Slowly but steadily, the Vancouver International Jazz Festival has begun sharing the initial names of the performers taking the stage at its 39th annual iteration this year. Taking place from June 21 to 30, the multi-stage fest presented by Coastal Jazz will mark the official kick-off of summer in the city.
This year's Vancouver Jazz headliner is Grammys sweeper Killer Mike. American-Canadian metal trio SUMAC and poet/composer Moor Mother will join forces at Fortune Sound Club, while Julian Lange and Veronica Swift will both play at Vancouver Playhouse.
Over on Granville Island, the first slate of Performance Works shows will feature Laraaji, Irreversible Entanglements, the Messthetics & James Brandon Lewis, aja monet, Lakeicia Benjamin, Ulysses Owens and We All Break.
The Revue Stage at 1601 Johnston Street also hosts the Innovation series, which brings performances from Shahzad Ismaily, Horse Lords, Peregrine Falls, Parmela Attariwala, Josh Zubot, Lisa Cay Miller, JP Carter & Peter Knight, Tyson Naylor, Hand to Earth, Amalia Umeda, Eirik Hegdal, David Stackenäs, Kenton Loewen, Sakina Abdou, Robin Holcomb, Torsten Müller, Dylan van der Schyff, Saba Amrei, Adrian Avendaño, Emad Armoush, Emmeluth's Amoeba, Team Hegdal and Dálava.
Again this year, the festival offers a balance of free and ticketed performances. The paid performances that have been announced thus far are on sale now via the festival website.
