Photo Roberto Polillo
The tenth edition of the Jazz Sudbury Festival came along with many exciting new enhancements. The expansion of Jazz Sudbury’s emerging artist program was one of them. The first of the programs many new initiatives was a masterclass with a jazz great aimed at educating young artists on developing careers in the music industry.
On the Sunday morning of the festival, attendees were treated to this Jazz Café masterclass which featured Robi Botos at the intimate Kuppajo Espresso Bar.
Botos had come to Sudbury to play alongside Molly Johnson on the festival’s main stage and stuck around to regale attendees with stories of his life in music. He certainly caught the interest of spectators when he told the story of the time Oscar Peterson requested that Botos teach his daughter how to play the piano.
Anthony D’Alessandro, a member of the Anthony D’Alessandro trio expressed his excitement about the whole experience, “The trio and I had an absolutely fantastic time this past weekend in Sudbury.” Jazz Sudbury discovered D’Alessandro back in June when his jazz trio applied to the emerging artist program. “Winning the Emerging Artist Showcase was one of the best musical experiences we’ve had and we are so honoured to have taken part in this fantastic festival.”
Next year’s festival plans to continue to improve on these new emerging artist initiatives. The organization hopes that these new projects will help to provide resources to young jazz artists and contribute to growth in the jazz community.
