Jean-Pierre Zanella receives Oscar Peterson Award

The Quebec saxophonist, composer and teacher Jean-Pierre Zanella received the Montreal International Jazz Festival 2011 Oscar Peterson Award on July 3 from the festival’s founding president, Alain Simard, during a concert by the artist at L’Astral. The Montreal-based musician, of Italian heritage, who has toured extensively and played with the world’s top contemporary jazzmen, released Infinito, his eighth album, last fall.

He is the 23rd artist to receive the award, which was created on the 10th anniversary of the Festival in 1989 to honour outstanding contributions to Canadian jazz by homegrown musicians.