The 2023 Halifax Jazz Festival announced a handful of headliners today, showing that this year's festival will be a sonic smorgasbord. Alongside earlier headliners Feist and Fleet Foxes, today's announcement features elder statesmen of hip hop, a reggae hitmaker supreme, one of indie R&B's buzziest new names and a stalwart singer-songwriter. Let's get into it:
- On Wednesday, July 12, reggae-dancehall legend Shaggy hits the waterfront main stage. Tickets to see the "It Wasn't Me" singer (who, fun fact, is the only diamond-selling artist in dancehall history) are $74.72 in advance and $80.04 at the door.
- July 14 sees buzzy R&B artist Sudan Archives—one of the biggest indie artists of the moment, beloved by The New York Times and Pitchfork—taking the festival main stage. Her performance is followed by Canadian jazz ensemble BADBADNOTGOOD (though really, order of acts aside, Sudan Archives is inarguably the true headliner). Tickets for this one are $47.59 in advance and $ 52.91 at the door.
- On July 15, seminal hip hop group Digable Planets hit the main stage. The jazz-informed trio were titans of the genre's early days—and this showcase will prove the "Rebirth of Slick" emcees still got it. Tickets are $33.49 in advance and $38.82 at the door.
- Halifax's own singer-songwriter Jenn Grant, meanwhile, has been announced as the opening act for Feist's July 11 show on the Halifax waterfront. Consider it a double dose of top-shelf indie folk-pop.
