Surprisingly I only made it out to two jam sessions at the jazz festival. I guess playing tourist in the heat and humidity of the day doesn't leave enough energy to attend every single one like in Vancouver. Tonight's jam is the last one at the festival. Sunday night is the last evening of the festival but there's no jam session that night. Presumably they don't want any visiting musicians (or fans) to miss their flight out on Monday morning.
Salon Jeanne-Mance is almost full again with only a few seats left in the front near the stage. The chatter buzzes through the crowd but you sense a tinge of sadness knowing that this night marks the end of another festival. There aren't any big name stars at tonight's jam, but there are some talented locals and out of towners. I recognized Australian singer Christina from the first night. She doesn't sing tonight but is hanging out for the last time. Probably the highest profile musicians here tonight are the drummer and bass player from Matt Dusk's band. These guys swing hard and inject a lot of energy into the jam.
Not everyone who plays is good. Tonight we get a hilarious brother and sister lounge act. The middle age pair look the part of a cheesy lounge act. The brother's poofy brown hair and moustache looks 70's retro. The sister's overweight frame is squeezed into a white suit and too much makeup and jewelry. Their overwrought singing and piano playing can only be described as high parody. We get even more of a good laugh near the end of their song as a drunk Quebec biker type goes up to the stage and comes on to her.
I stayed to the very end at 3:00am along with the small group of hardcore music fans. Tired but happy, I leave after host John Roney announces the end of the jam sessions for edition 27 of the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal.
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