Ten Nights in the Quartier des Spectacles: Montreal Jazz Festival 2026▪

Ten nights. One square kilometre of downtown. For the length of the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal, the Quartier des Spectacles stops being a place with a festival in it and becomes the thing itself, a district rewired so you can leave a hushed recital room holding a few hundred people, walk for four minutes, and fall into an outdoor crowd of thousands without ever losing the thread of the music.

The 46th edition ran from June 25 to July 4, and by any measure it was enormous: hundreds of shows, roughly two thirds of them free, spread from the big TD Stage down to the small courtyard platforms that run their own programs three times a day. No single person sees it all. That is not a flaw in the festival, it is the whole design. You choose. You plan a route, or you wander and let the city surprise you.

Our writer Annette Aghazarian caught some of the shows.

Opening night: a gentle rain and a room full of friends (Thursday, June 25)

The festival likes to open on a note of history. This year that meant DJ Jazzy Jeff turning a late set into a tribute to the producer J Dilla, part record collection and part sermon, while bassist Marcus Miller reassembled alumni of Miles Davis’s electric bands for a centennial program built around the trumpeter’s catalogue. Two very different rooms, the same instinct: start by reminding everyone why we are all here.

Out on the main stage, the mood was softer and closer to home.

This year FJM was jam-packed with so many fantastic artists that I had committed to two or three nights, but ended up attending five.

I didn’t dare miss opening night (Thursday June 25th) with one of my favourite Montreal bands who I’ve seen more times than I can remember. The Barr Brothers managed to turn the Quartier des Spectacles into a magically intimate gathering, bringing along many of their incredible musical friends. The main TD Stage held Klô Pelgag, (Moonbeam), Leif Vollebekk (Naturally), Lisa Iwanycki (The Sonic Vessel) and Andrew Barr’s son, who hyped up the crowd before the show even got started. As always, there was so much care and intention with each note and each lyric that was performed that I felt like one of my dearest friends was singing to me personally. When I looked out into the dark misty night sky, thousands of eyes, twinkling in wonderment as a gentle rain fell upon us, I knew that I was not alone in that thought.

Friday: discovery on a free stage (Friday, June 26)

If opening night was about the hometown crowd, Friday was about the pleasure of not knowing what you’re about to hear. The free plaza stages are where the festival earns its reputation, and this year they carried everyone from the veteran British funk band Cymande, decades into an unlikely second life and playing to a crowd mostly too young to remember them the first time, to Texan guitarist Adrian Quesada of Black Pumas, filling the early evening with dusky, border-town soul.

Annette spent the night in the same spirit, watching a room fall for an artist in real time.

The following night (June 26th) I caught Thai funk jazz drummer Salin and her super groovy band at the Lotto Québec stage. I’ve seen her before, but it was a free show and I couldn’t resist. What I enjoyed almost as much as her jubilant performance was watching people in the audience who were discovering her for the first time and really getting into it.

Saturday: the night the city stopped (Saturday, June 27)

Some nights you plan around the crowd rather than into it.

I took Saturday night off because I knew the crowds would be crazy with Angine de Poitrine. And I was right.

She was right. The Quebecois duo’s free show became the story of the festival, the kind of outdoor gathering people will still be measuring other concerts against for years, in the same breath as Stevie Wonder’s 2009 opening of the Quartier des Spectacles. Estimates of the crowd ranged from around seventy thousand upward, large enough that the site reportedly stopped admitting people before the band even started.

Sunday: precision, nerve, and a spare ticket (Sunday, June 28)

By the weekend the programming had tilted hard toward the genre-blurring headliners the festival now leans on. Saxophonist Kamasi Washington brought his expansive, gospel-tinged band to a huge outdoor crowd and paused mid-set to remember his trombonist Ryan Porter, who had died only weeks earlier after a car accident. It was a reminder that these big communal nights carry private weight for the people on stage.

Annette’s Sunday was indoors, seated, and, by her account, unforgettable.

I’m glad I rested up because on Sunday night I was completely blown away by the genius that is St. Vincent. I do not use the term genius lightly so believe me. Backed by the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, at the luxurious Place des Arts, St. Vincent’s vocals were even better than I had hoped, and her guitar playing was flawless. Each song was executed with precision, leaving just the right amount of space for her quirky moves and raw emotions. To experience Violent Times with a full orchestra exceeded any expectations I could’ve had. I really enjoyed Digital Witness and New York, when she stepped off the stage and tried mingling in the crowd. She would’ve crowd surfed, but it wasn’t that kind of venue, unfortunately. I kept thinking she didn’t have to go that hard but she did. The whole night I kept looking to my left and looking to my right to see if everyone was seeing the same thing because I couldn’t believe my eyes. I need a witness. And his fate would have it, I managed to procure one. The FJM was kind enough to give me two tickets, but I had no one to go with. I reached out to three different people and no one was available. I could not bare to waste this ticket so when I got to Place Des Arts, I headed straight for the ticket office and searched for someone who looked like they needed a ticket. They had to be alone obviously because I only had one extra ticket and they had to be a fan. I approached a young black man with a southern accent who was clearly from out of town and blurted out Do you need a ticket? To which he responded,; Are you selling one? And I said; no I’ll give it to you. Do you like St. Vincent? He looked a little confused. He thought it was going to be a free show. So I just said come with me we’re going to be late. I wish I took a photo of his face. It was a mixture of surprise and joy and he loved St. Vincent and I was so glad he enjoyed it. You’re welcome Uriah from South Carolina.

Monday: the quiet rooms (Monday, June 29)

For all the outdoor spectacle, a lot of the festival’s finest hours happen in the seated halls of Place des Arts and the small clubs around it, where the amenity on offer is simply being able to hear everything. Saxophonist Charles Lloyd played the Maison Symphonique with a tenderness that quieted the room; Joshua Redman filled Theatre Maisonneuve with the kind of set that makes you notice the acoustics; Cécile McLorin Salvant turned standards inside out alongside pianist Sullivan Fortner; and Kid Koala staged “The Storyville Mosquito,” a puppet-and-turntable production that was less a concert than a piece of theatre.

Annette found her own version of that intimacy.

On Monday night, I returned to Place Des Arts for a more subdued performance by jazz and gospel artist Lizz Wright. Accompanied by her brilliant pianist Kenny Banks Sr., they covered old standards, some gospel and even a little opera at the end. Her voice was sublime and Kenny’s piano playing was brilliant, but it was their chemistry and genuine affection for each other that really warmed our hearts. My favourite of the night was Soon I Will Be Done where Kenny switched to a Hammond organ and Lizz took her time with the lyrics, truly feeling each word and reinterpreting them to reflect her current mood. I truly appreciated her little back stories and anecdotes in between songs, especially why she chose to wear that gorgeous red dress. With her humour, warmth and soothing voice, she turned the dark and formal theatre into a cosy lounge where everyone was welcome. Especially during her very spiritual songs that are predominantly sung in black churches. ” You don’t have to worry about cultural misappropriation here, it’s all right if you sing along tell them Lizz said it’s OK.

(Her new album Nearness will be released on September 25)

Midweek: centennials and the deep end

The middle of the run rewards the curious and the stubborn, often in a heat wave. This year that meant hip-hop producer The Alchemist drawing a young, devoted crowd to a packed Club Soda, and the keyboard-and-drums duo DOMi & JD Beck working through an entire set of new, almost telepathic material. It also meant the reason the word “jazz” is still on the marquee. 2026 marked the centenaries of both Miles Davis and John Coltrane, and the festival answered with tributes across the site, including alto saxophonist Christine Jensen‘s free, open-air “Modes of Coltrane.” The free stages, three sets a day, quietly amounted to a first-rate festival hiding inside the bigger one.

Wednesday: two shows, one rainy finish (Wednesday, July 1)

Annette’s last night was a case study in the festival’s central problem, which is really a luxury: too much on at once. She solved it by refusing to choose.

On my fifth and last night (Wednesday, July 1st) I was torn between catching Melody Gardot and Larkin Poe, so I went to both. I had never seen either of them before and I was really excited.

Melody Gardot was supposed to go on at 7:30 but unfortunately, she started after eight. I had to leave by 9:15 to make it to see Larkin Poe for 9:30 so I didn’t get to see the entire show. I really hated leaving early because it just kept getting better and better as the night went on. It began with her percussionists coming out with bongos and drums creating a party vibe and she switched it up so many times throughout the night. She played piano and guitar, she got us all to sing along, and she was hilarious. She even sang in French and when she addressed the crowd in French, there was thunderous applause. The tone of her speaking voice was so soothing that I could just listen to her talk all night. She sang one of my all-time favourites Moon River which got me a little choked up because I didn’t expect it. And then just I was getting ready to leave, Melody pulls out The Thanda Choir from Cape Town South Africa. And I couldn’t help but yell out loud NO WAY! As if the stage wasn’t already full enough of unbelievably talented musicians. If she comes back next year, I will definitely see her again and I will not leave early!

Luckily Place des Arts is really close to the main TD stage so I made it in time for my favourite southern rock/blues sister duo that is Larkin Poe. I stood in a crowd of thousands, under the rain and took in every ounce of high voltage energy that they gave us. And they really brought it. Rebecca ‘s voice was clear and powerful as she belted out some heavy hitters like Bad Spell , God Is A Woman , Bluephoria and one of my favourites Kick The Blues which had everyone dancing. I loved it when the sisters played right up close to each other, Megan on lap steel and Rebecca on electric guitar, sounding like a more upbeat Allman Brothers. They performed like they had to prove something, as though two sisters from Nashville, who played Southern rock and blues needed to convince us that they were worthy of the main stage at one of the largest jazz festivals in the world. Even Rebecca remarked that they were not jazz artists but more blues and rock oriented, and the crowd had absolutely no problem with that. I’ve been a fan from the beginning and had the pleasure of interviewing them four years ago. I’m so glad that FJM invited them to perform. They were truly an extra special addition to the festival that ended my evening perfectly.

The rain again, and again nobody minded. Two shows in one night, a five-minute walk apart, is the sort of thing that sounds like bragging until you realise the festival is actually built to make it possible.

The experience, not just the line-up

Step back from the individual sets and what stays with you is the running of the thing. By most accounts the crowd management held up even at the extremes, the food trucks and neighbourhood stalls kept a very large number of people fed, and the only real complaints were the ones a downtown festival can’t fully avoid: construction to navigate on the walk in, and indoor rooms that filled to capacity and left latecomers stuck. Given the heat and the size of the Angine de Poitrine and Kamasi Washington crowds, that is a fair trade.

The honours went where you’d expect the city to send them. Local favourite Patrick Watson took the Festival Spirit Award, and bassist Christian McBride accepted the Miles Davis Award, a neat rhyme with the centennial running through the whole program.

The 47th Festival International de Jazz de Montreal returns to the Quartier des Spectacles from June 25 to July 4, 2027.