Finally into swing of things:

By Haley RyanMetro

The scene of dancing, clapping crowds enjoying the sunshine and big band music at the Halifax Jazz Festival tent on Sunday was a far cry from Saturday’s stormy weather when Arthur caused cancellations and flight issues, keeping many away from downtown Halifax.

Laura ‘Lulu’ Healy, artistic director for the festival, said the opening weekend for the nine-day event was “very intense.”

“We’ve been dealing with a lot of weather issues, a lot of flight cancellations, our headliner cancelled last night … so that was a debacle,” Healy said about Yasiin Bey, a.k.a Mos Def not arriving to perform with the Hypnotic Brass ensemble Saturday night.

The free daytime shows at the main tent, a Shai Maestro evening show and late night jazz were cancelled Saturday, Healy said, but they still expected Bey’s plane to come in from England until halfway through the opening set when they learned he hadn’t gotten on the plane.

“We watched the flight come across every hour and we had people waiting at customs … and he wasn’t there,” Healy said. “We offered people refunds and … the show went on.”

Tropical storm Arthur “impacted us pretty seriously,” Healy said, because thousands of people usually come out to Saturday shows. She’s not sure yet how cancellations will affect funds and crowd numbers overall, “but we’re just soldiering on.”

Sunday was a “new start,” Healy said, smiling in the sunshine near the main tent where hundreds enjoyed the swing bands.

read more: http://metronews.ca/news/halifax/1087764/finally-into-swing-of-things-halifax-jazz-festival-soldiering-on-one-day-after-arthur/