Everything was new at the Toronto Jazz Festival this year. Lots of new faces in the staff and, of course, a brand new venue - Yorkville - with lots of outdoor stages for free shows and ticketed concerts at Koerner Hall, the Concert Hall and others. The residents seem to be digging it - it sure is an upscale crowd.
Saw Mavis at Koerner and it was quite uplifting. Both the Mavis and Hudson shows were completely sold out which meant I watched most of the show on the big screen in the green room (and I have to admit the sound was pretty good) but I did poke into the hall long enough to graph a little Instagram clip. I think I preferred Scofield when he came with his "Uberjam" with Avi Bortnick on second guitar and electronics. He was doing some cool things with Ableton Live. This time, Sco did not have a pedal on the floor. He might have had one behind him on that VOX amp. I noticed that Vox amps were a little more prominent than Fenders in the backline this year.
Rick Holmstrom from Mavis' band tod me he had requested a Vox AC-30 and had bought one for home. We talked about the great Tremolo they have. I read somewhere that VOX tremolo uses a very different approach than Fender - and you can hear it.