The Coastal Jazz Artists in Residence program was created to spotlight the individual work of select artists while at the same time, offer them the ability to connect with local talent and dedicated Jazz Festival audiences. Each year, Coastal Jazz invites artists to experience the Festival and the city of Vancouver through public talks, collaborations, workshops, and various outreach activities within our communities.
This year, Coastal Jazz partners with Western Front and Talking Stick Festival to host Sakina Abdou, Shahzad Ismaily, and DJ O Show. Each musician makes special appearances throughout the ten day Festival.
“Our hope and intention is that their presence and participation in the Festival will continue to educate and inspire for generations to come ,” said Cole Schmidt and Jeremy Page, Artistic Programmers for Coastal Jazz. “And we expect that they, in turn, will leave Vancouver with a form of love that this festival has always been able to provide.” Many of the events are free. See full schedule below.
Sakina Abdou
French saxophonist/flutist Sakina Abdou explores free improv and broadly experimental contemporary music with the likes of Eve Risser, Raymond Boni, Satoko Fujii, and the experimental collective, Muzzix. Her multifaceted sound is sometimes caustic, sometimes full of grace and quietude, and always full of suspense and surprise. During the Festival, Abdou will perform solo, in a trio, and as part of Wayne Horvitz’s 13-piece Electric Circus, give an artist talk, and be a visiting mentor as part of the New Improvisers Studio program.
Shahzad Ismaily
Brooklyn-based multi-instrumentalist/composer Shahzad Ismaily has been called the “musician’s favourite musician.” A deeply empathic player, he’s worked with a diverse crew of envelope-pushing artmakers, including Nels Cline, Milford Graves, Bob Dylan, Butch Morris, Marc Ribot, and Love in Exile, his GRAMMY-nominated collaborative trio with Arooj Aftab and Vijay Iyer. Ismaily will lead the New Improvisers Studio through a week of mentoring, workshops, and a public performance, participate in an artist talk, collaborate with fiery local duo Peregrine Falls, and join Abdou in a trio with drummer Dan Gaucher, and in Wayne Horvitz Electric Circus.
DJ O Show
2022 International Indigenous Hip Hop Award for DJ of the Year Orene Askew—aka DJ O Show—is a proudly Afro-Indigenous member of the Squamish Nation who embraces and embodies teachings from both of her cultural backgrounds. One of the most charismatic, positivity-emanating DJs around, she’s also a passionate speaker and teacher who’s travelled the country to spark inspiration in folks of all generations, DJ’d for the Canucks and Whitecaps, and opened for Kevin Hart and Russell Peters. DJ O Show will give an artist talk, a workshop, and will be laying down hip-hop and R&B beats for three unforgettable nights of soulful shaking at our official late-night party spot, Ocean Artworks.
Artists in Residence Workshops
Shahzad Ismaily Artist Talk, moderated by Julia Úlehla
June 24 – Western Front, 3:00 pm
DJ O Show Artist Talk, moderated by Gillian Thomson
June 26 – Western Front, 3:00 pm
DJ O Show Workshop
June 27– Tom Lee Music Hall, 1:00 pm
Sakina Abdou Artist Talk, moderated by Dylan van der Schyff
June 27 – Western Front, 3:00 pm
Artists in Residence Performances
Peregrine Falls + Shahzad Ismaily
June 27 – Revue Stage, 9:30 pm
New Improvisers Studio Performance with Shahzad Ismaily
June 28 – Western Front, 11:00 am
Sakina Abdou (solo)
June 28 – Revue Stage, 5:00 pm
DJ O Show
June 28 – 30 – Ocean Artworks, 10:30 pm
Sakina Abdou, Shahzad Ismaily & Dan Gaucher
June 29 – Revue Stage, 11:30 pm
Wayne Horvitz Electric Circus (with Sakina Abdou & Shahzad Ismaily)
June 30 – Performance Works, 7:30 pm
