The Maison du Festival Rio Tinto Alcan, ‘flagship building of the Quartier des spectacles’, presents a wonderful all-year-round outward-facing portrait to the world beyond  the Montreal Jazz Festival, the largest in the world.

The building proudly carries the images of artists and bands closely associated with the Festival to the outside world. I met Festival Director André Ménard when he was over in London, and he has a story about every one of the  twenty-four. Here are just a couple:

 – Top row third right Leonard Cohen. André Ménard first met him sellling/ delivering phone directories door-to-door around Toronto as a student vacation job.

– Fifth row third  right Aretha Franklin (appearing this year!!)  – we’ll have a feature later.

TOP ROW
Dave Brubeck
Stéphane Grappelli
Leonard Cohen
Miles Davis

SECOND ROW
Keith Jarrett
Oliver Jones
Ella Fitzgerald
John McLaughlin

THIRD ROW
Antonio Carlos Jobim
Pat Metheny
Chick Corea
Diana Krall

FOURTH ROW
Tony Bennett
Vic Vogel
Herbie Hancock
Paco de Lucia

FIFTH ROW
Astor Piazzolla
Ray Charles
Aretha Franklin
Charlie Haden

BOTTOM ROW
Oscar Peterson
Wynton Marsalis
UZEB (obscured by trees!)
B.B. King (ditto)