This year, there’s a new face in the house band at The Cool Wednesday Night Hang and in the hallways of the Faculty of Music down at the University of Manitoba. Jazz pianist David Restivo is the Jazz Studies Artist-in-Residence, and he’s already settled into the rhythms of performing, teaching, and coaching that are so essential to developing the next generation of players.

Dave has taught at the Banff Centre for the Arts and St Francis Xavier University. He lives in Toronto, and we’re borrowing him from Humber College and the University of Toronto. He’s a seasoned performer, and a three-time winner of the Jazz Pianist of the Year Award from the National Jazz Awards. His list of collaborators is as long as my arm, and it reads like a who’s who of jazz artists in this country—Rob McConnell, Mike Murley, Marc Jordan, Christine and Ingrid Jensen, Dave Young, Pat and Joe LaBarbera, Molly Johnson, Don Thompson, Jane Bunnett… He has played with lots of international artists as well, including Mel Torme, Ratzo Harris, Dave Holland, and singer Sheila Jordan (as you’ll find out later in this issue). He is also a leader, touring and recording with ERA Trio, Dave Restivo Quartet, and Dave Restivo Trio.

Dave is a valued addition to our little team. He has a strong sense of rhythm, harmony, lyricism, and phrasing. He knows a lot about the history of jazz piano. He has a deep love for the music, and obviously enjoys sharing that with his students. Most importantly, though, he has a really generous spirit. He’s approachable, thoughtful, supportive—he’s a dove.

No doubt you’ll see him playing around town over the next few months. Meantime, make it your business to come down to the Orbit Room on a Wednesday evening and hear for yourself what makes him special. Then shake his hand, make him welcome to our city!