Postcards from Montreal

Here are a few visual treats from my coverage of the 31st annual Montreal International Jazz Festival. The musical choices were bountiful and at times painful - with as many as three or four significant offerings simultaneously during peak evening hours.

As the outdoor Quartier de Spectacles continues to evolve, there was a noticeable increase in the number and variety of street performers this time - mimes, men and women on stilts, and a bounty of other zany characters. And that doesn't include a few in the audience.

Concert images, from top:

• Allen Toussaint


• John Scofield and The Piety Street Band


• Grace Kelly and Jason Palmer


• Montreal trumpeter Ron DiLauro's Porgy & Bess project


• MAnu Katché


• Trumpeter Ingrid Jensen was special guest with sister Christine Jensen's Jazz Orchestra.


• Bassist Brandi Disterheft


• Trumpeter Jocelyn Couture presented his big band in a Maynard Ferguson tribute.


• Blues guitarist Ana Popovic