicians who adopted Muslim names to combat bigotry and racial injustice in the United State.

See: American Jazz + Islam and Muslim Names in Jazz, a list of black musicians whose exotic names ring a bell with many fans of the music.

In Jones' case, that name is Ahmad Jamal, whose award-filled career spans more than six decades.

Others are Yusef Lateef (William Evans), Sahib Shihab (Edmund Gregory) and Idris Muhammad (Leo Morris).

In a way, Alexander -- born Josiah Alexander Sila on the island of Bali -- is a spiritual descendant of Ahmad Jamal and all those Americans who sought comfort in Islam in the 1950s and 1960s. 

Baby face, baby voice

Even though I've heard so much about Alexander and saw him profiled on CBS' "60 Minutes," I wasn't really prepared to see his trio perform at the International Jazz Festival in Montreal.

He isn't quite 5 feet tall, and plays the piano both sitting and standing, favoring uptempo numbers based on the repertoires of John Coltrane and other jazz giants.

On Friday night, the bespectacled Alexander and his much older sidemen came on stage and started playing, and the teenager didn't speak to the audience until later.

When he did, I was struck by his baby face, baby voice and heavily accented English.

He put on a spectacular show, backed by a great bass player and drummer, showing his command of the jazz piano at such a tender age.

Imagine a concert pairing this young phenom with a true master, Jamal.

Alexander, who is under 5 feet tall, plays the piano standing as well as seated.

American jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal is among dozens of African-Americans who took Muslim names after experiencing discrimination. Jamal was born in 1930 as Frederick Russell "Fritz" Jones in Pittsburgh, Pa.

Joey Alexander speaking to the audience on Friday night in Salle Luder-Duvernay, a Montreal concert hall that was inaugurated in 1893 and is said to be Canada's oldest theater.

In Montreal, bargain lunches are taking bite out of high cost of eating out

Place Deschamps Bar A Vin and many other fine-dining restaurants in Montreal offer a two-course, fixed-price lunch, usually with a limited selection of dishes, for as little as $20. Ordered a la carte, lunch entrees alone are about $25 each at this wine bar.

Editor's note: All prices are given in Canadian dollars. Our vacation in Montreal brings an added bonus. This week, a U.S. dollar is worth $1.29 against the Canadian dollar.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

MONTREAL -- You can eat really well in this French-speaking island city, but to get the biggest bang for your buck, make lunch your major meal.

Year-round, most fine-dining restaurants offer a two-course lunch for a fixed price that includes coffee or tea.

They're called "table d'hote du midi" menus, and for visitors from the United States, they are even a bigger bargain because of the favorable exchange rate against the Canadian dollar.

This week, we enjoyed a two-course lunch for $21 at a Portuguese restaurant and another one for $20 at a wine bar, exclusive of 15% meal taxes and a gratuity.

Sure, fine-dining restaurants in Manhattan offer three-course lunches for $25 during Restaurant Weeks in July and January.

Not only are they more expensive than Montreal's table d'hote lunches, but you'll be forced to choose a dessert as a third-course even if you are watching you're weight and cholesterol.

In recent years, Manhattan restaurants that once substituted fruit for an unwanted dessert at a Restaurant Week lunch have refused to do so. 

In Montreal, one of the best lunch deals around isn't strictly a table d'hot du midi menu, but a choice of three petiscos or "snacks" for $21 at Taverne F, a Portuguese restaurant. Starters include Cod Cakes with Piri Piri Mayo, above; Roasted Sardines and Gaspacho, photos below.

Boneless and headless Portuguese Sardines with Pickled Vegetables.

A cold Tomato and Pepper Gaspacho comes with hard-boiled egg and sausage chips.

For their main course, both my wife and son chose Porco Frito or Portuguese-style slow-cooked suckling pig with Braised Fennel and Bean Puree. Each also had a side of Batatas Fritos or fried potatoes as their third choice, below. The menu at Taverne F lists other choices for the $21 lunch, but some carry a supplement of $1 to $4. 

You can ask for Taverne F's complimentary bread service, which included one of the crustiest baguettes I've ever had with thick Portuguese extra-virgin olive oil for dipping. I poured some of the olive oil over my roasted sardines.

Taverne F, open 7 days for lunch and dinner, is at 1485 Rue Jeanne-Mance, Montreal, in the heart of the city's festival district; 1-514-289-4558.

On Friday, the table d'hote du midi menu at Place Deschamps in Montreal offered one entree and one starter for $20, plus tax and tip. The main course was Cod served over Asparagus and other vegetables, above, and the perfectly cooked fish came to the table with a crispy skin. I asked the kitchen to make it with olive oil, not butter.

My starter was a cold, thick soup of Watermelon and Cucumber, and the meal included a cup of coffee.

My wife ordered a Cesar Salad with Roasted Guineafowl, and we had the kitchen substitute arugula for the iceberg lettuce listed on the menu ($26 a la carte).

I was able to get some extra-virgin olive oil with the bread.

Place Deschamps Bar A Vin, above and below, is open Mondays to Fridays for lunch, Tuesdays to Saturdays for dinner, and on Monday and Sunday evenings when there are performances in one of the halls in the Place Des Artes; 175 Rue Sainte-Catherine West, Montreal (1-514-564-3155).

1000 Grammes, a Tex-Mex restaurant at 1495 Rue Saint-Catherine Street East in Montreal, offers a midi menu for as little as $11.50, including a cold soup or salad and dessert, above and below.

Regency Club

We're eating our breakfasts and light dinners at the Hyatt Regency Montreal, headquarters hotel for the 37th edition of the International Jazz Festival, which runs through July 9.

This year, I booked a two-room suite, and paid a $50 daily Regency Club supplement that entitles the three of us to have complimentary morning and evening meals.

In the hotel's Saveur restaurant, breakfast is an all-you-can-eat buffet with made-to-order omelets, carve-to-order ham and more food than any one person should eat at one time, including bagels, granola, yogurt, fresh fruit, pancakes, bacon, potatoes and too many other items to list (normally, $21.95 per person, plus tax and gratuity).

In the evening, a buffet of soup, salads and hors d'oeuvres is available from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.  

After 7:30, coffee, tea and desserts are served.

We've noticed cutbacks, including the elimination of smoothies that were available at breakfast in the past. And I haven't seen any smoked salmon or shrimp in the evenings.

The evening buffet in the Regency Club often includes roasted vegetables, below.

At Montreal Festival: Gregory Porter, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra

HEART-BREAKING SONGS: Grammy Award-winning jazz vocalist Gregory Porter and his quartet performing on Wednesday night in Montreal's Theater Maisonneuve, above and below.

Editor's note: On our visit to Montreal for the annual jazz festival, we eat, sightsee and catch free concerts during the day, then go to see and hear today's giants of jazz at night.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

MONTREAL -- American jazz singer Gregory Porter spoke to the audience and responded to their standing ovation with encores on the opening night of this city's 37th edition of the International Jazz Festival.

In contrast, trumpet colossus Wynton Marsalis and his Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra filed onto the stage and started playing, but the leader didn't introduce the group until later.

Maybe he was upset the emcee introduced him as "Winston Marsalis."

Marsalis also ignored a raucous standing ovation, and the only encore he provided was playing his horn with the rhythm section after the rest of the band members had left the stage.

On the opening night of the International Jazz Festival on Wednesday, Porter and his quartet delivered emotional songs -- most of them originals -- about heartbreak and injustice to an enthusiastic audience in Theatre Maisonneuve.

An official also presented the festival's annual Ella Fitzgerald Award to Porter.

Birth of the cool

On Thursday night, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra filled a much larger venue, Maison Symphonique de Montreal, but the performance lacked warmth.

Some of that had to do with the stage lights being left on throughout the performance.

Marsalis did mention the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra had been created in the spirit of Duke Ellington, and that members of the Ellington family were seated in the hall.

But he spent more time speaking to them than trying to engage the rest of the audience.

OVERSTAYED HER WELCOME: Soul and funk singer Jaime Woods opening for Gregory Porter with a repertoire of her own songs, but some audience members felt she spent too much time on the stage.

HARSH LIGHTING: Leader Wynton Marsalis kept his seat in the trumpet section as he introduced his Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra interpretations of Ellington's "Braggin' In Brass," "Dead Man's Blues" and other selections.

DISAPPOINTED AUDIENCE: Despite cheers and a standing ovation from the audience, Marsalis allowed most of the orchestra to leave the stage without performing an encore.