Josh Grossman's blog

Ah the lazy, hazy days of summer. With festival post-mortems completed, final reports underway, and reconciliations in progress, these few quiet weeks provide a welcome opportunity to catch up on reading, listening, watching and percolating which the busy planning months don't always allow.

It's always a bit strange to wake up the day after the festival ends and return to normal life. Nowhere in particular to go, no shows in particular to see, no media interviews to be done. I do find the end of the festival bittersweet: I can now return to a regular sleep schedule and hang out with my family; but I miss the musical wonderland that is the jazz festival and the great people - my fellow TDJ staff, musicians, jazz fans - that go with it. Here's my recap of the final day of the 2014 TD Toronto Jazz Festival.

A logistical complication (i.e. my computer was locked in the media trailer overnight) means that this is an afternoon post rather than my usual morning post - so it will cover the past 36 or so hours at the festival.

As I wrote in yesterday's post, day 9 started bright and early - I had to be on the square at 7:30 am for a Weather Network segment. Despite the early wakeup, the spots were fun, and local musician Brownman played along nicely. Around 9 am I retreated to a local coffee shop for breakfast and wrote the post you have all, of course, already read intently.

I woke up at 6 am this morning. On purpose. (For an appearance on The Weather Network.) So I'm still waking up. But I have fond memories of yesterday - day 8 at the festival, already.

Suzie Vinnick and her bandmates (Roly Platt, harmonica; Victor Bateman, bass; Dave Clark, drums) put on a fantastic show at noon on the mainstage. Lots of blues with some rock and folk mixed in, excellent playing, a full audience - a great way to start off the day.

Okay. So. Are we done with the rain? 'Cause yesterday's deluge wasn't so fun. The music was good, though…Here's my report.

Obviously, someone didn't get the memo: there is to be no rain at the TD Toronto Jazz Festival. Happily, some fantastic music carried us through the day despite the elements. Here's how my day went down.

I'm a bit crunched for time this morning - I needed to squeeze every last possible minute out sleep time - so I may be more point form-y today than usual. In short, yesterday was an excellent day at the festival.

Between personal, professional and festival commitments, yesterday was a particularly full day.

The day started with a bittersweet family commitment (see: unveiling). My grandmother passed away last year shortly after her 95th birthday and yesterday's gathering was an opportunity to once again celebrate her life.

Note: This entry will be a bit on the short side - I've got an important family commitment this morning and so my time is a bit limited.

Day three - and our first full day of programming - included emerging artists and veterans, new compositions and standards, long-established groups and new partnerships. And some fantastic weather.

My day yesterday started with the pickup of a contrabass clarinet and a euphonium. Which, frankly, is a sentence I never thought I'd write.