George Benson opened the 43rd edition of the Montreal International Jazz Festival (FIJM) on Thursday evening at the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier on the Place des Arts, where he also received the Montreal Jazz Festival Spirit Prize.
The singer and guitarist, who has just celebrated his 80th birthday, appeared on the boards around 8:45 p.m., where a full and impatient hall awaited him. From 8:30 p.m. until he arrived at the gang, whistles and waves of applause followed at five-minute intervals.
As soon as the artist took the stage, the audience was very warm towards him, receiving him standing and constantly encouraging his dizzying lyrical flights of fancy.
MARTIN ALARIE / MONTREAL JOURNAL
With a voice almost as clear as his younger years, through which breathlessness could sometimes be heard, the jazzman opened his concert with Roberta Flack’s cover of “Feel Like Makin’ Love” before continuing with “Don’t Let Me Be.” Lonely Tonight ‘Carried On’ by James Taylor.
He also performed some of his most popular songs, including “Love X Love,” “Nothing’s Gonna Change My Love for You,” and “Give Me the Night,” from his 1980 Quincy Jones album of the same name, Nobody in the Wilfrid-Pelletier Room Could remain wedged in place. The spectators also stopped during the subsequent presentation of his group.
MARTIN ALARIE / MONTREAL JOURNAL
His outstanding contribution to underlined music
Dressed in sumptuous velvet trousers, George Benson saw his “outstanding contribution to music” being highlighted by FIJM at the very end of his presentation on Thursday night.
He received the Montreal Jazz Festival Spirit Prize from Alain Simard, the founder of the FIJM, which emphasizes “the quality and innovation of the work and the defining influence of an artist on all international popular music”.
“I would put this award in my office to remind myself of how far I’ve come over these years,” George Benson told his Montreal audience, whom he first met at the age of 19. Since then he has performed a dozen times at the Jazz Festival. It first took place in the mid-1970s.
The singer ended the evening with “On Broadway”, during which a festive atmosphere took over the great hall of the Place des Arts. People got up again to dance and applaud the drum solo.
The Italian-American singer Melissa Errico warmed up the room. She sometimes spoke French, sometimes English, and notably took on Michel Legrand’s La Valse des Lilas.
The appearance of Quebecers Rémi Cormier and Rémi Bolduc on stage
At the beginning of the evening in Studio TD, saxophonist Rémi Bolduc presented the pieces of his latest opus “The Forgotten Spirits”, which he composed in the midst of a pandemic.
Notably, he performed to a full house the songs “Forced Confinement,” “Game Over,” and “A Little Walk,” which were inspired by the walks he took with his dog and his in-laws’ dog that only that dog owner could go outside during curfew.
He was accompanied on stage by Marie-Fatima Rudolf on piano, Ira Coleman on double bass, Jim Doxas on drums and, as a special guest, tenor saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi.
At the same time, the – promising – trumpeter Rémi Cormier, barely 30 years old, appeared on the TD stage. The musician presented the tracks from his album “Glimpse”. He notably brought to life his song “Destor”, which he dedicated to his parents as the sun began to set over the Place des Festivals, before continuing with “The Depth”. He retained “A Place Of Anger” as the conclusion of his program.
The trumpeter managed to attract a diverse audience early on Thursday evening, bringing together families, office colleagues as well as couples or singles of different persuasions.
On stage he was accompanied by his ensemble consisting of Elli Miller-Maboungou, Abdel Grooz, Dave François, Ronny Desinor, Jules Payette and Théo Abellard.