MONTREAL - Lionel Richie, Cassandra Wilson, the Doobie Brothers and Boz Scaggs will be among the headliners at the 31st edition of the Montreal International Jazz Festival this summer.
Tickets for the event, which will run between June 25 and July 6, go on sale April 1.
Richie, whose hits include "Endless Love" and "All Night Long," will open the festival with Wilson, festival organizers announced Monday.
The festival will also see the popular Battle of the Bands, with the Harry James Orchestra being challenged by the Artie Shaw Orchestra in a musical showdown aimed to recreate the ambiance of the great 1930s New York ballrooms.
Other big names on the festival bill include the Manhattan Transfer, Sonny Rollins, Cape Verde singer Cesaria Evora and Wax Tailor and the Caravan Palace, one of the leading lights of the international electro hip-hop scene.
The Gypsy Kings will take over the Bell Centre -- complete with a dance floor -- to fire up the audience on July 4 with their classics, including "Bamboleo."
Joan Armatrading will also make her first appearance at the festival, bringing her rock-inspired blues sound to Place des arts.
Among the previously announced big names coming to the event are George Benson, Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson and a double bill featuring Taj Mahal and the Fabulous Thunderbirds.
