The Comet is Coming, and that’s good news! Not because it signifies the end of all our earthly woes—and, for that matter, Earth—but because it’s the name of the British electro-jazz trio that’s kicking off the Vancouver International Jazz Festival’s Imperial Series, which takes over the Main Street nightclub from June 21 to 30. 

The series, announced on Monday (March 25), is the jazz festival’s main showcase for acts that combine popular appear with genuine avant-garde credentials, which makes The Comet is Coming the perfect way to start the run. One of saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings’ other bands, Sons of Kemet, levelled the Imperial last year with its gutsy drum-and-tuba funk, and the new group looks even more likely to incite a post-apocalyptic dance party.

Jonathan Wilson, who headlines the next night (June 22), has interplanetary credentials of his own having handled lead guitar and vocals duty for Pink Floyd founder Roger Waters’s touring band. There’s no word on whether he’ll take us to the dark side of the moon at his jazz festival appearance, but he’s probably more likely to concentrate on his own elegant blend of Laurel Canyon singer-songwriter tropes and British prog pop.

The Suffers, on June 24, combine just about every genre of music that’s ever filled a dance floor—except, perhaps, Viennese waltzes, but their deep Houston funk will no doubt compensate for that. The octet will be followed on June 26 by drummer Makaya McCraven’s band, which comes highly touted for its cutting-edge blend of improvisation and dance music, and on June 27 by an intriguing triple-bill of postmodern adventurers, including Montreal’s Thus Owls, Vancouver’s own Jo Passed, and Brooklyn guitarist Ava Mendoza.

Another triple bill, on June 29, features recent Juno-winner Gordon Grdina’s astonishing Middle Eastern orchestra Haram, the Anteloper duo of sublime trumpeter Jamie Branch and drummer Jason Nazary, and the Turkish fusion of Ilhan Ersahin’s Istanbul Sessions. No passport or inoculations will be required for this global tour of creative possibilities, but it’s sure to leave you jet-lagged in the best possible way.

Save some energy, though, for the Imperial Series’s last night on June 30, which will focus on another globe-trotter, U.K.–based multi-instrumentalist Jacob Collier, and what jazz-festival organizers call his completely unclassifiable melange of “jazz, funk, folk, classical, Brazilian music, gospel, and soul (to name a few)”.

It’s going to be quite a trip.