Miller Time at Montreal JazzFest '97

Members of the Joel Miller Quintet receiving their award at this year's Montreal Jazz Festival

Each summer, hundreds of thousands of people descend on downtown Montreal to witness the countless performancessome unforgettable, some dubiousat the Montreal International Jazz Festival. One of the more important gigs for Canadian musicians are the shows by the ten finalistsculled from hundreds of demo tapesin competition for the du Maurier Grand Jazz Award, which is given each year to the best performance by a Canadian group.

This year the award went to the Joel Miller Quintet, a Montreal-based ensemble made up of a number of McGill alumni and teachers, whose show July 1st won over an international jury made up of journalists and musicians from South Africa to Montreal. Miller, BMus'93, is a tenor saxophone player who's been composing steadily since he graduated, and his quintet plays original, contemporary jazz. Other members of the band are Tilden Webb, MMus'97, on piano, Joe Sullivan on trumpet, Kevin Coady, BMus'94, on drums, and the ubiquitous Montreal bassist Brian Hurley fleshing out the rhythm section. Webb and Sullivan are also part-time instructors at McGill.

The prize is substantial$5000, plus the opening slot at the festival's gala closing concert at Place des Arts, which was headlined this year by two giants of Canadian jazz, Oliver Jones, DMus'95, and Rob McConnell. In addition, Miller's band is given a gig at the Canadian embassy in Washington, D.C. (we're not sure of the reasoning behind thisis Ambassador Chrétien a jazzhead?) and are invited to perform at next year's festival. Perhaps most significantly, the quintet also receives 40 hours of recording studio time and a contract for a CD release with Justin Time Records. Miller released his first CD in 1996, the highly praised Find a Way on Isthmus Records, recording with the same musicians, in addition to Juno Award-winner Ingrid Jensen, on trumpet, and Christine Jensen, BMus'94, on alto sax. The prize will give even more people an opportunity to hear this rising jazz talent.