We’re excited to release the lineup for the 2012 SaskTel Saskatchewan Jazz Festival!

In addition to previously announced artists such as Feist, The Roots, Wayne Shorter and Michael Franti, we’ve added shows by Janelle Monáe (pictured above), Dianne Reeves, Robert Randoph & The Family Band, Bill Frisell, Elliott Brood, Ndidi Onukwulu, Mayer Hawthorne, DJ Questlove, Benny Green, Young Empires, and many more.

You can check out the list of artists from A–Z and the ticketed schedule here on our website.

Early bird tickets are now on sale and can be purchased online, by phone at 1.800.638.1211, or from the Festival Box Office in the lobby of Saskatoon’s Delta Bessborough Hotel. We’re open Monday–Friday, 10am–6pm.

Finally, be sure to download our app for your iPhone, iPod Touch or Android device.

And stay tuned — schedules for our Free Stages will be released on May 17.

Michael Franti & Spearhead will kick off this year’s Festival with their unique blend of old-school soul, hip-hop, and social awareness. The concert takes place on the TD Mainstage in the Bessborough Gardens on Friday, June 22, with the tremendously talented Cuban act Wil Campa opening the show.

The following week, Canadian favourites Downchild Blues Band will take to the TD Mainstage for an evening of music on Saturday, June 30 that will also feature Motown legend Jack Ashford and His Funk Brothers and blues harmonica master Charlie Musselwhite.

Meanwhile, sultry singer-songwriter Jill Barber and prolific jazz vibraphonist Peter Appleyard will perform an intimate double bill at the Broadway Theatre on Friday, June 29.

Tickets for these three concerts go on sale Tuesday, April 17 at 10am, and are available through the Festival Box Office.

The rest of the ticketed concert lineup — and we still have dozens of shows to announce — will be released on May 3. So stay tuned for more in May!

Update: The application period is now closed. Thanks to everyone who applied!

We’re currently seeking part-time, temporary Box Office staff for this year’s SaskTel Saskatchewan Jazz Festival! This position will report to and work closely with the Box Office
Supervisor.

This is an hourly position starting immediately and concludes on July 2, 2012. The job requires a flexible schedule including weekdays, evenings and weekends and offers a competitive salary.

If you enjoy working with the public, have great customer service skills, have a need to be accurate and strong computer skills, we want to talk to you!

Click here to download the job posting.

The Roots are coming back to Saskatoon! Two years after delivering a thrilling, sold-out concert in the Bessborough Gardens, the Philadelphia-based hip hop act will return to the SaskTel Saskatchewan Jazz Festival on Sunday, July 1.

Many of you have been asking us to bring them back, and we just couldn’t resist any longer. This TD Mainstage show will open with The Heavyweights Brass Band and Saskatoon favourites The Steadies.

On the jazzier side of things, we’re really excited that Wayne Shorter, one of jazz’s leading figures over many decades, will be making his first-ever appearance at the Festival this year.

Hailed by the New York Times as “the most important living composer in jazz,” the saxophonist will perform with his quartet at the Broadway Theatre on Saturday, June 23. Saskatoon’s Dean McNeill Septet will open the concert.

Tickets for both of these concerts go on sale to the public on Wednesday, March 21 at 10am. And don’t forget that tickets to the fabulous Feist are currently available and are going quickly!

We’re kicking off the 2012 edition of our fim series, Six Degrees of Jazz, with the classic Beatles movie A Hard Day’s Night. Join us at the Broadway Theatre at 7pm on Tuesday, January 24 to experience this classic music flick on 35mm film.

We’re even giving away the first 250 tickets to this film! Click here to get yours.
The free tickets are sold out, but there are still 150+ available at the door on Tuesday.

Six Degrees of Jazz is organized in partnership with the Broadway Theatre, and is sponsored by St. John’s Music. Promotional support is provided by CFCR 90.5 FM.

We’re excited to announce a concert featuring blues musician Guy Davis at The Bassment on Tuesday, November 15 at 8pm. Tickets are $20 ($16 for students and SJS members) and are available online and from our box office.

Updating the rural blues tradition for the modern era, Guy Davis is a musician, composer, actor, director, writer and consummate performer. He’s got some Blind Willie McTell and some Fats Waller, some Buddy Guy and some Taj Mahal. He’s got some Zora Neale Hurston and some Garrison Keillor. But most importantly—Guy Davis is a bluesman. The blues permeate every corner of Davis’ creativity. Throughout his career, he has dedicated himself to reviving the traditions of acoustic blues and bringing them to as many ears as possible through the material of the great blues masters, African American stories, and his own original songs, stories and performance pieces.

This concert is presented by Elwood Flynn Ltd. and Ultimo Euromoda with support by our media sponsor CFCR 90.5 FM. Click here for more info.

Note: SJS Gold Cards are not valid for this performance.

You may have noticed a Bravo camera flitting around some of the concerts this year. That’s because our festival will be featured this week on Bravo’s Arts & Minds program!

Be sure to tune in Saturday at 4pm, Sunday at 5pm or Wednesday at 630pm (SK time) to catch interviews and concert footage from several of the artists who performed this year.

If you have SaskTel Max, you can catch Bravo on channel 73. (You’ll also find it on Shaw channel 28, and Bell channel 620.)

Every day people ask us which concerts are selling quickly. So we thought we’d give you the lowdown right here and now!

First up, if you want to see Holly Cole, I’d jump on that right away. There are just a handful of seats left for her early show at the Broadway Theatre, and even the late set is filling up fast.

In the Bessborough Gardens, Colin James is cruising towards a possible sellout, so I wouldn’t wait any longer if you want to catch his show on June 25.

The Sheepdogs and Jordan Cook are definitely giving Colin a good run for his money — it’s incredible to see the local support for the Canada Day double bill featuring these hometown acts!

Tegan and Sara tickets are also being snapped up quickly. This should come as no surprise given that they sold out TCU Place when they came to Saskatoon last year.

And although Macy Gray was the last show to go on sale, her opening night concert has an incredible amount of momentum, and may soon eclipse the other artists mentioned above.

Finally, tickets for a few shows in our smaller venues might soon run out, including The Lost Fingers, Colin Linden and the bill featuring Suzie Vinnick and Big Dave McLean.

Tickets for all of these concerts are available online, by phone or in person from the Festival Box Office.

Today we’re giving you an irresistible reason to buy your tickets before the line at the box office gets any longer.

The first 100 visitors to our box office today, Wednesday, June 15, will receive a delicious, free mini cupcake, courtesy of The Cupcake Corner.

Take it from me — these suckers are delicious. Like ooey, gooey, melt-in-your-mouth delicious. So be sure to drop by our box office in the lobby of the Delta Bessborough hotel (601 Spadina Cr. E). We’re open from 10AM to 5PM.

Rolling Stone magazine has just announced the final four bands in its Choose the Cover contest, and local rockers The Sheepdogs have made the cut!

We’re very proud to announce that The Sheepdogs will be performing on Canada Day at this year’s SaskTel Saskatchewan Jazz Festival. They’ll be joined by another hometown favourite, Jordan Cook, for a July 1 double bill outdoors on the TD Mainstage.

Be sure to vote for The Sheepdogs and help get them on the cover of Rolling Stone! You can vote right on our website, where you can also get advance tickets to this and other fine Festival concerts.