I A 12 THE GLOBE AND MAIL, FRIDAY, MAY 13, 1988 Vancouver sets the scene for international festival BY MARK MILLER Special to The Globe and Mail V ANCOUVER'S du Maurler International Jazz Festival has sustained its reputation as Canada's most consistently intelligent jazz festival with a line-up for 1988that includes little that's obvious and a lot that's valuable. Among the obvious in the 10-day event, June 24 to July 1: Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour, keyboard player Joe Zawinul's Syndicate and drummer Bill Bruford's Earthworks. Among the valuable in the 120 concerts in 15 venues: alto saxophonist Ornette Coleman; pianists Andrew Hill, Horace Tapscott and Michele Rosewoman; trombonist J. J. Johnson; the Six Winds; bassist Charlie Haden's Quartet West; Out of the Blue; reedman Trevor Watt's Moire Music and a healthy representation of both the Vancouver and larger Canadian scene. Zawinul and N'Dour will kick off the festival at the Expo Theatre, June 24, and Ornette Coleman closes the event at the Commodore Ballroom, July 1. The final long weekend will see 50 free concerts at the B.C. Enterprise Centre on the Expo 86 site. Major concert series wi!l also be offered at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre and the Western Front. Canadian bands and musicians scheduled to appear at the festival include Manteca, Thin Men, Silk Stockings and violinist Hugh Marsh from Toronto, as well as pianist Lorraine Desmarais, multi-instrumentalists Jean Derome and Rene Lussier and alto saxphonists Robert Leriche and Dave Turner from Montreal. John Orysik, festival publicist, caught the enthusiasm of organizers a few days ago when he commented, "We're actually a little upset about the line-up this year, in the sense that we aren't going to be able to hear it all ourselves." Further information is available at 604-682-0706. • The five finalists in the Alcan Jazz Competition for 1988 are the Vancouver sextet of trumpeter Bill Clark, the Edmonton Jazz Ensemble, the Toronto quartet of guitarist Ted Quinlan, Montreal's Icarus and the East Coast quartet of pianist Jeff Johnston. The bands won in regional competitions held across Canada in late April and early May. The finals will be held July 2 to 7 during the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal, which, in co-o ration Bassist Charlie Haden: intelligent line-up. with the CBC, produces the competition. The winning band, to be chosen by an international jury headed by noted U.S. guitarist Pat Metheny, will receive $5,000and will have the opportunity to record for the CBC's Jazzimage label. • Toronto had Rendezvous, and now Montreal has Dialogue, which b~gan last night at the Grand Cafe. Seven Toronto musicians will be in Montreal to share the stage with several Montreal ensembles, culminating Sunday night in an ad hoc big band under the joint leadership of Montreal bassist Lisle Ellis and Toronto reedman Paul Cram. Both men were involved in Rendezvous, a similar exchange held at Toronto's Clinton Tavern in late March. The other Toronto participants are saxophonists Richard Underhill, Nie Gotham and Bill Smith; trombonist Tom Walsh; violinist David Prentice and drummer Richard Bannard. The Montreal contingent includes the bands of reedman Charles Papasoff, pianist Pierre St-Jak and drummer Michel Ratte.