Burlington, Vermont’s Discover Jazz Festival

This week I took a train through the Green Mountains to Burlington, Vermont, where the annual Discover Jazz Festival has brought some of the top names in jazz to this lakeside town. The festival, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary, is dedicated to showcasing a wide array of jazz styles through performances, clinics, and public discussions with the artists.

From May 30th until June 8th, the cafés, bars, restaurants and performance venues along cobblestone Church Street (the main commercial stretch) are bouncing with music from local groups and big festival acts. I happen to be playing some gigs and taking part in various jam sessions with local musicians, but the shows drawing the largest audiences this year are acts like Joshua Redman, Ornette Coleman, Lionel Loueke (who can be heard on Herbie Hancock’s Grammy-winning album River – The Joni Letters), Paquito D’Rivera, Tim Berne, and Dave Brubeck; a particularly expansive sampling of jazz today.

Even if you decide not to attend concerts, simply walking through downtown Burlington and enjoying an outdoor meal or cocktail will be a vibrant musical experience, starting from the early afternoon hours until about 1:00 in the morning.

Photo Courtesy of Bruno Bollaert / volume12.net