Montreal Jazz Fest 2016: Sharon Jones to kick off festival

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings will kick off this year's edition of theMontreal International Jazz Festival.

Jones will perform in the first of the festival's much-anticipated free outdoor shows, June 29.

The fact that theband plays old-school-style soul musicreminiscent of what was around in the 1960s and 1970s made Jonesthe perfect choice to open up the festivities, said Laurent Saulnier, the festival's vice-president of programming.

"We figured we had to start things off with a real party," he added.

600 outdoor shows

There will be more than 600 free outdoor shows this year, featuring jazz,hip-hop,reggae,swing andblues artists.

English singer Jamie Cullum will take to the outdoor TD stage at Place des Arts on July 4.

It's his fourth time performing at the Jazz Fest. The festival usually holdsits second outdoor show on a Tuesday, but Cullum wasn't available July 5, so organizersmoved the show to Monday.

"For a jazzman, he's very spectacular. That's why we wanted to present this guy as a special event, because it's jazz, but [he's] a real showman also," Saulnier said.

Closing the festival on July 9 will be Montreal bandWest Trainz, staging what festival organizers call a"multimedia show" to celebrate music's cultural diversity.

And with the number of special guests the groupis planning to include in its performance, Saulnier promises theset "will be another party to close the festival."

Other artists who will perform include:

Toronto native Francesco Yates onJune 30.

Montreal outfitBusty and the Bass, winner of CBC's Rock Your Campus competition in 2014on Canada Day, July 1.

Quebec artistFranceD'Amouron July 2.

Swing bandBig Bad Voodoo Daddy on July 7.

Organizers have already announced American jazz singer Melody Gardot, RufusWainwright and Lauryn Hillwill be holding indoor, ticketedshows at the festival this year.

The festival runs from June 29 to July 9.For more information, visit the Montreal Jazz Fest website.

More on the Jazz Fest:

• Rufus Wainwright, Lauryn Hill top Montreal Jazz fest lineup
• Quebec festivals to get more funding