Festival International De Jazz De Montreal

Festival International de Jazz de Montréal (also known as The Montreal International Jazz Festival in English) is the world's largest jazz festival, held annually in Quebec, Canada. The festival was conceived by Alain Simard, who organized concerts for Chick Corea, Dave Brubeck, Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, John Lee Hooker and other jazz artists in Montreal in the 1970s. He teamed up with André Ménard and Denyse McCann and opened Spectra Scène Ltée agency in 1977, planning to create a summer music festival in the city. The first Montreal Jazz Festival took place on July 2, 1980 and featured Ray Charles, Vic Vogel, Gary Burton and Chick Corea.