George Varga and Beth Wood | The San Diego Union-Tribune
Parlez-vous free jazz?
In almost any other French-language city in the world, this inquiry would translate as: “Do you speak cutting-edge jazz?” But at Canada’s 44-year-old Festival International de Jazz de Montreal— better known as the Montreal Jazz Festival — the question is deceptive in several ways.
A majority of the performances at this 10-day summer music marathon in the French-speaking province of Quebec’s largest city are completely free of charge.